Mendoza: Where the sun, wine and meat are in perfect harmony.

We flew from Chicago to Miami to Santiago to Mendoza before arriving at our adorable boutique hotel Club Tapiz.

Club Tapiz is a converted old estate from the late 1800s with only 11 rooms.  It sits on a 22 acre vineyard.  The rooms were fine and our air conditioner was "broken" but I would still recommend it to anyone hands down.   The staff was unbelievably helpful and kind.  The common areas are so charming.  The pool, hot tub, work out facility were excellent.  Every night there is a wine tasting of Bodega Tapiz wines (LOVED the Malbec Rose) which was a fun way to meet other travelers.  The on site restaurant was excellent, and a full breakfast is included daily.  We ate dinner here one night too, Jay loved to goat, I stuck to fish both were outstanding.  And the three hotel dogs are so adorable that I was sad to leave them.  I loved the quiet location in Maipu,  a quick taxi ride into the city of Mendoza if you are looking for a night life.

Our first day we rented bikes through Bacchus bikes.  SO FUN.  They give you a comfy bike and a map of vineyards in Chacras de Coria.  They recommend times to stop by each for tours/tastings.  We followed the recommendations for a few and then went rogue to other vineyards and for some gelato.

Chacras de Coria is the cutest little neighborhood, I swear I said at least 10 times, "We could live here, right?"

We visited Bodega Carmello Patti.  Bodega Lagarde, Bodega Clos de Chacras  and Bodega Pulmary on our journey.

All except Lagarde were very small "boutique" or family run bodegas.  I adored Clos de Chacras and Jay loved Pulmary.  Both you can just tour the winery, eat lunch in the sun and just hang out and enjoy great wine.  I don't have many photos (hey we were riding bikes) but I will say we went home with a bottle from Pulmary!

Jason digging into lamb (his meal of choice in Argentina) at Clos de Chacras

The following day we had booked a driver to take us to Uco Valley, Miguel, which was an excellent decision.  Miguel speaks perfect English and is one of the most experienced and well known drivers in Mendoza.  I had my heart set on two vineyards after doing my research (Salentien and Catena Zapata).   Miguel suggested we add Pulenta and La Azul to our schedule; he was right on.  Those two were our favorite stops of all 8 vineyards we visited.  Miguel made all the reservations for us in advance, which you need in order to do a tasting or a tour.  This is a bit different than Napa Valley, but most places in Mendoza you actually need a reservation.

Tasting Room at Pulenta State.  This winery has a beautiful view of the Andes.  The people here are so creative and friendly.  The tour is excellent and if you are a car person, they have Ferrari engines and Porsche has a special bottle from Pulenta that they give you if you purchase a Porche in Argentina.  The design of the common areas is sleek and modern.  The winery is progressive with a experimental room for winemakers and scientists!  We went home with a bottle from here too.

 Cave at Salentein.  This was the most impressive winery we visited.  Excellent tour, perfect wine, beautiful wine cave and tasting rooms.  This is a big deal vineyard but worth the stop.

Don't miss this, seriously.  And since it is right up the street from La Azul, it's worth taking a trip to see the two of them.

Catena Zapata.  This was the most expensive tour and really not all that fantastic.
The view from on top of the pyramid like building is breath taking and the wine is excellent.  If you drink Catena Zapata wine in the USA, then it's fun to see the building featured on the label in person.  Otherwise, do yourself a favor and skip this one.

Lunch at Azul.  I can not describe the beauty and perfection of this place enough to do it justice.  Situated in the middle of a vineyard you will be served the most savory 5 course meal with wine pairings to boot.  A view of the snow capped Andes mountains from your table and the owner of the vineyard as your waiter.  He is, by the way, not stingy with his pours.  After the meal you can taste wine straight from the barrel with him.  Seriously.

For our dinners we ate at 1884, Club Tapiz and Florentino Bistro  All of which were good, our meal at Club Tapiz was the best but the al fresco dining at 1884 is tough to beat.

So to recap.

Best large vineyard: Salentein 

Best medium vineyard: Polenta

Best boutique vineyard: Clos de Chacras or Pulmary
Best lunch and overall experience:  La Azul

Thirsty Thursdays: Apple Mania

Remember a few weeks back Jay and I made an impromptu decision to go to an apple orchard near Lake Geneva when we realized we (ok, let's be serious HE) had the day wrong for the world's best flee market? 

Well it's been a few weeks and apples are still coming out of our ears. 

Starting with the "apple peeler" which I discovered after living with a baking queen for 8 years.  This is a $15-20 expense that is well worth it, even if I do only use it a few times a year.

So it was time for some juicing.

In order to use the rest of the GIANT cucumbers from our garden, I made a simple and refreshing treat.
4 Apples
2 Cucumbers
1 Lemon
 That's it.

Result: Delicious.

 

Nothing ground breaking here in the taste department, but it was good.

The next day I tried Apple, Beet, Ginger. Much more flavorful.  I love juicing beets!

Meanwhile, Jason had other ideas of how to use the apples.

He made some muffins with apples, walnuts and oats.  Perfect healthy breakfast that I can take on-the-go. 

And he even made a few heart shaped muffins for us to enjoy warmed for dessert!

(this blog post may blow his rough cover-sorry about that Jay.) 

Thirsty Thursday

We've had the juicer for awhile now, so it was time to start venturing into vegetables that I'm not comfortable with.  Enter kale.  I never, ever thought I would enjoy eating something like kale.

And technically I still haven't eaten it....but it sure did taste great in juice!

Kale Creation
1 cup Kale
1 large carrot
1 lime
2 oranges
2 green apples

Result: Fantastic.  Both Jay and I agreed it was surprisingly great.

The only caviot, two days later the leftovers were terrible.

So, if you juice with kale, drink up quickly.  It doesn't keep well.

NEXT Restaurant Vegan

Saturday night Jay and I were lucky enough to make our second trip to Next Restaurant in Chicago. 
Grant Achatz's restaurant opened in April 2011 and we've been working on getting tickets as often as possible.  They aren't easy to come by, but not impossible.  The concept of Next is that you purchase a ticket for your meal/experience.  The price varies based on time of day and day of the week.  Your ticket includes a multicourse tasting menu and beverage pairings.

In the old Fulton Lounge space, its only a few blocks from our condo.  The decor is plain, allowing a blank canvas for the food and table setting to create atmosphere depending on the theme.  We went to Sicily last summer.  This time it was Vegan.  This is a stretch for us, meat lovers and all, but we loved it and ate things we never imagined we'd eat.

Half the fun of dinner at Next is having no idea what you are going to eat, but knowing it will be a culinary adventure.  So I'm not going to spoil it for you.  This photo I found on the web of the very first course, served on a rock.  A perfect example of how Achatz uses imagination not only with food creation, but the presentation itself.

We'll be back. 

Thirsty Thursday

BEET IT

1 Large Beet

2 Granny Smith Apples

1 pint blueberries

Sliver of ginger

1 cup of strawberries

 The end result: DELICIOUS.  We both agree.

And with all the antioxidants in this one, we will live forever.

Thirsty Thursdays

 One of our generous wedding gifts was this Breville Juicer.  We've had so much fun experimenting with it.

 Jay has been stopping at our favorite fruit market, Stanleys, in Chicago each week on his way back to Milwaukee.  The produce at Stanleys is super cheap, but always very ripe and needs to be used quickly.  This is perfect for juicing, because it doesn't really matter if they are just a little too ripe!

 Our first recipe:  Cucumber Jugo

2 large cucumbers

1 lime

1 poblano pepper

cilantro

The cucumber/cilantro give a fresh cool taste you might expect from a spa drink.

I liked it, Jay did not.  

Better luck next time :)

Best Eats/Drinks: The Big Island

Our first meal on the Big Island was a place called Da Poke Shack, which Jeff and Kim took us to.  An unassuming shack, take out only, located in a neighborhood near their home.  Poke is delicious, cubed, ahi sashimi, marinated in oil with all sorts of ingredients. This place also serves  Kalula pork,  Luau chicken which are equally as good.  Coupled with some Kona Brewing company beer made for a meal we will be salivating over until our next trip to Hawaii.

 

Speaking of Kona Brewing Co ever since hearing about this place from ironman friends, I've been dying to try.  We ate more than our fair share of pizza here, but the best part was the beer flights.  Kona Brewing Co distrubes a few beers nationwide, but sadly not my favorites: Wailua Wheat

Finally, our last fancy dinner at Ulu Ocean Grill at The Four Seasons.  Wow.  We spent valentines night there.  Our table was as close to the ocean as possible, making for perfect sunset viewing.  Cocktail menu was on an Ipad each table could scroll through. 

Poke was made table side as an appetizer. The entrees and deserts did not disappoint. 

A perfect end to a perfect honeymoon and our first valentines day as husband and wife.

Best Eats/Drinks in Kauai

We took full advantage of the fresh fish and fruit while on our honeymoon.  I also discovered muesli on our breakfast buffet at The St Regis Princeville.  It was the most delicious thing ever and I'm going to start making/eating it all the time.

We love fish tacos and Kauaii is full of them.  We probably ate fish tacos at least 4 times in our 5 days.  The best fish tacos?  Hands down Verde.  This place is unassuming in a strip mall between the airport and the north side of the island.  I'll admit, after flying all day, our judgement may have been clouded.  That being said, the fresh mahi tacos and special margaritas were the best we had our entire trip.  You could easily drive right by this place, but I don't recommend missing it.

Mai Tai at Tahiti Nui

Best dinner on the north side of the island:  Tahiti Nui.  Jay had macademian nut encrusted mahi and I had ahi tuna with wasabi sauce.  The mai tai's here were the best we had on our trip- one was enough for me, they sneak up on you!  The resturant was featured in the move "The Decendants" and is a lively, locals bar/resturant with live music and lots of drinking.  The pizza is also suppose to be really good as well.

View from St Regis

Best place for happy hour:  St Regis Princeville

The view at our hotel is unparrelleled.  Floor to ceiling glass on two levels and a nice outdoor area make this a perfect spot to watch the sun set.  They have live music and amazing cocktails.  Just be ready to pay $17 for one drink.  We don't recommend eating here, the food is fine, but not worth the price.  So come for a cocktail and go to dinner elsewhere. 

Interior of The Beach House

Best Overall Experience:  The Beach House

With an ocean side table like this, who could argue against it?  I've heard mixed reivews.  This place is definatley fancy and I made reservations about a month in advances.  The service was outstanding.  The food was perfect.  I'm not sure why people say otherwise, because our meal from appetizer to dessert was as good as most high brow resturant in Chicago.  It's not easy on the pocketbook, but hey, it was our honeymoon!

Sunset at The Beach House

Best Place for a Sweet:  Jo Jo's Shave Ice.  Shave Ice is popular around the Hawaiian Island.  Not to be confused with a snow cone, but basically, it's a snow cone.  They shave ice off a big block and you can pick your flavor combination.  Jay and I went there around 11 am after a hike.  I called it lunch.  He didn't argue.  Again, it was our honeymoon, normal rules don't apply.  It was such an fun and tasty treat!

Shave Ice for lunch.

Bookmark this page if your headed to Kauai soon.  I'd love to hear your favorites!

Anaba Tea Room

I am obsessed with this place. Two blocks from our Milwaukee home, there is the cutest store/resturant ever. It's called Anaba Tea and Garden Room. You enter on street level to a charming store with a great gardening collection, tea collection and even bird feeders in the shape of a winnebago. I stumbled upon it a few weeks before Christmas and bought almost all my gifts there.

Down a flight of stairs is a large tea room with an open ceiling to the shop above with vines everywhere.  They serve tea and tea sandwiches during the day.  A perfect place for a girls lunch, shower or just for fun.  They also have a full bar and serve dinner. So Jay and I decided to check it out on Friday night.

We chose to eat in the rooftop greenhouse.  Which is literally that.  A greenhouse and in the summer the roof is open with plants galore.  It's charming and romantic because there are only 4 tables up there!

But the food.  Wow!  We haven't food food like this in milwaukee yet and at a great price. 
The menu is full of currys, tofu and lots of seafood. 
Jason had the Korean BBQ chicken on top of cilantro noodles.  Delicious!

I had tofu stir fry and we shared the asian hummus for an appetizer. 

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!

RM Champagne Salon and Nellcote

Last week the much anticipated RM Champagne Salon opened.  My friend Beth and I jumped at the opportunity to check it out.  We started there for a glass of bubbly.  It lived up to my huge expectations.

This is a place not to be missed when you are in Chicago.

Tucked down a cobblestone pathway with ample outdoor seating in a hidden courtyard shared with Nellcote and G.E.B; we decided to sit inside since it was 95 that day.  We were greeted by antique furniture, chandeliers, tall candles lit on each table, a large white marble fireplace surrounded by exposed brick.  The atmosphere is perfect.  So was the service.  Very friendly and knowledgeable staff with a non-pretentious vibe.  

RM Champagne serves boutique, single estate Champagne (hence the RM) which you might not find elsewhere.  Beth and I enjoyed a glass of champagne and I had prosecco.  I couldn't have been more impressed by this place.  It's perfect for a cozy date night or a great girls night. 

While food is available (cheese, oysters, small sized deserts) we had decided to try Nellcote (of the same owners) for larger portioned dinner!  After hearing mixed reviews from friends, I wanted to see for myself.  I've been inside for cocktails before and loved the atmosphere with chandeliers, orange bar backsplash and modern furniture.  Now that it had cooled off a bit we decided to dine al fresco.  The patio is beautiful and despite what I'd heard some of the food was spectacular.  The chilled corn soup should not be overlooked, it was outstanding.  We even recommended it to the couple next to us who ordered and agreed!  Unfortunately, the service was far less-than-spectacular.  

I'm no restaurant critic, but there are just some basic courtesy one expects.  Should I list examples?  Honestly the list might be to long.  Maybe it was just the night, but talking to others I've heard similar experiences.

All in all, we had a great time, enjoyed unique settings and amazing food/drink.  

I highly recommend RM Champagne, but might skip Nellcote next time and try another restaurant on Randolph or eat at RM Champagne Salon itself.

G.E.B.

 For weeks I've been waiting in anticipation for the opening of Graham Elliot Bistro (G.E.B.).  Living across the street from Randolph street's "Secret Garden," we've been taunted with the possibility of what was coming for some time.  A few weeks ago G.E.B. finally opened.  Last night we had our first experience.

We were surprised when we arrived at 6:30 and were seated immediately. The crowd was lively but not pretentious and most tables were full.  And then the menus came.  Old record sleeves with real records inside which served as the menu.  Mine was Hall and Oates- so I was automatically sold on this place.  Jason had a bit of envy, since his album was Yes.  

We each ordered a cocktail, which were wonderful.  Next time we might order a Schlitz, PBR or Old Style because they are served in beer koozies (awesome!)  While we waited for our meal, we loved checking out the candles of patron saints.  Everyone from Dennis Rodman to Slash has a candle.

And then enters the meal.  Wow.  We shared several small dishes and two entrees.  Not one dish dissapointed.  In fact, each was more delicious than the last.  Each menu choice is listed with only three ingredients, but the flavors are hardly simple.   We enjoyed the beet salad and shrimp appetizers, the lasagna, the trout and buttermilk chicken.  All perfect, but nothing could top the dessert of warm nutella stuffed beingets. 

Just when I thought the night couldn't get better, I made a trip to the ladies room.  Sign = Pat Benatar Album.  Slam dunk. 

I will be back again and again and again.  If you go, text me.  I'll walk across the street and join you!!!

Jason's Birthday celebration

 We celebrated Jason's bday on Friday night with drinks at The Aviary.  Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas are the masterminds behind this one-of-a-kind experience.  Requiring same-day reservations for a seating of either 6:00pm, 8pm or 10 pm; I was excited to score one for Friday at 6p.  We were guided to our seats were our watress greeted us with an amuse bouche, which was a drink.  Orders were taken on an iphone.

For those of you unfarmiliar with Aviary, it is a mixologist heaven where you can order a Prix Fixe menu of 3 course or 7 course.  You could order just one cocktail instead, as this was a celebration

we went with the 3 course.  The courses are meant to simulate appetizer, entree and desert. 
Not only were the drinks intricate, but each had a unique presentation.  I went with Berry, Bourbon and Popcorn.  Berry was served in a french press, bourbon is shown below in a glass that had trapped smokey barrell, and popcorn which was literally a hot drink with liquid popcorn.

 The birthday boy, who hates this picture, ordered Orange, Sazerac and Cream Soda.  All were complex and delicious.  The cream soda tasted exactly like cream soda. 

 The table next to us ordered a drink called "In the rocks" which was so cool, it was an egg shaped ball of ice with the drink in the middle.  The customer breaks the egg with a slingshot and the inner contents of drink spills into the glass.

  At another table a girl ordred a pina colada which had a puff of cotton candy on top which disintegrated after pooring a pinapple liquid on top.

After all this we headed to a new latin restaurant in Logan Square called Masa Azul.  As far as upscale mexican, this might be the best I've been to (sorry Frontera grill).  I highly recommend!

Happy bday to Jay!

The Bedford

Jay and I made a spontaneous decision to check out The Bedford on Friday night. This restaurant/lounge opened a few weeks ago in a historic landmark building circa 1925 which was the original Home Bank & Trust. The bank vault is a cocktail lounge and dining area walls are lined with saftey deposit boxes. On the opposite walls are framed photographs which pay homage to middle-america, with Napolean Dinomite type boys pushing lawn mowers and shooting guns.

The food was delish, but small portions. I was dissapointed that they had only 4 cocktails on the drink menu, for a place which is marketed to have a fantastic mixologist. Overall, the crowd was bit odd. Mostly hipsters and a fair amount of the over 60 crowd. This could have something to do with the fact that Jason and I eat dinner at 7:30 on a Friday.

I was really excited to try this place, mostly because it reminds me of some strange encounters exploring a deserted bank basement in Grand Rapids years ago, but wasn't as impressed as I'd hoped. Cool idea, just not executed quite right.