What Andy Does

I got a refund!

2011-02-03T22:23:00.002-07:00

As we're nearing peak tax filing season, it always puzzles me when people are thrilled to discover they are getting a substantial tax refund. Does this sound familiar? "I just filed my taxes and found out I'm getting a (x) dollar tax refund!"

A tax refund simply means that you have withheld too much, or overpaid the amount of tax actually due for the year. In effect, you are giving Uncle Sam an interest free loan. A balance due means you have withheld too little, or underpaid the amount of tax actually due. Regardless, at the end, you are going to pay the same amount of tax.

I don't know about you, but I prefer keeping my money as long as possible...that means I'm happy (ok maybe not happy, but content) when I find out that I need to write a check to the Department of the Treasury. Please note that there are underpayment penalties, so be sure to monitor your withholdings!

Dinner tonight - Tilapia and bell peppers

2010-09-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

After a week away from home, I was looking forward to cooking something. Here's what I made for dinner tonight:

Tilapia w/ red and green bell peppers

From fridge to table in less than 10 minutes, and a total meal cost of $4.50!

Sunday Simple Supper at noca

2010-09-01T00:36:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, I went w/ a group of friends to noca for dinner. noca is one of my favorite restaurants in the Valley and many local food enthusiasts regard it as one of the top restaurants in the Valley (along w/ Binkley's and Kai).

Each Sunday, noca offers a different 3-course "Sunday Simple Supper" menu for $35 (the regular menu is not available). Here was the menu for that evening:

First Course: Cold Pasta Salad – Roasted & Pickled Summer Vegetables, Machego, White Balsamic Vinagrette

Second Course (choice of):
- Fried Chicken – Creamed Corn, Braised Greens & Guanciale
- Market Fish of the Day (cod) – Dill Potato Salad, Shishito Peppers, English Pea Puree, Haricot Verts, Herb Jus
- Tasting of Farm Vegetables – Spatzle, Baby Fennel, Cipollini Onions, Baby Squash, Mushrooms, Broccolini, Red Pearl Onion, Citrus Pudding

Dessert: Brownie Sundae – Caramel, Spanish Peanuts, Mascarpone Gelato

Supplement: Bourbon Vanilla Waffle w/ Wisconsin Maple Syrup (+$5)

Here are a few pictures:


Amuse-bouche

Cold Pasta Salad – Roasted & Pickled Summer Vegetables, Machego, White Balsamic Vinagrette

Fried Chicken – Creamed Corn, Braised Greens & Guanciale

Market Fish of the Day (cod) – Dill Potato Salad, Shishito Peppers, English Pea Puree, Haricot Verts, Herb Jus

Supplement: Bourbon Vanilla Waffle w/ Wisconsin Maple Syrup

Complimentary grape cotton candy

Brownie Sundae – Caramel, Spanish Peanuts, Mascarpone Gelato

I was the only person among the group who had eaten at noca before. I'm pretty sure everyone left very satisfied. The food was amazing, as always, and our server was great. The $35 Simple Suppers are a fantastic value for the quality of food that you get.

Places mentioned:
noca
3118 E Camelback Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85016

Austin highlights

2010-08-24T00:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some highlights from my recent trip to Austin -

My first meal in Austin had to be BBQ of course! Iron Works BBQ just happened to be a block from my hotel.


Iron Works BBQ - beef brisket plate

Next up, a great $26.50 three course prix-fixe dinner at Chez Nous:

Chez Nous - chilled canteloupe and ginger soup

Chez Nous - trout

Chez Nous - creme caramel

I metup w/ a friend for lunch at Olivia. Olivia was named by Bon Appétit as one of 2009's Top Ten Best New Restaurants in America. The restaurant is beautiful, and the food was delicious. First up, some pictures of the restaurant (I loved the design):

On to the food:

Crispy Eggplant - garden pepper rouille

Potato Gnocchi - tomato sauce, shaved pecorino, puttanesca garnish

Quail - spicy cucumber salad, mint, toasted peanuts, fried shallot

Every dish was fantastic. The flavor and seasoning of each item was spot on. Definitely one of my favorite meals this year.

After lunch, we went to Central Market for some gelato. I happened to be there during their "Hatch Chile Festival"! (lucky me!) Central Market is like a food heaven. It was somewhat similar to Whole Foods, but in a more "natural" market setting. Here are a few miscellaneous pictures:

This was a "Kids" size portion for $2.99 - extremely generous portions!!! On the left is toasted almont; on the right is coconut w/ hatch chile

I loved this quote on the wall

Gelato case

roasting hatch chiles

Since I was in Texas, I had to have some more barbeque (this was a direct order from my sister). This time, I tried County Line:

1/4 rack, 2nd cut marbled brisket, mac & cheese, fries

I love farmers' markets, so on Saturday morning I went to check out the Austin Farmers' Market - Downtown. My first stop was a food cart - The Zubik House, for some breakfast:

Grilled asparagus omelette w/ bacon & montasio cheese

After the farmers' market, I went to Flip Happy Crepes. Flip Happy Crepes has been mentioned in Food & Wine and the Food Network a few times.

Nutella w/ banana crepe. Perfection.

Flip Happy Crepe is a very popular place!

I was so impressed w/ the gelato at Central Market, that I had to have some more before leaving the city.

From left to right: dark chocolate w/ hatch chile, pineapple w/ hatch chile, panna cotta

Right before heading to the airport, I stopped at Gourdough's.

Porkey's - canadian bacon, cream cheese, jalapeno jelly

The "Porkey's" at Gourdough's is one of the tastiest things ever.

Austin is a fantastic food city. There are so many dining options, and come to think of it, I don't recall seeing a single chain restaurant (w/ the exception of PF Chang's, which was next to my hotel). I'm sure those chains are around somewhere, maybe just not as prevalent in the downtown area. Thanks to everyone for all of the suggestions. J - I'll definitely hit Salt Lick next time I'm in Austin. B&T - same thing for the "migas" at El Chile.

Placed mentioned:
Iron Works BBQ
100 Red River Street
Austin, TX 78701

Chez Nous
510 Neches Street
Austin, TX 78701

Olivia
2043 South Lamar Boulevard
Austin, TX 78704

Central Market (multiple locations)

County Line (multiple locations)
6500 Bee Caves Road
Austin, TX 78746

The Zubik House
Austin Farmers' Market - Downtown (4th St/Guadalupe)

Flip Happy Crepes
400 Jessie Street
Austin, TX 78704

Gourdough's
1219 South Lamar Blvd
Austin, TX 78704

First impressions of Houston

2010-08-19T08:30:00.004-07:00

After 45 hours in Houston, here are some initial impressions of the city:

It's massive. Yet another victim of urban sprawl, similar to Phoenix...
Traffic is pretty bad. Traffic during peak periods in the Galleria area is awful, especially on the arterial roads adjacent to I-610. At 5:15pm on a weekday, it took me 30 minutes to drive .8 miles. Frustrating!
There isn't much to see, in terms of tourist attractions. I asked a few people, including two Houston natives, and they couldn't really think of any major tourist attractions.
As you may have heard, summers in Houston are hot and HUMID. The weather reminds me of the tropical climate found in Southeast Asia (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc.).
Houston seems like a solid food city. In terms of Chinese/Asian food, it's paradise. Driving along Bellaire Blvd, I would put the city right up there with LA, New York, and San Francisco.

#4 and #5 might explain the huge population of Asians in the area.

On to Austin!

Fall travel

2010-08-16T22:29:00.000-07:00

The fall travel season has arrived! That means it's "nomad time".

I'm off to Texas tomorrow for my first trip of the fall. Over the next few months, my teammates and I will be visiting over 90 cities in 31 countries. Personally, I'll be visiting cities 25 cities in 11 countries (including 5 countries that I've never been to before!).

Here's where I'll be heading this fall:

Houston, TX
Austin, TX
Washington, D.C. (twice)
Seattle, WA (twice)
Vancouver, Canada
Pittsburgh, PA
New York, NY
Philadelphia, PA
Chicago, IL
Ann Arbor, MI
Denver, CO
Portland, OR
Beijing, China
Taipei, Taiwan (three visits, one of those for work)
Hong Kong, China
Bangkok, Thailand
Manilla, Philippines
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Singapore
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Chennai, India
Dubai, UAE
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Manama, Bahrain

Time to pack my bags...

Happy hour at Frank & Albert's

2010-08-15T14:57:00.003-07:00

After work on Friday, I met up w/ a few friends at Frank & Albert's, which is located inside the Arizona Biltmore Resort. This was everyone's first visit there.

Here are two pictures of the restaurant:

Entrance to Frank & Albert's

bar area

Here's what I had to drink:

This was my first time trying Session Lager (from Full Sail Brewery). I really enjoyed it - I've never seen this beer before, but would definitely order it again!

From 5-7pm daily, they offer a "High Five" special, where you can choose any four items (from a list of eight) for $5. Here's a picture of what it looks like:

Various shots of things we ordered

Pulled Pork Empanada

Sedona Trout & Poblano Pesto Flat

Cumin Roasted Free Range Lamb

Yellow Tomato Gazpacho

Chipotle Glaze Turkey Meatloaf Slider

The Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Deviled Egg

Woodstone Baked Brie ($5)

Charred Chicken Lollipops ($5)

Overall, the food was good, although there was a service mishap - one of the servers spilled a "Yellow Tomato Gazpacho" all over R. They didn't charge her for her food and drink, but I still think they could have handled the issue much better. With the exception of this issue, we still enjoyed it. The "High Five" special is a great deal. The only universally panned item was the "Yellow Tomato Gazpacho".

Places mentioned:
Frank & Albert's
2400 East Missouri Avenue (in the Arizona Biltmore Resort)
Phoenix, AZ 85016

Dinner tonight

2010-08-09T22:42:00.000-07:00

Here's what I made for dinner tonight:

salmon w/ a bit of cajun seasoning

stir fried baby bok choy, mushrooms, and cilantro

Prepped and cooked both in less than 15 minutes!

Weekend highlights (part 2 of 2)

2010-08-08T19:28:00.001-07:00

Every summer, during the off-season, many of the resorts in the area offer fantastic rates and special package deals. For the past two years, we've stayed at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge (read about it here - "Deals @ the JW Marriott Desert Ridge").

This year, I had narrowed it down to either the Arizona Biltmore or Hermosa Inn, and finally decided on the "Night at Lon's" package at the Hermosa Inn.

The package included the following:

one-night stay in a deluxe casita
enhanced turn-down service
$100 credit at Lon's at the Hermosa
$50 breakfast credit

We paid $267 for a Sunday night stay - about $200 less than the rate during the winter (peak season) months.

Here are some pictures of our stay:

Our "deluxe casita" - there were 2 units in the building...

Big room!

HUGE bathroom!

awesome shower...

pool area - we went once in the evening and once in the morning and were the only guests there

welcome gift


2 chocolate cookies and personalized event guide w/ turndown service

Dinner - dining room @ Lon's

The next morning, we had breakfast on the patio of our casita:

You still have a few more months to take advantage of the summer deals, or you'll have to wait until next year!

Places mentioned:

The Hermosa Inn
5532 North Palo Cristi Road
Paradise Valley, AZ 85253

LON's at the Hermosa
5532 North Palo Cristi Road
Paradise Valley, AZ 85253

Blue Gold : World Water Wars

2010-08-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

I don't care if you are a global warming/energy crisis skeptic, everyone should watch the documentary, Blue Gold : World Water Wars. It's a pretty disturbing film about the current situation of water around the world.

Watch the trailer here: (and watch the movie soon!)

Learn more about your local watershed and what you can do here:
The Action Plan

BTW, I just looked up our local water supply and it's pretty scary...

Good thing we filter our tap water.

Avoid bottled water whenever possible, and eat locally grown food!

Weekend highlights (part 1 of 2)

2010-07-29T00:04:00.000-07:00

Here are a few highlights (and lowlights) from this past weekend:

Bowl of ramen from Republic Ramen

We metup with friends at Republic Ramen. Patty ordered a bowl of the "miso" ramen ($6.95). I had the "tonkotsu" ramen ($6.95). Both bowls of ramen looked identical, so I'm only posting one picture. We ordered both bowls with pork and egg (+$1.00). The miso ramen was, to put it mildly, not so good. The broth had an off taste. The tonkotsu ramen was marginal. The pork they use is completely wrong...

I would recommend going elsewhere to satisfy your ramen cravings.

On to some highlights!

Meyer lemon (left) and Caramel (right) macaron from Essence Bakery

After Republic Ramen, I suggested going to Essence Bakery for dessert. Patty and I have been a few times before and love their macarons. We ordered one meyer lemon and one caramel macaron. I'm not sure if they have made some changes recently, but they seemed to have skimped a bit of the filling (the filling should go to the edges of the cookies). Overall, these were still very good.

Fried pork chop over rice at iKitchen

We stopped for an afternoon snack at iKitchen. Patty and I shared a fried pork chop with rice ($6.25). FYI - this is a Taiwanese style dish. I thought it was pretty good, but Patty thought it was just "ok". In her opinion, the pork chop should've been thicker. She's from Taiwan, so I'd say that she's the expert. Still, it's not bad for the area!

On Sunday, we went with a friend to the newly opened Nobuo at Teeter House. Here's what we ate:

Watermelon goat cheese salad $6

Panko-fried soft shell crab sandwich $10

Tonkatsu sandwich $10

Ebi salad $9

Coconut curry grilled lamb $12

Everything was fantastic! They are currently only open for lunch, but we're looking forward to returning once they start their dinner service (w/ an expanded menu).

Places mentioned:

Republic Ramen
1301 East University Drive
Tempe, AZ 85281

Essence Bakery
825 West University Drive
Tempe, AZ 85281

iKitchen
5055 West Ray Road
Chandler, AZ 85226

Nobuo at Teeter House
622 E. Adams Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004

Vietnamese - Da Vang and Central King Egg Roll

2010-07-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday, we met some friends for dinner at Da Vang. We probably frequent Da Vang more than any other Vietnamese restaurant in the Valley. It's definitely not the nicest looking place, but the food is excellent and the prices are extremely reasonable.

Here's what we had:

Grilled pork w/ egg roll over rice noodles

Beef pho

The next day, Patty was craving for pho again. Little Saigon (another favorite) and Da Vang are both a bit of a hike for us, so I did some research online and found a place near us that had Vietnamese food - Central King Eggroll. For me (and I'm guessing others), the name is a bit misleading, as it sounds more like a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant does serve some Chinese food, although the menu is primary Vietnamese dishes.

Here are two pictures of the restaurant:

Here's what we ate:

Grilled lemongrass chicken - I thought this came over rice (per the menu description), but as you can see, it came served over rice noodles. It was good though.

Beef pho - I thought this was a great bowl of pho! The sliced beef was fresh and tender, the noodles weren't mushy (from overcooking) and the broth was clear and complex (with noticeable hints of star anise and cinnamon). If you compare the picture above, to the one from Da Vang, you'll also notice that there is no oil on the surface of the broth (there shouldn't be any!).

The ethnic dining options in the far West Valley are pretty limited, so I'm glad we discovered Central King Egg Roll! It's definitely going into our dining "rotation". FYI - other restaurants in the rotation include India Garden (Indian), Sala Thai, Tomo (Japanese), and AJK Chinese.

Places mentioned:

Da Vang
4538 N 19th Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85015

Central King Egg Roll
13530 West Van Buren Street
Goodyear, AZ 85338

Tomo Japanese Cuisine

2010-07-23T22:00:00.001-07:00

We went to Tomo Japanese Cuisine for dinner tonight. Tomo is one of our favorite places for sushi in the Valley. The food is consistently good, the prices are very reasonable (especially during happy hour), and most importantly, it's only a two to three minute drive from our house.

Here are some pictures of Tomo:

Here's what we ate:

California roll - $2.95 during happy hour

Caterpillar roll - $9.95

Salmon skill hand roll - $3.95

Yellowtail kama (jaw) - $5.50 during happy hour

As usual, everything was great!

Places mentioned:

Tomo Japanese Cuisine

1550 N Dysart Rd
Ste. A7-9
Goodyear, AZ 85395

Le Chalet

2010-07-23T00:31:00.000-07:00

For dinner tonight, I metup with a friend at Le Chalet (their website is a disaster btw...). Le Chalet opened earlier this year and I've been wanting to try it. I bought a $20 Groupon deal for $10 a few weeks ago, so this was the perfect opportunity to use it!

Here are some pictures:

Complimentary cheesebread - delicious!

Each of us ordered a savory crepe. I had the "Mediterranee" - sea scallops sauteed with julienned leeks in a creamy saffron sauce ($13.95).

This was excellent. The combination of flavors was fantastic.

My friend, D., ordered the "Fermiere" - creamed mushrooms and sauteed onions topped with sliced chicken breast and Swiss cheese ($10.95).

This one was a bit boring. If eaten on its own, it would probably be pretty good, but compared to the Mediterranee, I thought it was kind of plain.

I really enjoyed the "Mediterranee". Next time, I'll take Patty and we'll have to split a savory crepe so we room to try one of the dessert crepes.

Places mentioned:

Le Chalet
5626 West Bell Road
Glendale, AZ 85308

Summer BBQ

2010-07-18T11:13:00.002-07:00

Barbecue ribs are one of my favorite foods. Over the July 4th weekend, we took a mini road trip to Gilbert, AZ (nearly a one hour drive from our house), to visit Joe's Real BBQ. Here are a few shots of the restaurant:

We ordered a full slab of ribs to share. For our sides, we had corn, mac 'n cheese, and an order of corn bread. Here's a shot of the food:

and a close-up of the ribs...

Everything was fantastic. The ribs at Joe's are definitely among the best in town. Even though it was a TON of food, we finished it all.

Last weekend, we had another craving for bbq and decided to try making some at home. We don't have a grill, so we experimented by using our slow cooker. It was incredibly simply - ~2lbs of country style ribs with a bottle of this barbecue sauce (my sister gave this to us on our last visit to Seattle):

We let it simmer for about 4 hrs and here was the result:

Super tender and flavorful ribs...yum!

Places mentioned:
Joe's Real BBQ
301 North Gilbert Road
Gilbert, AZ 85234

Dinner tonight - Taiwanese style "xian su ji"

2010-07-15T22:59:00.001-07:00

Haven't posted anything for over 4 months now, but I just had to post a picture of our dinner tonight!

Patty made Taiwanese style "xian su ji" (salty fried chicken). If you are ever in Taiwan, xian su ji is one of the "must eat" street foods...tasty, tender morsels of fried chicken goodness. Patty even fried up some basil from our backyard. This was delicious!

SoCal trip highlights

2010-03-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some random food highlights from my recent trip to SoCal (Feb. 17-26):

Kogi - LA (truck was @ Sawtelle/Olympic): short rib taco

I had just finished my dinner and as I was walking out of the restaurant, I noticed a crowd of people near a truck. hm...11:30pm and a crowd of people standing outside? As I got closer, I saw that it was a Kogi truck! I've read so much about Kogi and since it was right in front of me, I had to try it. The taco looks like a mess in the picture, but it was delicious.

Furaibo - LA: grilled mackerel

gr/eats - LA: tilapia w/ pesto

This was the special of the day - it was fantastic deal at $8.50!

gr/eats - LA: chocolate cake w/ ice cream

LAMILL - LA: passion fruit gelee

This was my second visit to LAMILL. I also had the same dessert on my previous visit. It is one of the best desserts EVER!

LAMILL - LA: flank steak salad

Hurry Curry of Tokyo - LA: chicken cutlet curry

Bella Pita - LA: fried cauliflower

Absolutely delicious. Definitely the best preparation of cauliflower I've had...fried food rocks.

MILK - LA: coffee toffee sandwich

The coffee toffee ice cream was fantastic on its own, but I loved the macaron top and bottom. Chewy goodness...

Cube - LA: truffle burger

Serious Eats named the burger @ Cube as one of their favorite burgers in 2009. I agree. It was amazing.

Another article on Cube @ Serious Eats:
Going to the Source at Cube in West Hollywood

Yakitoriya - grilled chicken wings

Orris - fried smelt

Simbala - LA: white radish cake

On nearly every visit to LA, I eat at Simbala, which specializes in Taiwanese food.

Simbala - LA: braised pork, tofu, and bamboo shoots

Glorious pork belly...

85C - Irvine: rose cheese bun

My friend told me I had to go there...so I went. The place was incredibly busy. There was a line out the door and it was around 2:30pm on a Friday afternoon. Inside, there were stanchions setup to control the flow of people.

85C - Irvine: sea salt coffee

This drink was sooooo satisfying. The sea salt is in the foam and the flavor and texture of the drink is incredible.

BCD Tofu - Irvine: original premium tofu stew

Champagne - San Diego: three layer chocolate mousse

Little Sheep Hot Pot - San Diego: mongolian beef meat pie

Ready for the cold (and maybe snow)!

2010-02-28T08:34:00.002-07:00

I'm halfway done with my Spring travels. I just got back from a week and a half long trip to Southern California on Friday afternoon and am headed to St. Louis today. It will be the first city in a whirlwind "tour" of the Midwest - with subsequent stops in Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, and Minneapolis.

I did a similar trip around the same time last year and the weather was absolutely beautiful throughout my entire trip - temps in the mid 60s and sunny. I don't think I'm going to be quite as lucky this time around - the forecast for most of the cities is mid-30s and chances of snow.

BTW, I'll post some highlights from my SoCal trip soon...

Spring travel

2010-02-16T22:33:00.001-07:00

My work related spring travel begins tomorrow! I'll be leaving for San Diego tomorrow morning.

Here's my travel schedule for the next few weeks:

2/17-2/26:
San Diego
Irvine
LA

2/28-3/9:
St. Louis
Chicago
Milwaukee
Madison
Minneapolis

I'm hoping for decent weather during my travels through the Midwest (that means no snow). I grew up driving in snow though (in Madison, WI), so regardless of the weather, I'm prepared!

Zinc Bistro

2010-02-07T13:30:00.002-07:00

While many parts of the US are blanketed with snow and soaked from rain, the weather in Phoenix this time of year is generally beautiful. We took advantage of the weather yesterday with lunch outdoors at one of our favorite restaurants, Zinc Bistro. We've been to Zinc many many times before, but it has been nearly a year since our last visit...and this is the first time I've ever posted about it!

Here are a few random shots:

Entry w/ patio area in foreground

Bar area

Dining room

Our view from the patio seating area

How many birds can you spot? (answer below)

Here's what we ate:

Onion Soup Gratinee - "Traditional Onion Soup With Bubbling Gruyere" ($10).

The soup was good, but not up to the same level as the one we had recently at Vogue Bistro. Patty thought it was a bit too salty.

Prime Flat Iron Steat w/ shallots, brandy au poivre. Served Medium rare, choice of Matchstick Or Pomme Frites ($26).

Zinc Bistro has the best steak frites in the Valley. It's a great deal at $26, and I've ordered this dish many times before. The steak itself was cooked perfectly, although a bit overseasoned w/ pepper and salt.

Here's a shot of just the steak:

and a close-up of the excellent pomme frites:

dipping sauces for the frites:

Crispy Duck Confit Sandwich w/ Roasted Garlic Aioli, Gastrique Onions ($12).

Patty thought the duck was a bit dry, but overall the sandwich was excellent. The toasted brioche roll was fantastic.

There were a few minor seasoning and cooking issues, but it was still a very good meal. We didn't have room for dessert this time, but if you go, you must try the souffles! They are incredible.

By the way, there were three birds in the picture above.

Vegas!

2009-12-23T09:01:00.002-07:00

In a few hours we'll be taking our final trip of the year - heading to Vegas! We'll be there until Christmas day.

We don't really gamble (other than slots), so the main attractions for us are the shows and food.

Tonight, we're going to watch KÀ. Tomorrow night, I've got reservations at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. Sometime during our trip, I want to check out CityCenter - the new megadevelopment.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Vogue Bistro - a flawless dining experience?

2009-12-20T00:23:00.010-07:00

For dinner tonight, we tried Vogue Bistro. Vogue opened in 2008 and is located in the far northwest Valley, in Surprise, at the intersection of Waddell Rd. and Reems Rd. The restaurant is a bit hard to spot - it's at the far end of strip mall - look for the Bashas.

Here are a few shots of the interior:

To start things off, we had a special seasonal drink - a "Peppermint Pattie Martini" ($9.90). The drink was excellent - basically a chocolate martini w/ a hint of peppermint. The rim of the glass was dusted w/ cocoa powder, which I thought was a nice touch. One for one.

On to the food. Here's what we ate:

Vogue Onion Soup - "So good! Quite possibly the best onion soup in the Valley" ($8).

Agree! I'm not a huge fan of french onion soup, but this soup was fantastic. It was delivered piping hot (a MUST), topped with a flaky pastry crust and baked parmesan cheese. Quite often, french onion soups are way too salty, but this was just right. Two for two.

Vogue Escargot - "Delicate Burgundian Escargot baked in a puff pastry with herb and garlic infused butter. Escargot has never tasted better!" ($8).

Clean, light, yet full of flavor. Three for three.

Vogue Salad - "Strikingly Original! Frisee, arugula, Gorgonzola blue cheese, dried cranberries, pecans, pumpkin seeds and bits of applewood-smoked bacon tossed in warm Sherry vinaigrette" ($9).

This was a great salad. The combination of ingredients was perfect. Four for four.

Special of the day - Lamb two ways: Roasted rack of lamb and lamb meatball w/ coconut couscous, roasted squash and shitake mushrooms, and baby arugula ($32.95).

The rack of lamb was perfectly cooked. We also both loved the meatball (you can see it peeking out from under the arugula in the second picture). This dish had a bunch of individual components (almost too much), but everything on this plate was excellent. The only downside was the plating - the arugula scattered on top was a bit of a mess. Oh well, minor detail, so still five for five.

We were so stuffed that we didn't have any more room for dessert.

The service throughout the meal was excellent. Six for six!

Total meal cost: $74.30 (excluding tip)

I thought this was a superb value, given the quality of the food. This was definitely one of the best meals we've had in 2009, and maybe one of the best ever. The only downside to Vogue is its location - it's way out there...but definitely worth the drive. We're actually thinking of going back for New Year's Eve (menu). I'll keep you posted.

Mission accomplished: Stomach expansion

2009-12-01T08:48:00.005-07:00

Mission accomplished: Stomach expansion in preparation for the next holiday...on hiatus for the next 3 weeks or so.

My stomach is about to explode!

We've eaten so much food over the past few days. Good thing we're heading home today.

The weather has been much better than expected - a bit cold, and a few gray days, but NO RAIN! (for six days)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T07:21:00.002-07:00

We're trading beautiful weather in Phoenix for the cold, cloudy, and wet Pacific Northwest.

Later this morning, we'll be flying to Seattle to visit my visit my sister and her family. On Saturday, we'll be taking the train to Portland and then flying back to Phoenix from Portland on Tuesday.

Looking forward to spending the holiday weekend with family and friends...and eating lots of great food of course!

Happy Turkey Day!

Fresh from the kitchen

2009-11-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

Here's what we made for breakfast this morning:

Pumpkin spice mix pancakes w/ berries and sliced banana

The pumpkin spice mix added a nice flavor to the pancakes. Very "Thanksgiving-y". ;-)

We've got a Meyer Lemon tree in our backyard that we planted when we first moved in a few years ago. Here are a few pictures...

With those lemons, we made Lemon Custard Cakes! We followed a recipe from the book Everyday Food: Great Food Fast.

Here's the result:

Very easy to prepare and very delicious!

Toronto!

2009-11-13T21:56:00.001-07:00

I took a morning flight from Vancouver to Toronto this morning.

The flight was very good - it was my first time flying on Air Canada. The plane was relatively new and clean (a 777-200), the flight attendants were all cheerful, and the AVOD system was excellent. During the flight, I watched "The Hurt Locker", a movie that I've been wanting to watch for a long time. It was an awesome movie - it doesn't change my attitude towards the US involvement in Iraq, but it really gives me new respect for the soldiers (who risk their lives each day).

The seats even had USB ports and AC outlets. Very cool!

This is my first time in Toronto. I'm hoping to do a bit of exploring tomorrow morning.

Greetings from Vancouver

2009-11-12T08:41:00.005-07:00

Here's the spectacular view from my room:

Stanley Park in the background

Coal Harbour, North Vancouver, Grosse Mountain, and Mount Seymour

In the homestrech

2009-11-11T07:53:00.003-07:00

Heading to the airport for my final work related trip of the year!

Here's my schedule for the next few days -

Today: fly from Phoenix to Vancouver
Friday: Vancouver to Toronto
Sunday: Toronto to Montreal
Tuesday: fly back to Phoenix!

While I absolutely love the travel, it is exhausting. I'll post another update once I arrive in Vancouver.

Hello from Sunnyvale

2009-11-06T00:57:00.006-07:00

My lunch today:

Torta Milanesa from Bakery Mexico!

It was HUGE!

Nicely toasted bun...

This was an amazing sandwich. I tried the same torta at the Story Rd. location earlier this year and was blown away. The tortas at Bakery Mexico are stellar. Is there anything comparable to this in Phoenix?!?

Places mentioned:
Bakery Mexico
2811 Story Rd
San Jose, CA 95127

Bakery Mexico No. 2
87 E Santa Clara St
San Jose, CA 95113

Do you know the way to San Jose?

2009-11-05T07:45:00.003-07:00

Going to San Jose for a quick overnighter...

Once I arrive, I'm heading straight to Bakery Mexico for lunch. I first tried this place in March and the torta milanesa was one of the best things I have ever eaten.

If everything goes according to plan, I'll post a picture later today.

In LA until Thursday

2009-10-25T23:08:00.001-07:00

I'm in LA until Thursday for work. The nice thing is...Patty is here with me

We flew in this afternoon after celebrating a friend's b-day @ La Grande Orange (happy b-day, A.!)

Once we arrived in LA, we metup with my parents for an early dinner. After dinner we were thinking of things to do and decided to stop by Disneyland. One day, one park tickets are a whopping $72 (we both thought that there might be discounted admission after a certain time, like half price tickets after 6pm, but no luck), so we decided to walk around Downtown Disney instead. The place was absolutely packed for a Sunday evening...aren't kids in school right now?!?

BTW, my rental car this time around is the worst car ever - a Dodge Caliber. I thought the Chevy Aveo and HHR were terrible, but this car surpasses them by far. Oh well, it's my ride for the week.

Time for bed!

Back in town for a week

2009-10-17T23:20:00.004-07:00

Some random pictures to share...

Complimentary croissants from Vincent's Market Bistro...I love this picture.

Chicken Kabob Wrap from The Greek Wraps (one of my favorite places in the world!)

Witty labels on dual-flush toilet at Luci's Health Marketplace

"Dan bing" that I made this afternoon...another posting about one of my favorite comfort foods here

Happy Diwali! (taken @ Thunderbird on Oct. 17, 2009)

In San Francisco

2009-10-16T08:04:00.002-07:00

I'm currently in San Francisco. I'll be heading back home later today.

Patty should be somewhere over the Pacific Ocean right now on her way home...I just realized that we are supposed to land in Phoenix at exactly the same time! I knew the two flights (me from SFO; Patty from TPE via LAX) were coming in around the same time, but I didn't know it was going to be to the minute (if all goes per schedule).

Dinner tonight

2009-10-11T21:16:00.003-07:00

Yikes! I haven't cooked for nearly six weeks! Here's what I made for dinner tonight:

Tilapia w/ oven roasted red potatoes w/ rosemary and sauteed bean sprouts

Total time from prep to table: 15 mins
Total cost per serving: ~$3.25 (this is why I rarely order salmon or tilapia @ restaurants...I can make it just as good, or better, and for much less ;-)

Sit Back, Relax

2009-10-10T08:28:00.005-07:00

Enjoyed this short article from the October 20009 issue of Hemispheres (United's awesome in-flight magazine). It's such a nice perspective, after reading US Airways CEO, Doug Parker's ridiculous letter that I recently posted about...

------------------------------------------

THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE you’re seated on a United or United Express flight right now. And except for the aroma of freshly brewed Starbucks coffee or the view outside the window, nothing should distract you from this magazine.

Why? Because United has invested significantly in cabin upgrades to ensure that your experience is a comfortable one.

For example, if you fly frequently in North America, you’ll notice new leather seating throughout the cabin on many of our Airbus A320 aircraft. And all United aircraft are getting new, updated upholstery and carpeting.

Notice a brighter, cleaner appearance? We hope so. We’re installing “cool white” lighting on United aircraft and, perhaps most importantly, we’ve doubled the frequency of our most thorough interior aircraft scrubbings. And our cleaning solutions are EPA-rated as environmentally friendly.

We’ve upgraded audio and video systems, and increased the frequency of inspection, maintenance and replacement of seat controls, reading lights and window shades. All of that means that when you want to recline your seat, your seat will recline. When you want to dive into that great new mystery novel, you’ll have a working reading light.

Because when a flight attendant encourages you to “sit back, relax and enjoy your flight,” we want to make sure you can.

------------------------------------------

Love it. While it still has a long way to go, United seems like it's headed in the right direction - focusing on the traveler's comfort and experience. Doug Parker - you should read this letter!

Original article:

http://www.hemispheresmagazine.com/2009/10/01/sit-back-relax/

Home again

2009-10-08T20:05:00.003-07:00

I'm home again...for a week this time.

Questions to Homeland Security:

For air travelers, what does "Threat Level - Orange" really mean?!? We've been at that level for over three years now.

I spent a bunch of time waiting in airports this week and heard the recorded message about the current threat level being at orange, blah blah...endless times.

Will travelers react differently at different threat levels? Will Homeland Security ever lower the threat level back to "Yellow" again?

Will we ever get to travel again without having to put our 3oz or less liquids in a quart size clear zip-top bag and scan that bag separately? Will Homeland Security ever end its "war on water"? Laptops? Shoes?!?

Miscellaneous Ramblings

2009-10-03T17:49:00.003-07:00

I'm back home for 35 more hours...

I arrived late yesterday from Williamsburg, Virginia - a total travel time of nearly 12 hrs!

Interesting observation:
I flew on four flights over the last week - all on US Airways, and noticed that none of the flight attendants were under 40 (by my estimates). They also seemed to be hating life (or their jobs) as there were no smiles observed. What a stark contrast to my recent travels in Asia, on a variety of Asian airlines, where none of the FAs were over 35 (again, by my estimates) and they all had permasmiles and really seemed to take pride in what they are doing. No offense GW (I'm sure you are a superstar)!

Another observation:
On one of my flights yesterday, it took the FAs nearly 45 minutes to complete the beverage service in the economy cabin. I think an EVA/ANA/(insert any Asian airline here) crew could serve pre-dinner drinks, meal, and after-dinner drink in the same amount of time.

Does any one actually like US Airways?

I try to avoid US Airways whenever possible, but it's pretty tough as it's the dominant carrier here in Phoenix (along w/ Southwest).

On one of my flights yesterday, I was reading this month's issue of US Airways Magazine. I always find the letter from the CEO segment very entertaining. This month's letter did not disappoint. Here it is (highlights are mine):

------------------------------------------
The Choice Is Yours

Chairman and CEO Doug Parker

The comforts of home may be hard to find at 35,000 feet, but US Airways is working to give you more inflight offerings to make your travels with us more enjoyable.

Over the past few months, we introduced a variety of popular snacks for sale in addition to our fresh meals and snack boxes, and we began offering several new restaurant-quality cocktails and premium beverages. These choices — more than we’ve ever offered — are all part of a new inflight menu called US Airways MarketPlace.

We’ve selected some well-known brands to offer something different from what you might expect while flying. In addition to our assortment of complimentary soda, juice, coffee, tea, and water, you now have the option to purchase three popular “pick-me-ups”: AriZona Arnold Palmer Lite Half & Half, the classic iced tea-lemonade combo; iced Starbucks® Frappuccino® Coffee Drink; and Red Bull, the number one energy drink in the world.

We’re also pleased to offer you three new, award-winning, all-natural cocktail mixers from Stirrings. You’ll have the choice of a Pomegranate Martini, Mai Tai, or Margarita, all made with real fruit juice, triple-filtered water, and cane sugar.

In addition to enhancing your travel experience with more snack and beverage options, US Airways is helping you make the most of your flying time by turning our aircraft into Wi-Fi “hotspots.”

Beginning early next year we’ll install Gogo® Inflight Internet service from Aircell on our fleet of Airbus A321 aircraft. Customers with laptops, smartphones, and other Wi-Fi enabled devices will be able to purchase full Internet access including Web, instant messaging, email, and VPN access on select domestic flights.

Whether you decide to catch up on work or relax and surf the Internet is up to you, but we know that our new Wi-Fi service will make your travels with us more enjoyable. On behalf of our 33,000 employees, we appreciate that you’re flying with us today. We look forward to serving you in the future.

Doug Parker
Chairman and CEO

------------------------------------------

I'm pretty certain that Doug Parker did not write this letter. If so...is it a joke?!? How many times does he mention for sale/purchase above? This is the same airline that recently tried to charge for all non-alcoholic beverages and decided to reinstate complimentary beverage service due to the following reason:

"The beverage program was distracting from the outstanding improvements in on-time performance and baggage handling US Airways` 34,000 employees worked so hard to achieve last year," said Parker.

New (for purchase) drink selections and for purchase internet are going to improve customer satisfaction? By the way, the cocktails are $8!!! I walked through the cabin right after beverage service was completed and did not notice any customers w/ a cocktail. Wonder if they'll last...

Other random things:

I canceled our cable and phone land-line. We don't really watch much TV and rarely use the phone. For TV, we'll rely on any free broadcast HD channels that we get.

Why do car rental companies buy the worst cars (i.e. Chevy Aveo, Chrysler PT Cruiser, etc.)?!? It seems like they could save a bunch of maintenance expenses and improve customer satisfaction by using more reliable cars. I'm thinking Toyotas, Hondas, etc here...

That's all for now!

Off to Virginia

2009-09-26T22:11:00.002-07:00

I haven't even fully unpacked from my Asia trip, and I'm leaving again for Virginia in a few hours.

I'll be there for almost a week, back home for two days, then leave again for another trip (to Denver and Minneapolis). My schedule is somewhat crazy until mid-November.

Time to go pack!

Heading home...

2009-09-18T12:21:00.002-07:00

My whirlwind trip through Asia is about to come to an end. It's about 2:15am right now, and I will leave my hotel to head to the airport @ 5am.

Over the past three weeks, I've traveled to the following cities:
Tokyo, Japan
Seoul, South Korea
Taipei, Taiwan
Beijing, China
Shanghai, China
Bangkok, Thailand

I've had so many awesome adventures in each of the cities.

While here in Bangkok, my coworker B. has been giving me the "insider's" tour of her city. I've been eating a bunch of fantastic food (including street food), seen a ton of attractions, riden the city bus (you will never find tourists on the city buses), and even got an 80 THB (about $2.40 USD) haircut. Thanks for being such a great tour guide B.!

Tonight, I met up w/ a few of my classmates for dinner. It was a great ending to my trip.

BTW, I'm pretty sure I have an iron stomach. I haven't gotten an upset stomach during the entire trip (I didn't get sick in India last year either).

While I've definitely enjoyed the travels, I'm ready to go home. I can't wait to do my laundry and sleep in my own bed...

See you on the other side!

Hello from Beijing!

2009-09-09T19:20:00.004-07:00

Greetings from Beijing. Thought I would provide an update from behind the "invisible" curtain here in China. If you weren't aware, many sites are blocked by the government, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Blogger. Luckily, I have a way around that. ;-)

Hoping I don't get thrown out of the country for this posting...hahahaha...

I've been in Asia now since Aug. 30. Since my last posting (from Tokyo), I've made stops in Seoul and Taipei. Tomorrow morning, I'll be leaving for Shanghai and then heading to the last stop, Bangkok, on Sunday morning.

It has been such a fantastic trip. I'm traveling w/ representatives from many other MBA programs, as part of The MBA Tour Asia. In each city, there is a fair type event, where prospective students can go around to the various tables to learn more about the various MBA programs. I've had a great time w/ my travel mates - I already knew a few of the people from past travels, but have met a bunch of new people. I've also been able to meet up with quite a few of my former classmates during my studies at Thunderbird - some whom I haven't seen since we graduated in '05!

That's all for now...our Beijing event is this evening - so after that it will be 4 events down, and 2 to go!

Greetings from Tokyo!

2009-08-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you combine the following?

- all female cabin crew, all decent looking, none over 35, w/ permasmiles
- attentive service
- decent (free) food
- personal AVOD systems
- immaculate cabin

An Asian airline!

I had a great flight on ANA from San Francisco to Narita.

Here's part of the crew pre-flight:

Service w/ a smile! Is it that hard?!?
Here's the first meal from on the flight (one of two full meals served):

Braised eel, cold soba noodles, smoked duck, and Haagen-Dazs ice cream (not pictured). Choice of beverages included complimentary beer and wine. Not bad for an economy class meal!

During the flight, I watched Angels & Demons, In America, and part of State of Play.

When booking this trip, I specifically requested an Asian carrier, otherwise, I probably would have been booked on United. The service experience on Asian airlines is generally light years ahead of US airlines.

Fall travel

2009-08-19T19:05:00.002-07:00

We're headed to Vermont tomorrow morning.

For the next few months, I'll be a nomad. Here's my fall travel schedule:

8/20-8/23:
Burlington, VT (for a T-Bird wedding celebration!)

8/29-9/19:
Tokyo, Japan
Seoul, South Korea
Taipei, Taiwan
Beijing, China
Shanghai, China
Bangkok, Thailand

9/27-10/2:
Blacksburg, VA
Harrisonburg, VA
Charlottesville, VA
Williamsburg, VA

10/5-10/8:
Denver, CO
Minneapolis, MN

10/15-10/16:
San Francisco, CA

10/25-10/29:
Los Angeles, CA

11/4:
Tucson, AZ

11/11-11/17:
Vancouver, Canada
Toronto, Canada
Montreal, Canada

Whew! That's 19 cities (more if you count all of the various cities in L.A.) and 6 countries!

By the end of this fall, my teammates and I will have traveled to over 105 cities and 39 countries!

Dinner tonight - sauteed spinach and eggs w/ pickled radish

2009-08-18T22:31:00.003-07:00

Sauteed spinach w/ garlic

Scrambled eggs w/ pickled radish (chai bo) and basil

Dinner tonight - three cup chicken and veggie stir-fy

2009-08-16T23:11:00.003-07:00

Here's what we cooked for dinner tonight:

three cup chicken...original posting and recipe here

sugar snap peas and bell pepper stir-fry

Dumplings two ways

2009-08-12T23:44:00.004-07:00

Last week we made a bunch of pork and shrimp dumplings.

Here they are as potstickers (pan fried):

and boiled:

Home cooking

2009-08-11T20:33:00.003-07:00

Dinner last night:

Salmon w/ cajun spice rub (one of my specialties...)

Dinner tonight:

Tonkatsu w/ hoisin & honey dipping sauce! (another one of my specialties... ;-)

Steamed corn on the cob

2009 Top 25 Most Liveable Cities (from Monocle)

2009-08-09T17:35:00.004-07:00

2009 Top 25 Most Liveable Cities (from the July-August 09 issue of Monocle):
25. Lisbon
24. Geneva
23. Hamburg
22. Kyoto
21. Amsterdam
20. Auckland
19. Montreal
18. Singapore
17. Oslo
16. Fukuoka
15. Barcelona
14. Vancouver
13. Sydney
12. Madrid
11. Honolulu
10. Berlin
9. Melbourne
8. Paris
7. Vienna
6. Stockholm
5. Helsinki
4. Munich
3. Tokyo
2. Copenhagen
1. Zurich

Interesting. Honolulu is the only US city on the list...and London isn't even ranked (and Monocle is headquartered there).

Related:
slideshow

Dinner last night - sea bass

2009-08-03T07:04:00.006-07:00

Made this for dinner last night:

Sea bass!

We bought the fish at Super L Market for $13.99/lb - this piece ended up being ~$20. Kind of pricey...but well worth it!

The preparation is really simple. It only takes around seventeen minutes (including cooking time) and requires only six ingredients.

Ingredients:

sea bass
ginger (julienned)
green onion
two tablespoons soy sauce
two tablespoons chinese rice wine
black pepper

Directions:

Put a first layer of ginger and green onion on a plate (we use an attachment that comes w/ our rice cooker).
Place the fish on top of the ginger and green onions.
Sprinkle a bit of black pepper over the fish.
Put more ginger and green onion on the fish.
Pour soy sauce and rice wine on fish.
Steam for approximately twelve minutes.

Random thoughts

2009-08-01T21:57:00.002-07:00

I arrived back home on Thursday night.

We hit the mall today - one of the few things to do in Phoenix during the scorching summer.

Here are some random thoughts I had today:

Do smokers that toss their used cigarette butts on the street do the same thing inside their homes? I'm assuming no...so why do they do it outside?!? (I think about this one a lot. It's one of my pet peeves.)
We stopped in Gap today. After years of dull designs, the clothes seem to be improving! I wonder if this is a result of Patrick Robinson. I haven't bought anything from Gap for a very, very long time, but maybe sometime soon!
Clinique desperately needs to redesign the packaging for the majority of its product line. The packaging for these products looks like it's straight from the '80s. I think about this every time I pass by the Clinique counter @ a department store...I do love their M Protect lotion though.

A peek inside the mind of Andy... ;-)

In DC

2009-07-26T06:55:00.002-07:00

Wow - almost a month since my last posting!

I'm currently in Washington D.C. for GMAC's PDP (Professional Development Program). PDP is a conference for business school admissions professionals. The program begins later this afternoon, so I've got a bit of free time until then.

This morning I went to Dupont Circle FRESHFARM Market. I had a nice mushroom empanada and white nectarine muffin for breakfast.

That's it for now - I'm off to Eastern Market!

Off to LA

2009-07-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

We're headed to LA for the long weekend. We'll spend one night in Palm Springs, one night in Westwood, and the final night at my parent's house.

Here's our tentative "hit-list":
Father's Office
Happy Harbor
Simbala
Din Tai Fung
Josie Restaurant
xooro
Fosselman's

Have a fun and safe Fourth of July!

Top 10 pizza joints in Phoenix

2009-06-25T21:26:00.002-07:00

Top 10 pizza joints in Phoenix (from AZCentral.com/Howard Seftel)

I've tried 8 out of the 10!

~~Pizzeria Bianco~~
~~Humble Pie~~
~~Patsy Grimaldi's~~
~~Cibo~~
~~La Piazza al Forno~~
~~Grazie~~
~~La Grande Orange~~
~~Pizza a Metro~~
Vito's Pizza
Classic Italian Pizza

Fantastic food last Friday

2009-06-22T23:50:00.002-07:00

For lunch, I went to A Touch of European Cafe with a few of my co-workers. None of us had been there before. It's a small restaurant in downtown Glendale. I had a tomato, basil, mozzarella, and turkey sandwich on ciabatta bread (served w/ a bag of chips). The sandwich was excellent. We also split a slice of chocolate cake for dessert. Great find B!

Here are a few pictures:

For dinner that night, we went to Tuck Shop with a friend. We've been there twice previously, but I've never written about it before. With this visit, Tuck has solidified itself as one of our favorite places in the Valley.

On this visit, we ordered the following to share:

Wild mushrooms on short pastry, goat cheese, sherry, thyme ($7)
Medjool dates stuffed with Schreiners chorizo, melted gruyere ($9)
Halibut filet, herb garden pesto, lentils, zucchini, heirloom tomatoes ($19)

Everything was excellent, as it has been on our previous visits. I think "big, bold flavors" is a good overall description of the food at Tuck Shop. The star of this meal was the halibut entree. The fish was perfectly cooked and the tomato was bursting with juice. It was a fantastic summer dish.

We were too stuffed for dessert, but they do give you complimentary cookie dough balls...

I'm a bit concerned that they weren't busier for a Friday evening. On our previous visits (back in late January and early February), the place was packed and we had to wait for a table.

Here are some pics of things we've had on our previous visits:

Panini bites: grilled pear, taleggio, arugula, honey w/ prosciutto ($7+$2)

Roasted baby beets, spicy mustard cream ($6)

Citrus-brined fried chicken, white cheddar waffles, braised greens ($17)

Pine AZ spiced skirt steak, parmesan lentil mashed yukons, mushrooms ($18)

Blueberry Buckle ($7)

Bananas foster ($7)

If you haven't tried Tuck, I strongly recommend that you give it a try!

After dinner, I suggested going to Lola Coffee - a recently opened coffeehouse. We had a "Matador" (mocha w/ cinnamon) and coconut cupcake (made by Sweet Pea Bakery). Both were excellent. Here are a few pics:

It was a very nice day...we tried two new places which ended up being great, and returned to one of our favorites.

Places mentioned:
A Touch of European Cafe
7146 N 57th Dr #C
Glendale, AZ 85301

Tuck Shop
2245 N 12th St
Phoenix, AZ 85006

Lola Coffee
4700 N Central Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85012

Dinner tonight

2009-06-16T22:56:00.003-07:00

Sauteed spinach w/ garlic

Pan fried tilapia (seasoned w/ cajun spice mix)

Massive U10-15 shrimp (cooked w/ butter and garlic)

Movies all weekend

2009-06-14T22:28:00.004-07:00

We watched four movies over the weekend:

The Man on the Train (L'homme du train) - This one was "ok" for me...

Flags of our Fathers - Good movie, though I thought the companion movie "Letters from Iwo Jima" was a much better film.

Up (in 3D) - Loved this movie!

The Hangover - Hilarious...funniest movie I've seen since "I Love You, Man". Thought it was a tiny bit too long though.

Stop Motion Video made from Post-It Notes

2009-06-11T23:42:00.004-07:00

Stop Motion Video made from Post-It Notes...

Making of video:

Amazing! Thanks for sharing Pangu...

Dinner tonight

2009-06-08T22:59:00.003-07:00

Copper River salmon, sauteed spinach, and oven roasted potatoes.

Tough times for CityNorth

2009-06-05T07:56:00.002-07:00

Headline from AZCentral.com:
Bloomingdale's, Macy's pull out of CityNorth

Ouch!
Nordstrom's, Bloomingdale's, and Macy's have all pulled out of the project.

"The departures leave Phase 2 with no committed tenants."

Phase 1 is already a ghost-town...the restaurants seem to be doing ok (w/ the exception of Saito's Japanese Steakhouse), but the retail shops must be in major pain.

Related posting:
CityNorth a dud?

Nice looking bbq

2009-05-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

Check out this amazing bbq spread (from the blog Thursday Night Smackdown)...it looks like something straight out of Martha Stewart Living...

Off to Seattle

2009-05-22T11:08:00.004-07:00

We're headed to Seattle for the holiday weekend.

The original plan was to escape the heat, but ironically, it's cool, cloudy, and rainy here in Phoenix, while the forecast for Seattle is sunny and high 60s.

Initial itinerary:
Molly Moon's (recently named by bon appetit as one of the top 10 ice cream shops in the nation, along w/ local shop, Sweet Republic)
Suess Chocolates
Snoqualmie Falls
Bainbridge Island

Have a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend!

Transparency: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (from Good Magazine)

2009-05-13T22:36:00.003-07:00

very interesting...
Transparency: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (from Good Magazine)

I also posted a video about it a while back - posting.

Dinner tonight - three cup chicken and basil-lime sorbet

2009-05-12T23:15:00.002-07:00

For dinner tonight, we made "three cup chicken". This is a traditional Taiwanese dish, which gets its name from the three main flavoring ingredients in the dish - soy sauce, cooking wine, and sesame oil.

Here's a pic:

It was really simple to make and delicious. Here's the recipe -

Ingredients:

1 lb. chicken (we used boneless thigh meat), cut into bite size chunks
10 slices of ginger
8 cloves of garlic, minced
20 basil leaves
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup of sesame oil
1/4 cup of rice wine (do not use cooking wine as a substitute)
1 tbsp. oil

Heat oil and brown chicken
Add garlic and ginger to chicken and stir-fry for one minute
Add liquids (soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice wine) to chicken and stir to incorporate
Once liquid starts to boil, cover wok and reduce heat to medium
Continue simmering for fifteen minutes
Add basil leaves, stir to incorporate and cook for two minutes
Serve with white rice

Makes four servings. The key to the recipe is equal parts of the liquids.

Total prep time: 15 minutes
Total cooking time: 20 minutes

Over the past few weeks, we've become somewhat addicted to the basil-lime sorbet at Sweet Republic. Since going to SR is a nearly 90 mile round trip for us, we tried making it at home tonight for dessert.

We followed this basic recipe: Basil-lime sorbet (from allrecipes.com)

Note: we used 3/4 cup of sugar, instead of 1 cup as specified.

Here's a pic:

The result was better than expected. It was a bit too sweet and tart, thought not bad for our first attempt. It's a nice homemade substitute to satisfy our cravings in between trips to SR. A little more tweaking and we'll be very close... ;-)

Off to the JW!

2009-05-09T11:04:00.001-07:00

We're off to the JW Marriott Desert Ridge for a one-day getaway!

Here's the plan:
- 50 min couples massage this afternoon @ the spa
- dinner @ Roy's
- relaxing @ the pools and hot tubs
- breakfast @ Blue Sage

All for less than $300! (Roy's isn't part of the package...but I've got a $50 voucher and we're planning to do the prix fixe menu for $35pp).

Read more about the great deals here.

Juice House Boba

2009-05-09T08:20:00.011-07:00

For dinner yesterday, we tried Juice House Boba. We've been for drinks before, but never for food. The shop is located at the southwest corner of 35th Ave. and Peoria (in the same plaza as Fry's, but facing 35th Ave.).

Here's a shot of the exterior:

We ordered the following:

durian smoothie w/ boba ($3.00)
spring rolls (three for $3.49)
pho tai nam bo vien ($5.95)
grilled pork banh mi ($2.99)

First up was the durian smoothie:
The smoothie was good, but I ordered the boba by mistake...

The spring rolls were excellent - among the best we've had in the area. The hoisin peanut dipping sauce served w/ the rolls was fantastic.

We had somewhat mixed opinions on the pho. Patty thought the noodles were a bit too hard and that the broth lacked "depth". I thought it was a decent bowl of pho - the broth was a bit salty for me.

The banh mi was "ok". The sandwich fillings were quite good, but the bread was mediocre (it reminded of the white bread at Subway). The banh mi (served on a crusty baguette) @ Pho Avina are superior.

Overall, Juice House Boba wasn't bad (it's definitely not bad for a very filling, ~$17 meal). It's a nice stop for drinks and an occasional bite to eat.

Places mentioned:

Juice House Boba
10410 N. 35th Ave, Suite #12
Phoenix, AZ 85051

Dinner tonight

2009-05-03T23:00:00.004-07:00

Here's what we cooked for dinner tonight:

Steelhead trout and couscous w/ basil (from our backyard) and cherry tomatoes

The trout was on sale at Sprout's for $4.99/lb. Total prep and cooking time was less than ten minutes! A very easy, inexpensive, and tasty meal...

Deals @ the JW Marriott Desert Ridge

2009-04-24T22:42:00.004-07:00

Summer is a normally a fantastic time to find some great deals on hotel rates in Phoenix. This year, with the economy in the pits, it seems like the deals are even better. I just booked a "Revive Spa Package for Two People" at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge for $239 (for a Saturday evening stay).

It includes the following:

Deluxe Resort Room
Breakfast Buffet, including tax, per person, in Blue Sage Restaurant, or Spa Bistro each morning (maximum $22 value)
1 Spa Treatment at Revive Spa, including gratuity, per person

We did the same package last year for $319. Even at that price, we thought it was a great deal, since the room alone can run that much during most of the year. Last year we got lucky and were upgraded to an 869 square foot Executive Suite. We're not expecting another upgrade this time around, but are definitely looking forward to our "weekend getaway"!

Darn!

2009-04-12T08:23:00.002-07:00

Just got this email from Southwest:

Hello Andrew!

Your flight on April 13, 2009, is currently scheduled to be on one of our Wi-Fi enabled aircraft!* That's right...you'll be able to check e-mail, surf the Internet, and stay connected to the world below via your personal laptop or other Wi-Fi enabled device! (As a reminder, devices that exclusively use a cellular signal won't work with this service.) Don't forget to power up at the gate before you board!

Southwest is currently testing Wi-Fi on four of our planes. The service will be free of charge during this evaluation period; all that we ask is that you take a few minutes to tell us what you think! Your opinion will help shape the future of this exciting product. A link to a short survey will be available on the Southwest Airlines/Yahoo! Homepage once you log in inflight.

I'm bummed that I didn't bring my laptop w/ me this time!

The dark side of Dubai (from The Independent)

2009-04-12T08:15:00.002-07:00

Fascinating article about Dubai:

The dark side of Dubai (from The Independent)

The article is quite long...the final paragraph sums it up pretty well -

I ask the Filipino girl behind the counter if she likes it here. "It's OK," she says cautiously. Really? I say. I can't stand it. She sighs with relief and says: "This is the most terrible place! I hate it! I was here for months before I realised – everything in Dubai is fake. Everything you see. The trees are fake, the workers' contracts are fake, the islands are fake, the smiles are fake – even the water is fake!" But she is trapped, she says. She got into debt to come here, and she is stuck for three years: an old story now. "I think Dubai is like an oasis. It is an illusion, not real. You think you have seen water in the distance, but you get close and you only get a mouthful of sand."

As she says this, another customer enters. She forces her face into the broad, empty Dubai smile and says: "And how may I help you tonight, sir?"

AP IMPACT: Chinese drywall poses potential risks

2009-04-11T17:43:00.002-07:00

Something new to worry about...
AP IMPACT: Chinese drywall poses potential risks

In LA

2009-04-11T17:35:00.002-07:00

Wow - it's been almost a month since my last posting!

Since then, I visited my hometown, Madison, and then came back to Phoenix on March 19th. I'm currently in LA visiting my parents over the long Easter weekend. Patty is in London visiting her sister (who is studying there).

In Milwaukee

2009-03-17T21:23:00.006-07:00

The weather has been unusually warm in the mid-west for the past few days.

Today's high in Chicago was 72 degrees. That's 25 degrees above normal! I would have enjoyed the weather more, except I was prepared for the opposite and brought warmer clothes for my trip (sweaters, etc.).

I made the drive from Chicago to Milwaukee this afternoon. Here's my latest ride:

I was finally upgraded for once!!! It's a 2009 Nissan Rogue, a new "crossover" model. So far, I am really enjoying this car. It's a dramatic improvement over the Chevy Aveo...but almost any car would be a huge improvement over the Aveo.

Back to the weather - a record high temperature of 75 was set this afternoon in Milwaukee (the previous high was 73 back in '66).

Off to Madison tomorrow...

In Chicago

2009-03-15T07:56:00.003-07:00

I arrived in Chicago on Friday.

My "taxi" made it! It was a long drive - starting out in Pittsburgh, with stops in Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and W. Lafayette (about ~850 miles!).

I'm here until Tuesday morning, when I continue my road trip to Milwaukee and Madison.

I love Chicago - it's one of my favorite cities in the world. Even though I've been to Chicago many, many times before, the city has so many place to see and things to do. This weekend, the city is host to many St. Patty's day events. Yesterday, I went to see the "greening" of the Chicago River and the St. Patty's Day Parade. I'll post some pics soon. Off to explore some new places...

Off to Cleveland!

2009-03-10T07:31:00.001-07:00

Can you guess which car is mine? (HINT: which car is not like the others?)

If you weren't able to figure it out...here's a closer look:

Four more days with this beauty... M and P (thanks for the comments about a taxi service) - I am working on my fee structure and will post it soon.

Off to Cleveland now!

Greetings from Pittsburgh

2009-03-08T18:51:00.003-07:00

I just happened to mention the Chevy Aveo in a recent posting and guess which car I get today?

A "Summer Yellow" 2009 Chevy Aveo. (yellow?!?) Oh well, I'm stuck w/ this car until Friday.

Planes, trains, and automobiles

2009-03-06T21:48:00.001-07:00

I'm finally home! I've been traveling since Feb. 25th.

In the past 9 days I've:
- taken 1 train ride
- driven 2 rental cars
- taken 3 flights
- stayed in 4 hotels
- and been to 5 cities (Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento)
(how convenient that the numbers above just happened to work out!)

Basically, this is going to be a pit-stop - I'm headed to Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon...just enough time for me to do some laundry and cut my hair before I leave again.

Night and day

2009-03-05T12:23:00.008-07:00

Over the past week, I've driven two rental two cars - an '09 Toyota Corolla and an '09 Chevy Cobalt.

Both are mid-entry level compact cars, but it's amazing how different they are. The Corolla is a very decent car. I would be happy driving this car everyday.

The Cobalt is a complete disaster - hard plastics throughout the interior, weak brakes, underpowered engine (constantly wheezing as if it suffers from asthma), poor gas mileage, and a terrible turn radius (like maneuvering a van). It's a tiny step up from a Chevy Aveo (which is also one of the worst cars ever...right up there w/ the PT Cruiser).

It's pretty evident to me why the US automakers are failing. With the exception of a few vehicles, cars in the lower price levels by GM, Ford, and Chrysler are inferior in quality to those offered by European and Asian automakers. The rental car companies are a major purchaser of these (U.S. automaker) vehicles and I'm sure the three automakers would be doomed w/ out this segment. ~~Note - Hertz is owned by Ford.~~ (not any more...so stratch that. Thanks for the reminder Tim!)

Just my opinion!

UPDATE:
Is GM almost gone?
General Motors Crash Warning (from Forbes)

American taste for soft toilet roll 'worse than driving Hummers' (from the Guardian)

2009-02-28T12:56:00.002-07:00

Very interesting article:
American taste for soft toilet roll 'worse than driving Hummers' (from the Guardian)

Interesting facts from the article:

More than 98% of the toilet roll sold in America comes from virgin forests, said Hershkowitz. In Europe and Latin America, up to 40% of toilet paper comes from recycled products.
Americans already consume vastly more paper than any other country — about three times more per person than the average European, and 100 times more than the average person in China.
Barely a third of the paper products sold in America are from recycled sources — most of it comes from virgin forests.

Thanks to M for sharing this!

Currently in Portland

2009-02-28T12:53:00.003-07:00

I've been in Portland since Wednesday (for work). Leaving for Seattle (via train) in 3 hrs.

I've been blessed with mostly good weather during my stay - it only rained one day during my visit!

Harvey Mackay at Thunderbird

2009-02-21T08:35:00.003-07:00

This past week, I had the opportunity to attend a presentation by Harvay Mackay, the bestselling author, syndicated columnist, and founder of a $100M dollar company. He mentioned that he speaks at one business school per year, and this year it was Thunderbird.

Among his many achievements, he was named as one of the top five speakers in the world by Toastmasters International - that's impressive! I completely agree. I've attended numerous speaker events in the past (we have many at Thunderbird), and this was by far, one of the best. Right up there with seeing the Dalai Lama speak in 2005.

Read more Mackay's talk here:
Your name matters to "Swim with the Sharks" author (from Thunderbird website)

Sweet O Wine & Chocolate Lounge - I do NOT recommend

2009-02-20T20:09:00.007-07:00

For dinner tonight, we tried Sweet O Wine & Chocolate Lounge. The "lounge" is located in Westgate City Center, in Glendale. I've been curious about trying this place since it opened.

To summarize our feeling of the ambience in two words - cold and noisy. Two walls are dominated by glass, the ceiling is exposed, and the floor is tile. Not a good combination, resulting in a very noisy environment.

We ordered a Smoked Speck Ham Panini ("Speck Ham, Artichoke Hearts & Fontina Cheese with a Homemade Pepperonata Sauce" - $15) to share. $15 for a panini!!!

The panini was served with a side salad. The panini was "ok", but a bit on the small side (even for one person). In my opinion, a reasonable price for this item would be $8-$10.

For dessert, we tried the Lava Chocolate Cake ("A Dense Chocolate Cake topped with a Chocolate Ganache, served warm" - $8.50). The cake arrived about five minutes after we ordered it. The "lava" part of it was cooked through, but overall, the cake itself wasn't bad. Again, I think the item was overpriced at $8.50 and a more reasonable price would be $5-$7.

Not quite sure how this place is surviving - unless they have some very favorable lease terms (which is very likely).

There was a group of about five staff chatting away throughout the majority of our meal, and on our way out, we didn't get a single "thank you" or "good bye". Not cool.

Quoting a review that I just saw on Yelp:
"Horrible service, overpriced, awful atmosphere!"

That about sums it up for our experience as well.

We will not be going back to Sweet O.

Places mentioned:

Sweet O Wine & Chocolate Lounge
9380 W Westgate Blvd., Suite D101
Glendale, AZ 85305

Spring travel schedule

2009-02-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

Here's my travel schedule this spring:

Las Vegas - Sat. Feb. 14 - Mon. Feb. 16 (this one's for fun)

the rest are for work...
Trip "1":
Portland - Wed. Feb. 25 - Sun. Mar. 1

Seattle - Sun. Mar.1 - Tue. Mar. 3

San Francisco - Tue. Mar. 3 - Wed. Mar. 4
San Jose - Wed. Mar. 4 - Thu. Mar. 5
Sacramento - Thu. Mar. 5 - Fri. Mar. 6 (back to PHX on the 6th)

Trip "2":

Pittsburgh - Sun. Mar. 8 - Tue. Mar. 10

Cleveland - Tue. Mar. 10 - Wed. Mar. 11

Columbus - Wed. Mar. 11 - Thu. Mar. 12

Indianapolis - Thu. Mar. 12 - Fri. Mar. 13

Chicago - Fri. Mar. 13 - Tue. Mar 17

Milwaukee - Tue. Mar. 17 - Wed. Mar. 18

Madison - Wed. Mar. 18 - Thu. Mar. 19 (back to PHX on the 19th!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-13T22:59:00.003-07:00

Patty took this picture recently:
Pretty cool huh?

Handy Andy (Part 2)

2009-02-09T00:24:00.007-07:00

My last home improvement project - Handy Andy posting

Time for another DIY project!

We spent most of the day today painting. We've been thinking about doing some accent painting since we moved in (nearly two years ago) and finally got around to it today!

Good thing Lowe's is less than two miles from our house - we made three trips there to buy paint samples, paint (the final color choice), and supplies. Total cost: ~$50. Satisfaction: priceless

Here's a before...

and after:

another view (before):

and after:

Massive basil!

2009-02-09T00:08:00.009-07:00

Check out these HUGE homegrown basil leaves:

We used it this morning for a tomato and basil omelette. Very tasty!

First Friday artwalk

2009-02-07T08:53:00.005-07:00

I've been living in Phoenix for nearly 12 years now and have never been to a First Friday artwalk. Yesterday, we decided to go for the first time!

We went with a friend (D) who had never taken the light rail before, so we decided to park and ride to the Central/Roosevelt station. Here are some pics (notice the "crowds of people" riding and the wrapped rail cars...for next week's 2009 NBA All-Star Game, which is being hosted in Phoenix):

There are two "main" areas of the artwalk (on Roosevelt and Grand). We headed to the Roosevelt area, which was a few blocks east of the light-rail station. The "epicenter" of the artwalk is at the intersection of 5th St. and Garfield St. There are vendors along 5th St (between Roosevelt and McKinley) and Garfield St (between 4th St. and 6th St.). Since you rarely see people walking out on the sidewalks of Phoenix, I was surprised at how many people were there. It was almost like being in Chicago or New York. There were a few food vendors, but I definitely think there should be more.

After doing a complete circuit, we were all hungry and headed back to the car to go eat. On the way back, at the light-rail station, we starting chatting w/ a complete stranger and ended up eating dinner with him (one of the benefits of mass transit - you have the opportunity to meet new friends!). More about dinner in the next posting...

Happy Chinese New Year!

2009-01-25T07:59:00.001-07:00

This year is the year of the ox. You can find out your "fortune" for the year here (click on your animal sign). I've got a particularly interesting fortune this year...let's see how it turns out!

Update on iSwirl

2009-01-23T22:22:00.002-07:00

We stopped by iSwirl for some frozen yogurt tonight. We haven't been to iSwirl for at least a few months. On our previous visits, the yogurt was decent - not bad for being about a mile away from our house. BTW, our favorite fro-yo store in the Valley is juju berri.

We tried three flavors tonight - mango, original, and pink lemonade, with a bit of mochi sprinkled on top. All of them were absolutely terrible. They were very sweet with strong artificial tastes. Yuck! The mochi pieces were also overly chewy, with a hardened skin - indicating that they were not fresh (or stored incorrectly). It seems that the quality and taste of the yogurt at iSwirl has declined significantly.

I'm guessing that we won't be going back to iSwirl.

Places mentioned:

iSwirl
13778 W Mcdowell Road, Suite 301
Goodyear, AZ 85395

juju berri
7369 W Bell Rd, Suite 5A-1
Peoria, AZ 85382

A great value at Hope Kee

2009-01-22T21:11:00.004-07:00

We are pretty frequent customers of Hope Kee - the food is consistent, it's on our way home from work, plus we can grab groceries at Lee Lee after dinner without having to make another stop.

For dinner tonight, we tried something new and ordered the "Set Menu for Two" ($19.99). This includes the following:

Soup of the day
BBQ plate of the day
Sauteed beef and string beans
Sauteed fish and bok choy

Sorry - no pictures this time...

The soup of the day was a Chinese home-style soup with shredded beef, carrot, and some sort of melon (maybe cucumber?). The soup was excellent - we were expecting the soup of the day to be either hot and sour soup or egg drop soup, so this was a really nice surprise. I had two bowls of the soup and Patty had one. There was still enough soup for another bowl - the original portion was probably enough for four people.

The BBQ plate was a nice sized plate of bbq pork (char siu). Hope Kee's bbq pork is pretty good.

The fish and beef dishes were both decent. The beef was a bit chewy, but the beans were nice and fresh.

We finished about one quarter of each of the dishes and were completely stuffed. The leftovers should be more than enough for another meal for both of us.

Not a bad deal for $19.99!

Places mentioned:

Hope Kee
7575 W. Cactus Rd.
Peoria, AZ 85381

Interesting fact about gold

2009-01-07T18:25:00.002-07:00

From the article "The Real Price of Gold" in the Jan. '09 issue of National Geographic (highlights below are mine):

"In all of history, only 161,000 tons of gold have been mined, barely enough to fill two Olympic-size swimming pools. More than half of that has been extracted in the past 50 years."

That's crazy!

2008 recap

2008-12-23T09:48:00.013-07:00

Wanted to get this out before the end of the year...I'll go back in and add more details and links...

Best movie: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Books:
The Billionaire Who Wasn't - How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away A Fortune
Three Cups of Tea
Shantaram
A Thousand Splendid Suns

Best meal:
Sim Ba La (two locations in the Los Angeles area) - Taiwanese foods - fried pork chop, beef noodle soup, shaved ice, etc.

Other notable eats:
Cowboy Ciao (Scottsdale, AZ)
Mi Cocina, Mi Pais (Glendale, AZ) - Ecuadorean restaurant; excellent coconut flan (best dessert I had in '08)
True Food (Phoenix, AZ)
Pizza a Metro (Phoenix, AZ) - pizza, gnocchi
Cibo (Phoenix, AZ) - pizza and crepes
Sweet Republic (Scottsdale, AZ) - artisinal ice cream
juju berri (Peoria, AZ) - the best frozen yogurt in AZ; excellent green tea yogurt
Noca (Phoenix, AZ)
Skye (Peoria, AZ) - steaks, etc.
Tin Angel (Salt Lake City, UT) - braised short rib gnocchi, soup
Settebello (Salt Lake City, UT) - VPN pizza
Tony Caputo's (Salt Lake City) - great market and sandwich
Breadbar (Los Angeles, CA) - the best french toast!
Nanbankan (Los Angeles) - yakitori
Roscoe's (Los Angeles) - my first chicken & waffles experience!
Yogurt World (San Diego, CA) - fantastic green coconut yogurt
Alan Wong's Pineapple Room (Honolulu, HI) - less expensive (and some say even better food) than his flagship restaurant (Alan Wong's); we had a fantastic meal there.
Shirokiya food court (Honolulu, HI) - heaven...
Parallel 59 (Vancouver, BC) - double almond croissant
Go Fish (Vancouver, BC) - fish and chips on the water's edge
Guu (Vancouver, BC) - izakaya; probably my most memorable dining experience of '08
Origins (Las Vegas, NV) - great Indian restaurant located just off the Strip
Jaleo (Washington D.C.) - tapas; chef/owner Jose Andres was standing next to our table for part of the meal (he was talking to other customers)
Bonita (Brooklyn, NY) - fish tacos
Max Brenner (New York, NY) - all things chocolate...
Spice Market (New York, NY)
Peshawari @ the Sheraton Rajputana Hotel (Jaipur, India) - incredible marinated chicken
24/7 @ The Lalit (New Delhi, India) - biryani
Taj President (Bangalore) and Taj Deccan (Hyderabad) - masala dosas (the thing I miss the most from my travels in India)
Thai Pavillion @ the Taj President (Bangalore)

Disappointments:
Ruth's Chris (Phoenix, AZ) - bleh...
Chez Panisse Cafe (Berkeley, CA) - bland, overpriced food
Bistro Bernard (Goodyear, AZ)
Metro (Scottsdale, AZ)
Over Easy (Phoenix, AZ)

Surprises:
blu sushi (Litchfield Park, AZ)

Worst meal of 2008:
McGrath's (Salt Lake City)

Restaurants to try in '09:
Prado
The Mission
Digestif
Racho Pinot Grill
Yasu
Roka Akor
Sens
Amarone
Tapino
Atlas Bistro
Sol y Sombra
Don and Charlie's
Daily Dose
Jug 'N Barrel
Arrowhead Grill
Tutti Santi
Butterfield's
District
Pasta Bar

CityNorth a dud?

2008-12-19T18:34:00.004-07:00

Long time no blog...

Stopped by CityNorth a few weeks ago (on a Saturday night). The first phase, called "High Street", just opened a month ago (on Nov. 13). What an incredibly unfortunate time to open a new mall! The place was an absolute ghost-town. Just prior to going there, we were at Kierland Commons, and it was such a contrast. Don't know how to describe it better, but Kierland has a much "warmer" feeling compared to CityNorth. The retail mix at CityNorth also puzzles me. We spent less than 10 minutes walking from one end of the street to the other and none of the stores appealed to us, so we left. I'm guessing we won't be back anytime soon...

CityNorth seems like a dud to me - similar to my opinion of Westgate and Tempe Marketplace.

I wonder if we will ever have anything here similar to any of the following:
The Grove (Los Angeles, CA)
The Americana at Brand (Glendale, CA)
Victoria Gardens (Ontario, CA)

BTW, I got a kick out of this recent article in the paper:
Westgate remains safe despite shooting, Glendale officials stress (AZ Republic)

Automaker bailout

2008-12-11T17:51:00.001-07:00

Funny stuff! Make sure you read the fine print...

(from The Beast)

Happy to have my car back!

2008-12-05T21:39:00.004-07:00

About a month ago, Patty had the sudden urge to crash my car into the cement base of a light pole (after a long day at work, she accidentally had the car in "Drive", instead of "Reverse").

After many weeks of driving her car, while my car was in the shop, I was finally able to pick up my car today!

Here's the "before":

Ouch! ~$4,000 worth of damage...

and after:

Much better...back to "normal"!

Gunmen kill at least 78 in 7 attacks in Mumbai (AP/Yahoo! News)

2008-11-26T15:08:00.003-07:00

Gunmen kill at least 78 in 7 attacks in Mumbai (AP/Yahoo! News)

"The gunmen were specifically targeting Britons and Americans..."
"Gunmen opened fire on two of the city's best known luxury hotels, the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi. They also attacked the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station in southern Mumbai and Leopold's restaurant, a Mumbai landmark."

scary...I was just in Mumbai a month ago...staying at a "luxury" hotel and I was actually looking for Leopold's (but never made it there).

Mi Cocina, Mi Pais

2008-11-24T20:37:00.002-07:00

Last Friday, we went to one of my favorite restaurants in the area, Mi, Cocina, Mi Pais (I've been there many times but haven't written about it before). It's a small family-owned Ecuadorian restaurant.

Here a pic of the complimentary chips and salsa they serve:

The salsa was packing some heat!

I had the 'Pescado a la Huancavilca' (fried boneless trout filet - $10.50). I love the pickled onion that is served on the side - it's a very nice complement to the fish. Here's a pic (w/ the pickled onions on top):

Patty had the 'Sango de Camarones' (~$11). It's basically a shrimp stew (containing eight large shrimp). The stew was excellent. Here's a pic:
I also ordered a side of maduros (fried plantains) for us to share ($1.50). I love these...

For dessert, we had the coconut flan ($3.50). This is seriously one of the best desserts EVER. It's more like a layer cake - with a layer of coconut cake on the bottom and a layer of ultra-rich flan on top. Here's a pic:

If you haven't tried Mi Cocina, Mi Pais, I definitely recommend going there!

The food is always excellent and very reasonably priced. Our meal came out to around $28! (not including tip).

Places mentioned:

Mi Cocina, Mi Pais
4221 West Bell Road
Phoenix, AZ 85053

Off to San Diego for the week!

2008-11-24T12:09:00.002-07:00

My family is meeting up there to celebrate my parent's 40th anniversary!

True Food Kitchen

2008-11-15T22:08:00.002-07:00

My wife and I tried True Food Kitchen last Saturday. True Food Kitchen is the newest restaurant by restauranteur Sam Fox, developed in partnership w/ Dr. Andrew Weil.

We arrived at around 6:30 and waited for around 15 minutes for a table. The lighting on the patio seemed extremely dark so we opted to sit inside. The lighting inside was somewhat inconsistent - we were initially seated in a "dark zone" and ended up moving to an adjacent table partway through our meal.

We shared a hamachi appetizer ("Today's Raw Fish" - MP --> $11) to start. This was a "miss" for me. The slices of fish were drowning in a pool of sauce which completely covered the taste of the fish. A nice controlled drizzle of sauce would have been good. Here's an extremely dark picture, but you can at least see the pool of sauce...

I had the "natural half chicken" w / farro, walnuts, dried fig, brussel sprouts and squash ($18). This dish was excellent - definitely one of the best dishes I've eaten this year! The chicken was extremely juicy. The best part was the skin - nicely seasoned and crispy. All of the sides were nicely prepared. BTW, I am now a fan of farro! Where can I find this stuff?!?

Patty had the "turkey bolognese" ($14). Initially, we both thought this dish was a bit bland. The sauce seemed kind of flat - it was missing something. In the end, she ended liking the dish (it got better as she continued to eat it).

For dessert, we had the "flourless chocolate cake". The cake was served w/ a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. We both thought it was good, although nothing out of the ordinary. I did think it was priced a bit high at $7.

We did notice that the food seemed pretty light and not too oily - consistent with the theme of the restaurant.

Overall, we enjoyed the dining experience and will be back to try some more items.

Sidenote - on a recent trip to Costco, we noticed that they are selling two $50 Fox Restaurant Concepts gift cards for $80.

Places mentioned:

True Food Kitchen
2502 E Camelback Rd #135 (at Biltmore Fashion Park)
Phoenix, AZ 85073

China forcing 6-months' pregnant woman to abort (from AP/AZCentral.com)

2008-11-14T18:14:00.002-07:00

Very interesting...

China forcing 6-months' pregnant woman to abort (from AP/AZCentral.com)

Amazing

2008-11-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the speakers we will have on the Thunderbird campus over the next week:

Commander, U.S. Southern Command, Admiral James Stavridis, Topic: "Security and Stability in the Western Hemisphere"
Co-Founder of Envirofit International, Mr. Paul Hudnut, Topic: "Sustainable Solutions: Pollution, Poverty and Innovation"
CEO of IFESH (International Foundation for Education and Self-Help), Dr. Julie Sullivan, Topic: "Empowering the Poor in sub-Saharan Africa"
CEO, Card Services JPMorgan Chase, Mr. Gordon Smith '96, Topic: "Leadership in a Changing World"
CEO of OPIC (Overseas Private Investment Corporation), Mr. Robert Mosbacher, Topic: "Entrepreneurial Capitalism as a Soft-Power Tool"

Last week, we had the CEO and Chairman of US Airways, Doug Parker, on campus presenting about the airline industry.

The commencement speaker for our fall term will be Luis Alberto Moreno '77, President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

What an amazing lineup!

Headed to Salt Lake City

2008-11-10T08:58:00.002-07:00

I'm at the airport, en route to Salt Lake City, for what should be my last work-related trip of the year. I've been to a total of thirteen cities in seven weeks (my schedule). Not bad!