Posts Tagged ‘travel’

THE SAZERAC: CLASSIC COCKTAIL OF NEW ORLEANS

Posted: February 11, 2024 in Uncategorized
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Sure, it’s Super Bowl Sunday, but Fat Tuesday is just 2 days away! Why not celebrate it early?

If I asked you to name a cocktail that defines New Orleans, you might say The Hurricane. After all, it’s a tourist favorite at the famous Pat O’Brien’s on Bourbon Street.

But the official cocktail of New Orleans is the Sazerac, a potent concoction that was created early in the 19th century by Antoine Amédée Peychaud, a Creole apothecary who emigrated to New Orleans from the West Indies and set up shop in the French Quarter. He was known to dispense a proprietary mix of aromatic bitters from an old family recipe, now famously known as Peychaud’s bitters.

Sazerac ingredients.

Around 1850, Sewell T. Taylor sold his New Orleans bar, the Merchants Exchange Coffee House, to become an importer of spirits, and he began to import a brand of cognac named Sazerac-de-Forge et Fils. Meanwhile, Aaron Bird assumed proprietorship of the Merchants Exchange and changed its name to Sazerac Coffee House. 

Legend has it that Bird began serving the “Sazerac Cocktail,” made with Sazerac cognac imported by Taylor, and allegedly with bitters being made by the local apothecary, Antoine Amedie Peychaud. The Sazerac Coffee House subsequently changed hands several times, until around 1870, when Thomas Handy became its proprietor. It is around this time that the primary ingredient in a Sazerac changed from cognac to rye whiskey, due to the phylloxera epidemic in Europe that devastated the vineyards of France.

At some point before his death in 1889, Handy recorded the recipe for the cocktail, which made its first printed appearance in William T. Boothby’s “The World’s Drinks and How to Mix Them” in 1908, although his recipe calls for Selner bitters, not Peychaud’s. After absinthe was banned in the United States in 1912, it was replaced by various anise-flavored liqueurs, most notably the locally produced Herbsaint, which first appeared in 1934.

In March 2008, Louisiana state senator Edwin R. Murray filed Senate Bill 6 designating the Sazerac as Louisiana’s official state cocktail. The bill was defeated on April 8, 2008. But, after further debate, on June 23, 2008, the Louisiana Legislature agreed to proclaim the Sazerac as New Orleans’ official cocktail.

The Sazerac, served at the Sazerac Bar in New Orleans.

It’s always more fun when someone makes your drink for you!

Peychaud’s bitters are now owned by the Buffalo Trace distillery, home of many a fine bourbon, and also the makers of Sazerac rye, a registered trademark. So the Sazerac Bar has to pay a fee to use the name. That also explains why they use Sazerac rye in their version of this classic cocktail.

But like many popular drinks, everybody has their own version of a Sazerac. In fact, if you Google the drink, you’ll find dozens of versions: with cognac, rye, or bourbon (or even a combination)…with a sugar cube or simple syrup…and with a variety of absinthes.

Note: you can buy simple syrup–I prefer it in this recipe over sugar cubes–but it’s easy to make at home. Simply combine a cup of sugar with a cup of water in a saucepan and heat it until all the sugar dissolves. I keep my simple syrup in the fridge in a sealed container.


2 oz. rye whiskey (I use Old Overholt )
1/2 oz. simple syrup
3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Absinthe, to rinse, about 1/4 oz. (I use Herbsaint)
garnish lemon peel

Add ice to a rocks glass to chill it. (I also put it in the freezer.)

While it’s chilling, get a cocktail mixing glass, add some ice, and combine the rye, simple syrup, and the bitters, and stir. (Thirty times, according to tradition.)

Take the rocks glass out of the freezer, pour the ice out, and pour the Herbsaint into the glass, swirling it around to coat the glass, then pouring out the excess.

Strain the mix of rye, simple syrup, and bitters into the rocks glass with the Herbsaint.

Run a lemon peel around the rim of the glass and garnish with it.

For me, rye, specifically Old Overholt, is the down-and-dirty way to go. After all, this is not a kiddy drink. A few sips, and you’re feeling no pain.

A Sazerac at the Napoleon House in New Orleans.

Though sipping a Sazerac in New Orleans is an amazing experience in itself, and I’ve had it at the Sazerac Bar as well as the Napoleon House and other bars in NOLA…perhaps my craziest Sazerac experience happened at the famous White Horse Tavern in New York City, the Big Apple’s second oldest continuously running bar. (It opened in 1880.) I think this is where I was told to use Old Overholt in my Sazerac, and have ever since.

Dylan Thomas was a regular there, and other celebrities, like Norman Mailer, Jim Morrison, Bob Dylan, and Hunter S. Thompson also had drinks there. So it’s probably not surprising that my buddy, Lee, and I overindulged on Sazeracs at this historic tavern.

It was a very cold winter’s night in the late 1980’s–a blizzard, in fact–and we decided to go out drinking in the city, because I was back home in New York on holiday vacation from Alabama, where I was working at the time. We had more than our share of Sazeracs, when we decided we would walk to a new eatery called the Gulf Coast, located on the west side. (All we knew was that the restaurant was about 10 blocks from where we were, but after 4 Sazeracs, “where we were” was questionable, to say the least.)

Now, this was before the internet–before cell phones–before Uber–and no cabs were running (because it was a blizzard, after all)–so we decided we would walk! Not the smartest thing we’ve ever done. It only took a few blocks for us to realize, even in our drunken stupor, that we made a very bad choice! We were certain that we would be found, huddled and frozen in an alley somewhere, only after the spring thaw.

The storm was so bad, we couldn’t even find our way back to the bar. Miraculously, somehow, we did make it to the Gulf Coast, and we lived to tell the tale.

As Homer Simpson once said: “To alcohol…the cause of, and cure for, all of life’s problems!”

Sazeracs. Try your first one at home. Or take an Uber!

A VISIT TO BLOCK ISLAND

Posted: July 25, 2019 in Food, Rhode Island, seafood, Southern New England, travel
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One of the best reasons to visit Rhode Island in the summertime is Block Island. Ferries sail from Point Judith, RI as well as Newport, and Fall River, MA. You can even grab one from New London, CT and Montauk, NY. For me, Point Judith, though on the other side of the state, is the most convenient, because I can grab the high-speed ferry and be there in 30 minutes. For someone that’s not crazy about being on a boat, it’s as fast and as smooth as it gets!

Block Island used to be a well-kept secret, but on a recent weekend, it was clear that the secret was out! The island was packed, and it seemed like every ferry was loaded to the brim with day trippers. That also meant that parking spaces in Point Judith became quite the hassle, and on our trip, we actually got what amounted to the second-to-last parking space after being shut out of dozens of huge parking lots in the area.

Despite using the Waze app, which told me we’d get there on time, we had no idea we’d be searching for a parking space for a really long time. Finding that second-to-last space, and running to the boat with our packs on our backs, we were literally the last people on the ferry.

So rule #1 about going to Block Island during peak tourist season: make reservations online, but still give yourself a lot more time than you think you’ll need to find a parking space!

My buddy, Scarpetti from 94HJY, our radio station in Providence, RI, was doing a live broadcast from Ballard’s the Saturday we traveled, and we hung out there for lunch. Great drinks, excellent food, live music, all on the beach: Ballard’s is just steps away from the ferry dock. It’s no surprise that many people that have been to Block Island have only been to Ballard’s and nowhere else!

 

We made it to Ballard’s! Time for a drink!

 

I was on Block Island with my daughter, who looks forward to our yearly trip to the island. I also do a live broadcast from Ballard’s, but this year my schedule changed and I couldn’t do it, so we figured we’d just skip the island this summer. But then we got really lucky, thanks to some friends with connections, and found a room for a single night. (In season, most hotels require a minimum 2-night stay, and usually, I book my room far in advance to get the best deal, but this was a last-minute travel decision.)

 

The Narragansett Inn. Nothing fancy, but all we needed.

 

We stayed at the Narragansett Inn, which is about a mile and a half from town. Totally basic: no AC, small rooms, shared baths, but it was clean and it was the only place that allowed us to spend 1 night. They also offered a really nice breakfast buffet, included in the room price.

 

Hangin’ at The Oar.

 

We had dinner at The Oar, a really popular restaurant and bar that is always jammin’, partly because they are world-famous for their mudslides. I had a couple on this trip, and I have to say that my memory of the mudslides was better than the real thing. They seemed a bit watered down this time, despite my ordering top-shelf booze in them. No matter, that didn’t stop me from getting a brain freeze!

 

Mudslide brain freeze!

 

The food at The Oar was great. My daughter enjoyed tacos, while I had a half-dozen Block Island oysters followed by one of their signature sushi rolls called the Candy Cane: shrimp tempura with tuna. It was delicious, and finding really good sushi on the island was a wonderful surprise.

 

The Candy Cane sushi roll.

 

Taxis run all over Block Island (no Ubers) and you really don’t wait very long for one to arrive. we took one back to town from The Oar, and did what everybody was doing: watched the last of the ferries return the daytrippers back home, and then walked around the various souvenir shops, finally grabbing some ice cream before heading back to the hotel.

 

The old Surf Hotel has been refurbished and is now the Block Island Beach House. We didn’t go inside…but it looks nice!

 

Back at the Narragansett Inn, we grabbed a couple of Adirondack chairs and watched the sunset before calling it a day.

 

Sunset on Block Island.

 

There’s lots to do on Block Island. You can rent bikes or mopeds…you can hike trails to remote beaches…you can party the night away, pub crawling to dozens of bars…you can rent entire homes and just enjoy the sea breezes and the peace and quiet…or you can stay in hotels and enjoy a bit more of the nightlife.

The secret to success with Block Island is to plan and book early. Off-season, the island is just as beautiful and not as crowded. And if you plan on bringing your car to the island, you literally need to be booking the car ferry in January!

 

First-run movies play at the theater, though sometime people have fun with the sign…

 

I’ve done all of it, from renting a house to staying in a variety of hotels. It’s all good and a really unique experience. Get to the Block!

ST. LUCIA…LOOKING BACK

Posted: April 25, 2019 in Uncategorized
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Now that I’m home from my trip to St. Lucia, I’ve had a chance to think about the wonderful people I’ve met, and the unique experiences I’ve had.

My driver, Anthony, and I having one last sip of spiced rum before I headed to the airport to go home.

 

One of the smartest things I did was to hire a knowledgeable driver, Anthony, take me just about everywhere. Though I did rent a car for one day and took the winding, volcanic St. Lucian roads into my own hands, I stayed on the main drag, and I didn’t get out to mingle with the locals like I did when Anthony was by my side. Like many Caribbean islands I’ve been to, there’s quite a bit of poverty on this island. And people make a living any way they can. Sometimes it’s less than friendly. But for the most part, the people I met were grateful that I was there to appreciate their island and learn about their way of life.

I bought a conch shell from this fellow.

 

St. Lucia’s big crop and major export is bananas, most of which goes to the United Kingdom. You see huge banana plantations everywhere as you travel the main roads of the island. Their beer, Piton, stays on St. Lucia, which is too bad, because it tasted pretty good on those very hot days. And the big money, of course, comes from tourism.

Piton Gold has more alcohol than their regular beer. Works for me!

 

Chairman’s Reserve rum…the good stuff.

 

Bounty was good for mixing.

 

In some ways, St. Lucia is a few steps ahead in the tourism game. I’ve been to my share of tiny island airports, and some are dirty, hot, and completely disorganized. St. Lucia’s international airport is clean, air-conditioned, and the boarding of passengers was done in an orderly fashion.

The waiting area at the airport. There’s also a food court upstairs.

 

As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter how great the vacation was. If leaving the island becomes a nightmare at the airport, I will never return, and I won’t recommend it to anyone else, either. St. Lucia gets a big thumbs-up for that.

 

The island is large, and most of the roads are well-paved, though they wind up, down and around the island’s mountainous terrain. It took 90 minutes to get from the airport to the property I was renting in Marigot Bay, and that’s only halfway up the island. If all you’re doing is going to one of the three Sandals resorts (all in the northwest part of the island, just past Castries…about 2 hours from the airport), then maybe that’s fine. But if you’re like me, and you want to get out and explore a bit, transportation, whether by car or water taxi, is a large cash-only cost, especially if you’re traveling solo with no one to share the ride.

A map of St. Lucia I brought from home. The orange highlighted roads were all the ones I traveled on my trip! A lot of driving! The pink highlight at the bottom is the international airport…the pink highlight on the left is Anse Chastanet…and the black writing further up on the left is Marigot Bay, where I stayed.

 

Eastern Caribbean coins, or EC, are used here. One US dollar = 2.7 EC dollars.

 

Most established restaurants and bars will have a good selection of booze to choose from. But unfortunately, they measure their shots here (a pet peeve of mine), so if you want a “real” drink, you’ll need to ask for a double. Sometimes, if you’ve befriended the bartender, they’ll start pouring more generously toward the end of the night. A good tip never hurts!

Driving is on the left-hand side of the road, with the steering wheel on the right. Concentrate! Don’t drink and drive!

 

The local restaurants often have some liquor to offer as well, but what they have varies greatly. Still, you can’t go wrong with rum. (Mt. Gay, one of my favorites, is available almost everywhere.) If you’re an adventurer when it comes to drinking, ask for “spiced,” which is a house-made spiced rum. They take a gallon jug, fill it with overproof rum, add some local sticks and twigs (probably cinnamon and other stuff), add some spices, and then something like grenadine to make it red and sweet. They pour it in a small cup for you to enjoy. It’s very strong, very sweet, and it burns all the way down…not that that’s a bad thing!

Local spiced rum!

 

The Rum Cave at the Marigot Bay Resort and Marina, a more luxurious choice for dinner and drinks, offered tapas and a nice choice of rums…even rum tasting sessions.

 

Drinking and driving, though discouraged with billboard ads, is not strictly regulated, and it’s not unusual for a driver to have a beer in one hand while steering with the other.

Another way to earn money: making charcoal to sell to hotels for barbecuing.

 

Many St. Lucians, like my friend, Anthony, see tourism as their way to make a living, so they welcome it. But in the beginning, as we were driving from the airport to my rental cottage, we passed many poor towns, with beat up old shacks on the side of the road. Trash was everywhere, including stripped cars and old trucks overgrown with grass, showing they’ve been there–and will be–for some time. It reminded me of Anguilla and a few other islands I’ve been to. Seeing some of these things was a bit disturbing in the beginning, but it’s also amazing how quickly I got used to it and almost ignored it after a while. Maybe that’s typical…or maybe that says something about us as human beings.

On the northern part of the island: the set-up for baking bread on the side of the road…a large drum, sheet metal, a wheel rim, and a few cinder blocks.

 

The roadside bakeries that I explored in the north and the south, were a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

That’s my buddy, Anthony, being served!

 

Bread baking on the southern part of the island: a homemade concrete stove.

 

A delicious Caribbean lunch from an out-of-the-way restaurant where only the locals go.

 

This lovely lady serves fresh-caught grilled conch in Gros Islet on Wednesdays and Fridays…and she sells out quickly. It was delicious!

 

The grilled conch, with rice and an onion-garlic sauce.

 

It’s good to visit some of these shacks–preferably with a local guide (like my friend, Anthony) who knows what he’s doing, and knows the people. They’re hard-working, and aren’t looking for a handout.

A voltage converter is mandatory. Most electrical outlets are 220 volts. (American flag optional.)

 

I passed dozens of small stands on the side of the road selling bananas, pumpkins, tomatoes, ginger, and other local produce. There were small food trucks, souvenir stands, and tiny little shacks that could barely hold 3 bar stools with signs that exclaimed: “Come in. Refresh Yourself!” Local spiced rum and other beverages were served inside.

One of the Pitons.

 

The very northern tip of St. Lucia. It’s a 90-minute ferry ride from here to Martinique.

 

Marigot Bay at sunset, from the balcony of Julietta’s restaurant. I had an excellent grilled mahi dinner here.

 

A little morning drizzle brings rainbows.

 

Although the beaches on St. Lucia are open to the public, even those that belong to the fancy resorts, they often make access difficult for the regular folk that just want to spend the day there and go for a swim. At Anse Chastanet, one of the most luxurious resorts on the island, you can throw your blanket on the sand in a designated area for free. But a chair is $24 a day, and it’s positioned away from the hotel guests who are paying a pretty penny to be separated from the “riff-raff.” I also got approached by a local trying to sell me a variety of hiking and sailing packages, something that’s pretty common everywhere.

Anse Chastanet: visitors stay on this side of the bar. Still, could be worse, right?

 

Red snapper coconut ceviche at Anse Chastanet.

 

I’m not a cruise guy. I’m not an all-inclusive resort guy. I think most people who have been to St. Lucia have done one or the other. It’s a very limited experience. If you’re staying in a resort surrounded by barbed wire and you never leave, what difference does it make where you go?–St. Lucia, Jamaica, Cancun…it’s all the same. You don’t meet the people, apart from those selling souvenirs and duty-free liquor. And you don’t sample real St. Lucian food, a wonderful mix of French, East Indian, and British dishes, mixed with local mangoes, plantains, oranges, and root vegetables.

Enjoying a freshly opened coconut on the side of the road. First you drink the coconut water, then scoop out the soft meat inside.

 

Banana ketchup, which tastes more like banana mustard. I got hooked.

 

St. Lucia has many luxurious resorts where the rich and famous come to hide. But for me, the real St. Lucia is a get-out-of-your-comfort-zone island. That’s where the genuine island experience is.

 

 

ST. LUCIA…Day 5

Posted: April 10, 2019 in Uncategorized
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My driver and newest best friend, Anthony, was telling me about this woman who cooks the most amazing grilled conch. But she only serves it on Wednesdays and Fridays. And considering today is Wednesday, and my last full day on the island, it was imperative that I go and check it out.

 

 

He told me it would be unlike any conch I’ve ever had before… And he was right!

 

I think she marinated and then grilled it, but didn’t overcook it, so it was absolutely delicious with a little bit of a bite.

 

 

She served it with rice on the side, And then poured this amazing sauce made of sautéed onions and garlic over everything. It was fantastic!

 

It was a long ride from my comfortable little hut, but it was absolutely worth it.

 

On the way back, we stopped at another roadside bakery, where a woman was baking amazing bread.

That’s my buddy, Anthony, being served!

 

 

Flour, water, yeast, salt.  The natural warmth and humidity of the air was perfect for proofing the bread before baking.

The sheer ingenuity of the people on this island… Utilizing anything they can get their hands on. Really amazing.

 

And the bread was absolutely delicious!

ST. LUCIA…Day 4

Posted: April 9, 2019 in Uncategorized
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When I’m asked for my best advice for traveling, my top reply is: make friends with a local.  Nobody knows like someone who’s lived there all their life.

In the case of my driver, Anthony, he knew all the back roads to avoid traffic in the bigger city. He knew all the food places where the locals, not the tourists, eat.

And I noticed how the locals looked at me, giving me a thumbs up, when they saw that I was supporting one of their own.

Today’s island tour covered mostly the northern part of the country. We had lunch at a simple Caribbean restaurant, where I had delicious grilled chicken with salad, rice, potato salad, and noodles.

 

 

I grabbed myself another bottle of St. Lucian rum, this time a little less fancy than what I have been drinking before. But it totally works with a mixer.

 

I discovered something called banana ketchup, which I have to take home!

 

And in the heat of the day, I enjoyed fresh coconut water.  Afterwards, with a couple of swift moves of his machete, the gentleman split the coconut in half and made a makeshift spoon that let me scoop out all the soft interior meat. Delicious!

 

( Anthony is a great driver… But not the best photographer! )

 

 

24 HOURS IN BOSTON

Posted: February 16, 2019 in bacon, beef, breakfast, Carnivore!, Cocktails, Drinks, Food, grilling, MARTINI, pancakes, restaurants, travel, Uncategorized
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My 12-year-old daughter’s at the age where she’s fascinated by the world of music. Working in radio, I’m lucky that I’m able to offer her some great experiences. Thanks to my boss, Rob, the man with all the connections, she got to meet her favorite band, AJR. She went backstage and met the guys from Imagine Dragons. She received a hand-written birthday greeting from Brendan Urie of Panic! at the Disco.

I saw my first concert at the age of 17. It was Three Dog Night and T.Rex at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. My daughter has already seen more concerts than I did in my teens.

As touristy as they are (and as mediocre as the food is), Hard Rock Cafes and their walls full of pictures, guitars, photos and other memorabilia, offer a glimpse into the world of music that fascinates my daughter. Once she visited her first Hard Rock, the world’s largest at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, she was hooked. If we were traveling anywhere near a Hard Rock Cafe, we had to go.

The Hard Rock at Universal was followed by New York City, Washington DC, the Cayman Islands, Paris, and Reykjavik. Yet we never made to the one in Boston, closest to our home in Rhode Island. It was time to go.

Hard Rock Cafe, Boston.

 

Our stay in Boston began with lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, near Fanuel Hall. Nothing particularly amazing about the venue, but we could now scratch it off the list.

I clearly don’t know what the hell I’m doing.

 

Because our main point of going to Boston was to visit the New England Aquarium, I chose to get a room at the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel, located right on the water and literally a few steps from the aquarium. The area around Long Wharf includes many restaurant and shopping choices.

The Marriott Long Wharf is a huge hotel, and I was surprised at just how clean the property was, despite the vast numbers of people who were moving through the lobby and hallways. Our room was clean and technologically up-to-date: everything you’d want in a hotel room. Beds were comfortable, towels were plentiful.

The only complaint I had about our hotel is one that I have with most of the Marriotts and Westins that I’ve been to recently. They’ve decided to make the move away from old-fashioned room service with carts, real plates and silverware, and decent food. Now they all offer what amounts to take-out service. You get a bag full of cardboard boxes that contain your meals….paper napkins…plastic utensils…and crappy food. I highly doubt all of this gets recycled. So in a world where we’re supposed to be thinking about how not to overload our landfills, these guys came up with the idea to make everything disposable. Really dumb. Goes without saying that we didn’t eat at the hotel.

No carts. No fuss. No thanks.

 

The New England Aquarium is a great place to take the family and see penguins up close. We arrived at feeding time, and it was fun to watch them eat; some of them fussy, some of them devouring their offerings of fish. The center of the building is a spiral, and inside the spiral is a huge 4-story aquarium. So as you slowly walk up the spiral, you get a constantly changing view of the aquarium and the thousands of fish and other sea life (manta rays, tortoises, sea horses, jellyfish, starfish, eels, seals, and lots more that thrive there. Again, you might be lucky to catch them at feeding time, when workers in scuba gear swim down to the different groups of fish and make sure they get fed.

One note: buy your tickets online before you go. The outdoor line for last-minute ticket buyers was huge, and we visited on a bone-chilling winter’s day. Those people standing in line were very unhappy. We just walked right in with our online printed tickets.

 

The Red Lantern in Boston.

 

We don’t have many great Asian restaurant choices in Rhode Island, so when we go to Boston, it’s almost always on our list. This time, we decided to skip Chinatown and go to a restaurant that was as much about the atmosphere as it was about the food: The Red Lantern. Great music, cool lighting, awesome design, very good food and a huge cocktail menu. My daughter had miso soup and a massive delicious bowl of beef lo mein. I shoved a few large chopstick-fulls into my mouth “for blogging purposes.” Really good. I started with a plate of boneless ribs, sweet and sticky. My main dish was a huge spicy tuna toro maki roll: a tempura fried roll with avocado, cucumber, chili soy and toro tuna, slightly torched. Over the top. The Red Lantern has a beautiful bar, and my original mai-tai was well-made, though very sweet.

Dessert selections weren’t what we wanted…and we needed a breather…so we Ubered over to Newbury Street, where we found a wonderful gelato shop: Amorino. It’s an Italian chain, and they know how to do gelato!

I suppose if I wasn’t hanging out with my daughter, I’d take this opportunity to go to a bar for one last cocktail, but instead, we just went back to the hotel and focused on the next day, thinking we’d hit the indoor pool. Turns out it wasn’t a great idea, because the pool last the Marriott Long Wharf was really small and full of screaming little kids. Plan B: find a really great Sunday brunch.

Mooo, in Boston.

 

Mooo is a steak restaurant inside the beautiful XV Beacon Hotel, on historic Beacon Street. As I was searching for brunch possibilities, I saw the tempting list of freshly-baked treats on their menu, very different from those offered elsewhere, and I knew this was where we needed to go. We were not disappointed!

Ordering the cinnamon buns was a no-brainer. The moment they say on the menu that you “need to give it a little extra time,” you know it’s going to be worth the wait! as we slowly pulled apart the gooey rolls, shoving them into mouth, I moaned like Patton Oswalt in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: “Cinnnabonnnn……” (Though it was way better than any Cinnabon I ever head!)

The incredible cinnamon buns at Mooo.

 

My daughter knew almost instantly that she was going to have the chocolate chip pancakes…with a side of bacon, of course. I was contemplating the lobster eggs Benedict (I’m a huge fan of bennies), but then I said to myself: “Wait…this is a steak restaurant. They have half-a-dozen steak and eggs offerings on the menu. Have a steak, for crying out loud!” My inner voice served me well.

I had a choice of 2 ribeyes: either a 12-oz. American corn-fed ribeye, or a 14-oz. pastured, grass-fed Australian ribeye. I’m a grass-fed guy, so the larger Australian ribeye (which was also less expensive) was a no-brainer. It was cooked to a perfect medium-rare, and was one of the best steaks I’ve had in a very long time. A couple of eggs and a side of perfectly cooked potatoes made for an ideal meal.

Brunch is served!

 

Mooo was such a great choice for brunch that I will keep it in mind for dinner on a return trip to Boston.

 

We returned to our hotel after brunch, simply to pack up and head home. A nice 24-hour getaway with wonderful food and a fun time with my daughter. I know my daughter and I will be back in June to see a Billie Eilish concert at the Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion, so we’ll have more opportunities to hit a couple of restaurants, this time in the Seaport District, which, sadly, is being overrun by so much new construction that you can’t even see the water anymore. It’s sad because Boston’s traffic has just been rated the worst in the country, and this will only add to a crumbling infrastructure that is already overloaded.

 

 

 

TRAVELING WITH CHILDREN: A BIG THUMBS UP

Posted: January 23, 2019 in Uncategorized
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Before our daughter was born, my wife and I traveled the world. We got engaged in Paris. We honeymooned in Thailand. We swam with dolphins in Moorea. We rode camels along the Mediterranean in Morocco. So when our daughter was born, many of our friends thought our traveling days would be over.

At the Kaikoura Lavender Farm, South Island, New Zealand

 

One of the biggest sources of inspiration for me, personally, was a moment on our honeymoon in Thailand. We left our luxurious resort on Koh Samui to spend a few days on a remote island called Koh Nang Yuan, a destination for adventurers and serious scuba divers.

While waiting for our ferry to arrive, a bunch of us were packed like sardines in a small area. Around the corner came a young man, carrying 2 very large duffel bags–clearly a scuba diver with all his gear. But a moment later, his wife appeared from around the corner, and she was pushing a baby in a stroller. She whispered something to her husband, and he unzipped one of the large duffel bags to reveal a huge stash of diapers! He pulled one out, handed it to his wife, and she headed toward the restroom.

In that moment I realized: you can travel with a kid…and you can still have the adventure of a lifetime! It changed my attitude toward travel forever.

Snorkeling in St. John, USVI

 

It’s understood that not everyone can do this. Traveling is expensive. We gladly trade material things (that fancy SUV will have to wait) so that we can share some amazing memories.

In the crown of the Statue of Liberty, NYC

 

By the age of 12, my daughter had traveled to France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Lithuania, England, New Zealand, Iceland, Canada and the Caribbean.

London, England

 

The first time our daughter’s feet touched salt water, it was as an infant in the Adriatic Sea in Puglia, Italy. The first time she had a steak, it was steak frites in Paris.

Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid, Spain

 

Though she didn’t always realize it, her travels gave her an incredible education. The people she met, the foods she (sometimes) ate, the places she saw that her friends would only read about. It has made her wise in ways we never could have expected.

A mountain top view of San Sebastian, Spain

 

Swimming with stingrays at Stingray City in the Cayman Islands

 

Sure, once in a while my wife and I still travel alone for a romantic getaway. But to see the world through our daughter’s eyes has been a real joy for us, especially now when I can share my love for music with her.

Hard Rock Cafe, Paris

 

Hot dogs in Reykjavik, Iceland

 

We have friends that tell us they can’t afford to travel the way we do. Then they blow thousands on a Disney vacation or cruise.

Washington, DC

 

Everyone needs to make that choice on their own, but we decided a long time ago that we’d skip places like Disney World for the real world.

Sharing an artsy moment with Mom in Santorini, Greece

 

…and a silly moment with Dad in Vilnius, Lithuania

 

 

Even local trips can make a tremendous difference in a child’s life.

Block Island, RI

 

Fishing off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

 

Camping in the Berkshires, Massachusetts.

 

Rafting on the Kennebec River in The Forks, Maine

 

Never underestimate the power of travel! It’s not just great for the kid…it’s great for the whole family!

 

ICELAND: REYKJAVIK AND MORE

Posted: January 13, 2019 in Uncategorized
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Iceland is a land of extremes. In recent years, its remote, untouched beauty has lured tourists in vast numbers. But this tourism, which is the lifeblood of the country, is also the very thing that’s destroying it.

Back in late 2008, Iceland suffered a major financial crisis, the largest experienced by any country in economic history. To add to the damage, two years later, in 2010, the eruption of the volcano Eyjafjallajökull ejected so much smoke and ash into the atmosphere that the airspace around Iceland and Europe was closed to air traffic for an 8-day period, accounting for 48% of the world’s total air traffic and about 10 million displaced passengers.

This devastating combination caused prices in Iceland to plummet and word got out that it was an inexpensive, somewhat unexplored, destination for adventurers.
Fast forward a few years later: Icelandair announced cheap airfares and no charge for layovers in Reykjavík, making travel to Iceland more attractive than ever. However, as the economy recovered, prices in Iceland started skyrocketing. Despite this, tourism has increased from 200,000 people a year 10 years ago to 3 million a year currently. Quite a huge change for a country with a population of only 300,000!
There is no way this beautiful country, and the small city of Reykjavík, can handle this onslaught of tourism for very long. In fact, the Icelandic government has now started reducing new construction and putting a tax on hotels in downtown Reykjavík, trying to get people to do use lodgings that are outside of the city limits.

But it’s going to take a lot more than that to slow down the massive number of people who are finding Iceland the new “in place” to go.

The Sun Voyager. On the Reykjavik waterfront.

My wife and I first visited Iceland 16 years ago, and to say that things have changed is a huge understatement. Everything was so different, so built up; it was completely unrecognizable.
Our recent 3-day, 4-night trip to Iceland happened in between Christmas and New Year’s, where the winter weather remained in the 30s and 40s during the day, with on and off rain. We only had 4 hours of sunlight: the sun rose at 11:30AM and set at 3:30PM!
Despite that this is the prime season to see the aurora borealis, the lack of clear skies made it impossible for us to see it on our trip. In fact, there are very few clear nights in the winter months, so it’s a chance every traveler takes. The aurora borealis is usually visible between the months of September through mid-April. A good idea is to download a free app that lets you know when visibility will be at its best. You may not get to see the aurora, but at least you won’t lose money reserving a spot on a trip that ends up a disappointment…like I did!

Hallgrimskirkja, a Lutheran church, and one of the highest points in all of Iceland. Take the elevator up to catch the view!

 

Reykjavík is a great walking city, and for the longer jaunts, there are plenty of taxis to take you where you need to go. There is no Uber in Iceland…yet! Locals will tell you that the Reykjavík bus system is spotty at best. We found that walking was a great way to work off some of the calories of the very rich foods we were eating.

This is what you get if you’re trying to get an Uber ride in Reykjavik.

 

Like all of our travels, we came for the food…

Restaurants in Reykjavik feature mostly Icelandic menus. That means a lot of lamb dishes and lamb soups. After all, there are three sheep roaming the grassy fields of Iceland for every one of the 300,000 people living in this country. Beef can be found on just about every menu, but, like everything else that is imported, it comes at a very steep price. Icelandic seafood is spectacular, but just because it’s local, it doesn’t mean it’s a cheaper alternative.
Alcoholic beverages are another huge expense in Iceland. For example, my Hendrick’s gin and tonic cost $25 US, and all I got was 1 ounce of gin in my glass! Hard to get a good buzz at that price! My advice is: if you can buy a bottle at the duty-free shop at the airport…do it! Then have a cocktail in your hotel room or apartment.

An expensive–and rare–treat: A Hendrick’s and tonic at Sushi Social in Reykjavik.

 

The homemade solution to high alcohol prices: buy it and mix it yourself!

 

Although some restaurants do have vegetarian menus, vegetables in general are hard to come by in Iceland, and all fruits must be imported. Root vegetables can be found on some dishes: carrots, parsnips and potatoes. If you’re craving a salad, greenhouses in Iceland grow the cooler weather greens like arugula and spinach. You’ll also find small greenhouse tomatoes in some dishes. (Electricity is the one thing that’s cheap in Iceland, thanks to geothermal power, so greenhouses can make a profit here.)
Reykjavík does offer sushi restaurants as well as noodle shops. You can also find Italian restaurants and pizza joints.
And if you’re craving a hot dog, nothing beats a lamb hotdog with “the works” at the world-famous Reykjavík hotdog stand, that has been in operation for over 80 years. “The works” means: ketchup, mustard, fried onions, raw onions, and their special remoulade.

 

The famous hot dog stand in Reykjavik. That’s my daughter’s hot dog: ketchup only!

 

Other than KFC and Taco Bell out in the suburbs, we didn’t find any fast-food restaurants in Reykjavik, which was fine by us.
For finer dining, the general rule is this: whatever you think an expensive dinner should cost in the US, triple that price and you’re pretty close to what you’ll pay in Reykjavik! It’s important to keep this in mind when budgeting for a trip, especially if you’re a food nut like my wife and me, and you want to eat everything.

Lamb soup, a staple in Icelandic cooking, and our first taste on our food tour.

 

If you want to learn about local foods, I highly recommend you sign up for the food tour as one of your first things to do in Reykjavík. We went with a company called Wake Up Reykjavík, and they are full of wonderful information about the food and history of Iceland. It’s a walking tour, and you get to sample all kinds of interesting Icelandic foods, from lamb soup to skyr (their version of yogurt), from cheeses to cured meats, and homemade seafood dishes as well. Of course, the famous lamb hot dog stand is on the tour as well. Do the food tour on your first day, and you will already be ahead of the game as far as knowing the lay of the land in this wonderful town.

Our food tour guide was Eyglo, from Wake Up Reykjavik. Here she’s giving us samples of Icelandic cheeses, and cured lamb, horse (yes, horse!) and goose.

 

Icelandic comfort food: a baked cod dish on our food tour.

 

Where and what we ate in Reykjavik…

Staff Kitchen & Bar: a local gastropub on Hverfisgata, one of the main roads in town, with small shops and restaurants. Great burgers, craft beers. Had a wonderful duck risotto with mushrooms and excellent leg of lamb. www.facebook.com/staffkitchenandbar

Duck risotto with mushrooms at Staff Kitchen & Bar.

 

Hofnin: On the waterfront, this homey seafood-based restaurant also has many satisfying meat dishes. Burgers, open-faced roast beef sandwiches, shrimp cocktail with Icelandic shrimp, naan pizza with langoustines. Good solid comfort food. www.hofnin.is

Hofnin, on the waterfront in Reykjavik.

 

Bad lighting, but great open-faced roast beef sandwich at Hofnin.

 

Delicious Icelandic shrimp cocktail at Hofnin.

 

 

Apotek: Keeping the theme of the former apothecary that previously occupied the building, this hip dining establishment is a great place to stop in for a cocktail. But dinner is also a good move: beef tenderloin, Icelandic langoustines and shrimp, minke whale (if you dare), duck and waffles, and an excellent trio of waffles with cured sea trout, lamb and duck. Though the service was a bit lacking, it was still one of our favorite meals in Reykjavik. http://www.apotekrestaurant.is

A beautiful plate of langoustines and shrimp at Apotek.

 

Sushi Social: This is where the beautiful young people hang out. Loud and fun, it’s less about the food and more about who you’re with. A full cocktail bar and sushi that’s fresh, but just OK. And though the prices are high (as everywhere in Iceland) you don’t get a whole lot of fish on your sushi rolls. Still, a fun place that’s packed every night. http://www.sushisocial.is

A front-row seat at Sushi Social.

 

The Icelandic sushi plate at Sushi Social. (See? It’s on a cut-out of Iceland.)

 

Ramen Momo: the original ramen in Iceland and excellent. Great stop for lunch. www.facebook.com/ramenmomoreykjavik

Hard Rock Cafe: There was a Hard Rock in Reykjavik many years ago, and then they shut it down. But as the tourists started coming, it was a wise move to open a newer, bigger and better one. The menus at all Hard Rocks are about the same, so if you’re craving a cheeseburger, mac and cheese, a Caesar salad, ribs, or any other American dish, this is the place to go…with a side of rock and roll. Given that salads are hard to come by in Iceland, it was a welcome change.

 

Jomfruin Scandinavian Kitchen: This was my best meal in Iceland by far. It was also my last meal! Had I known about it sooner, I would’ve eaten there every day. Growing up in a Lithuanian family, herring and smoked eel are in my blood. So when my wife told me there’s a restaurant serving this and more right next door to the Hard Rock, I had to go in. The herring is from Iceland, and marinated in-house. The smoked eel, imported from Denmark, is fatty and absolutely delicious. Washing it down with a shot of Icelandic aquavit…it was like paradise!

Right next door to the Hard Rock…and so good!

 

This meal was so good, it deserves a close-up! House-marinated herring, smoked eel, and Icelandic aquavit: it doesn’t get any better than this!

 

…and don’t forget the original hot dog stand: on Tryggvagata, near Kolaportio. http://www.bbp.is

 

 


Getting around Iceland…

Because it was winter time and we were basically staying in Reykjavík, we found no need to rent a car. I hired a car service online that took us from the airport in Keflavík to our rental apartment in Reykjavík…and then back again at the end of our vacation. (It’s about a 1-hour drive each way.) There is an airport in Reykjavik, but it’s for domestic flights and helicopter trips.
There are buses that will take you to Reykjavik as well, but if you pack as heavily as we do when you travel, having a private driver will be worth every penny–I mean–kronur!

The Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik. Many tours use this location as a meeting place.

 

We chose to do the Golden Circle tour, which includes the famous Blue Lagoon. Again, we hired a company to drive us on a very comfortable small bus to all the sites: Þingvellir National Park, Haukadalur Geothermal Area (home of the famous Geysir hot spring) and Gullfoss (the Golden Waterfall.) We also had a nice meet-and-greet with Icelandic horses, a stop at Kerið Volcanic Crater, and of course, the Blue Lagoon.

Icelandic horse were brought over by the Vikings and have never interbred, making them the purest breed of horses in the world.

 

We went with Nice Travel, and our driver, Marek, was courteous, knowledgeable, and very skilled in winter Icelandic driving, where the weather can and will change every 15 minutes. We went from rain to snow to sleet to hail to sunshine, and back again in every combination possible.

Just before sunrise…and the only time we saw the moon all week!

The Golden Circle is a 190-mile road, not counting the extra drive to the Blue Lagoon, and if you take the tour, you’ll meet your bus around 8:30AM, and you’ll return around 9PM. It’s a long trip that is really worth a full day of your time.

Gulfoss Waterfall.

 

Our tour stopped for lunch at Geysir, where (besides the geyser!) they have a very large souvenir shop and several restaurants with a variety of food choices…none of which was there when we first visited 16 years ago.

Yes, they even allow dorks like me on this trip!

 

Reykjavik has many museums, some ridiculously small, others substantial. My wife, being an artist, checked out all the art museums in town in one day. My daughter and I, less interested in all that, spent our time at the Hard Rock and Perlan, a futuristic-looking museum and planetarium, with amazing panoramic views of Reykjavík. The outdoor observation deck on the fourth floor of this massive dome is breathtaking, as is the enclosed fifth floor restaurant, offering even better views.

The dome at Perlan.

 

Scultpures outside of Perlan. The dome sits on top of massive, repurposed water tanks. You can see them in the background.

 

So is Iceland worth the trip, even in the winter? Absolutely. Will you pay through the nose (or other orifice) for everything? Yes…yes, you will.

Our first trip 16 years ago was in the summer, when we had barely 3 hours of darkness every day. This time, we had 3 hours of sunlight. It was a totally different experience, and one we won’t forget.

Next time–and there will be a next time–we’ll visit in the fall, and take a few remote excursions far outside Reykjavik city limits. There’s much more beauty to see.

ICELAND PIC OF THE DAY 4

Posted: December 30, 2018 in Uncategorized
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Our vacation has been great, but sadly, it is time to go home.  This very cool sculpture on the waterfront in Reykjavík says it all.

ICELAND PIC OF THE DAY 3

Posted: December 28, 2018 in Uncategorized
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We took the Golden Circle tour, checking out techtonic plate boundaries, volcanoes, waterfalls, geysers, and ended it all with a soak in the famous Blue Lagoon. On the way, we met a few friendly Icelandic horses, one of the oldest pure breeds in the world…originally brought over by the Vikings.

 

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