Saturday, June 28, 2014

My Big Fat Weekend...

I love to travel. I love to eat. I mostly travel TO eat. Seriously, I have no interest in visiting places that don't offer me less then five options for amazing food a day. The obvious locales are my favourites ...Paris, New York, San Francisco but I've become very good at seeking the obscure.

Tricks of the trade-

Rarely trust a concierge
Always trust a bartender
Never trust Yelp
Walk between meals if possible - even if its Chicago in February and -38

I keep notes on my iPad for each city, whenever I stumble across a mention of somewhere interesting I make a note to research further. I have a few sources I check first and if not recommended by at least three, I pass.

I have a strong preference for casual dining and by that I mean no elaborate 20 course tasting menus , unless you're at Stone Barns in NY or French Laundry in Napa, both bucket list meals and not for the days when you're doing 5 restaurants!

The hard part is narrowing down your choices, I hate missing out on a dish.  I also have a bad habit of finding somewhere amazing and wanting to go back and order that same thing over & over. I try and limit this to no more then 3 repeats a trip  - but it's HARD...especially the Gnudi at Spotted Pig
and the Pork Buns at Momofuku, and the roast chicken at Zuni, and the brandade at Le Comptoir...sorry I'm sitting on an airplane eating "artisanal" cheese that tastes suspiciously like Cracker Barrel!

Momofuku Pork Buns & Singapore Sling Slushie


I'm on my way to NYC for the annual Summer Fancy Food show, when I told the border guard I was going the 'fancy food show' he actually laughed, I informed him it's a real thing and after chatting more he ask for my business card so he could bring his wife to the farm to try out barrel diving!

Travelling is a bit stressful for me, not the flying and getting through security, but deciding which restaurants I'm going to get to...do I make reservations? That's a big commitment for me and most of my favourite meals have been sitting at the bar....but, do I take a chance and not get into the more 'hot' places? I usually end up with  a few late night reservations allowing me to get a couple 'appie hours' in beforehand. I only have two reservations booked for this trip and one is a repeat...Il Buco Alimentari and I'm going back for the deep fried baby artichokes! Can. Not. Wait. The other was recommended to me last time I was in ny by the food editor of a very fancy magazine, so I'm pretty confident I won't be disappointed ...plus I researched five other sites, just to be safe :) oh and I'm going to the Spotted Pig as soon as I land...that Gnudi better be on the menu still!

Il Buco Alimentari - Crispy Artichokes


Happy travels - Lee




The Breslin's - Curried Lentils & Poached Eggs