Three meat combo – Home Team BBQ

Three meat combo - Home Team BBQ
Smoked pulled pork, 1/4 chicken, 3-4 ribs, mac and cheese, poppy seed slaw, cornbread muffin. $16.25
Fiery Ron’s Home Team BBQ, Charleston SC

Mmm, so good! I’m a sucker for pork ribs and these taste great. Actually, the chicken and the pulled pork were also very good. The mac and cheese was perfect, so cheesy and just the way I like it. The coleslaw was light, perhaps on the runny side but yummy. And the Alabama white sauce is amazing!

SweetWater 420 Extra pale ale - Home Team BBQ

SweetWater 420 Extra pale ale beer. I’m not a huge beer fan but this tasted great with the bbq!

Sauce bottles - Home Team BBQ
Bbq sauce bottles. They’re all different tasting and pretty good. The “hot” bbq sauce is not hot at all though. Maybe Southerners have a different spice gauge? And I’m not a big mustard based bbq sauce guy so I didn’t use much of it.

Circular Congretional Church and Cemetery

Circular Congretional Church and Cemetery. This is a beautiful church in the middle of the downtown historic district. I’ve never been inside, but the graveyard in the back is pretty cool.

Extra courses – The French Laundry

Project 365: Day 125

Another ho-hum day at work, not much to report. Had a good workout at the gym then grabbed an early dinner with CT at Barracuda. Wow, they have a pretty good happy hour. We didn’t have any drinks but their food specials were great and SUPER cheap! I think we got more than enough food for only $13.
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Omg, I highly recommend knowing an insider or anyone connected with the restaurant if you’re going to dine at The French Laundry. You’ll not only get the exceptional service and outstanding food that the restaurant is known for, but chances are the kitchen will also throw a few extra bites your way!

It was difficult remembering what everything was since they weren’t on the menu, but I’ve done my best in recollecting. Please correct me if I’ve gotten anything wrong.
The French Laundry, Yountville CA

Salmon tartare The French Laundry
Salmon tartare cone with seaweed sesame tuile, chives.

Gougere The French Laundry
Warm gougere. Choux pastry with cheese Mournay.

Soup with shaved truffle The French Laundry
Soup with shaved truffle and Oxalis(?) blossoms.

Truffled Guinea egg custard The French Laundry
Truffled Guinea egg custard with potato chive wafer.

Gaston Chiquet, Blanc de Blancs d'Ay Champagne
Gaston Chiquet, Blanc de Blancs d’Ay Champagne. Also free, thanks to Olivia’s restaurant connections.

It was my friend Olivia’s (foodie insider friend) 30th birthday and she was able to secure this amazing reservation at The French Laundry. I was definitely honored to be one of her guests and overjoyed that the experience was as amazing as I imagined it would be. The dinner lasted 5 hours and we literally closed the place down! Thanks, Olivia!

Grilled ham and cheese sandwich – Lori’s Diner

Grilled ham and cheese sandwich Lori's Diner
Served with French fries and a pickle. $8.95
Lori’s Diner, San Francisco (SFO)

Ew, this was so gross and greasy! They even grill the ham before sticking it into the sandwich so it stains the cheese with a dark layer of grease. The French fries were ok, but you really didn’t want to eat to many of them since the grilled cheese sandwich as SO heavy and salty.

Chicken enchiladas – La Tortilla

Project 365: Day 116

Oi vey, it was another difficult morning, lol! Last night, we had gone to my “cousin” Kris’ apartment to celebrate his birthday with some of his friends. Then we headed to Soho and went to several bars – I remember Ku Bar and Lo-Profile. 🙂 A couple of D’s friends met us out and we ended up at one of their apartments and doing more shots, ouch! It was a great night.

D went into full-on tour guide mode today and we walked around central London to see many of the touristy sites: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St. Margaret’s Church, Trafalgar Square, National Portrait Gallery, Hungerford Bridge, London Eye, Westminster Bridge, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Millennium Bridge, Tate Modern, and Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. PHEW, that was a lot of walking and Tube riding! Even though it was rainy and dreary most of the day, I have to say that I LOVE London!

We also got to meet D’s boyfriend Alex who was really cool. Tonight we’re gonna head to a restaurant closer to D’s place. He lives in north London near Burnt Oak Station on the Northern Line.

Chicken enchiladas La Tortilla
Grilled chicken wrapped in corn tortillas, topped with cheese and enchilada sauce. Served with salad, sour cream and guacamole. A la carte $7.80
La Tortilla, San Francisco CA

Mmm, chicken enchiladas are my favorite! This one at La Tortilla is ok, but I do like their (limited) salsa bar so I can get more to put on top!

Chips and salsa La Tortilla
Chips and salsa. Complimentary.

Chicken enchiladas - La Tortilla
April 5, 2014. A la carte $7.80
Graffiti artwork, Market Street
Bright graffiti artwork in an alley off Market Street. The alley is located between Valencia and Gough Streets, next to Delessio Market. Very cool!

Cuarto Sombras panini – Cafe Cuatro Sombras

Project 365: Day 111

I’m at SFO International Terminal A with Hubbs and waiting to board our Virgin Atlantic flight to LHR. Yippee! The flight is 9+ hours long so I’m gonna have plenty of movie-watching time. I’m SO glad it’s a direct flight. We arrive in London tomorrow morning but have to wait at the airport for our afternoon connection to Dublin on British Midland International. SO excited!

Cafe Cuatro Sombras panini
Black forest ham, lettuce, tomato, recao and cilantrillo mayo with a garlic and cheese spread on an olive oil bread. Served with potato chips. $7.50
Cafe Cuatro Sombras, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO

Leave it to a cafe to deliver some of the better food we had in Old San Juan. This panini was delicious. Otherwise, San Juan was a food bust for the most part.

Iced lattes Cafe Cuatro Sombras
16 ounce iced latte. $3.75

Signature dish – BB’s Crabback

BB's Crabback signature dish
This dish is called the BB’s Crabback. The restaurant takes it’s name from this dish, fresh crabmeat baked with exotic herbs, wine and cheese sauce and served in a crab shell with warm bake (roll). Served with a side salad and slices of cucumber, tomato, and citrus. $36 (East Caribbean dollar)
BB’s Crabback, St. Georges, GRENADA

BB's Crabback signature dish
I really like how this was plated considering the super casual feel of this restaurant. And of course, we wouldn’t be in the Spice Islands without a garnish of ground spices. The crabback was very rich, but very flavorful and the side salad and sliced vegetables helped to cut the richness. Although the portion wasn’t overly large, it was definitely filling.

Sendall Tunnel
Sendall Tunnel. After eating at the restaurant, we had to walk through this tunnel to get back to the cruise ship terminal. As you can see, it’s a tight fit. The locals seem to have no fear walking through, but I definitely clung to the walls. Lol!

Los numeros #1 – Zapata Mexican Grill

Los numeros #1 - Zapata Mexican Grill
1 chile relleno, 1 flauta, and 1 chicken enchilada served with rice, black beans, green salad, guacamole and sour cream. $12.50
Zapata Mexican Grill, San Francisco

Los numeros #1 Zapata Mexican Grill

I don’t remember where the flauta went – I probably devoured it before remembering to take the pic, hehe. You can see that this plate is packed with food. That’s probably why I stumble over to this place after a night with friends, lol! I always seem to order enchiladas at Mexican restaurants, but I think I was super hungry so I got this combination. You can’t go wrong with adding a deep fried chile relleno and a flauta and everything smothered in cheese.

Chips and salsa Zapata Mexican Grill

Croque Madame – Bisou

Croque Madame Bisou

Ham and cheese grilled sandwich served on a hot pain levain topped with a sunny side egg, served with sauteed potatoes and salad. $9
Bisou, San Francisco

This is a simple, but delicious, breakfast dish! This version, however, was a little dry. The bread was dry and crispy and the thin slice of ham with cheese was placed under the broiler for way too long. Or perhaps it had a long stay under the heat lamp during the busy brunch rush. Either way, I didn’t enjoy the result.

BBQ baby back ribs – Tyler Florence Rotisserie

Project 365: Day 61

Flew back from Ohio through Chicago this morning. Caught a 9am flight and was able to get back to San Francisco before 1pm and was able to squeeze in a few hours of work before the day was over. Love visiting Codes, but also glad to be back home.

BBQ baby back ribs Tyler Florence Rotisserie

With a macaroni with local cheeses and sauteed green beans. $13.50
Tyler Florence Rotisserie, SFO San Francisco

I love Terminal 2 at the San Francisco International Airport. It’s small, clean, and has amazing food options (for an airport). These ribs were tasty and reasonably priced. I really enjoyed the macaroni and cheese with the chunky bread crumb topping. The green beans – not so much.

Pepperoni pizza – Mikey’s Late Night Slice

Pepperoni pizza Mikey's Late Night Slice

So after a long night at a birthday party, Taj Mahaj bar, then Level we walk outside and find a pizza truck outside the bar, amen! I guess anything would have tasted great at that point. Although I had plenty to drink, I have to say that I wasn’t all that impressed with this pizza. I’ll pass next time. $3
Mikey’s Late Night Slice(Food Truck), Columbus OH

VicenteSF and Codes go to White Castle!

Project 365: Day 60

Wow, what a long day! Had a great time at Codes’ birthday party last night. I do remember a couple funny moments. During the birthday banquet, some college frat guy walks by our table and because I was partially obstructing the walkway with my chair he politely says to me, “Excuse me, sir.” Sir! Omfg, I kinda freaked out, lol! But I also thought it was funny. Then at Taj Mahal, I was ordering another round at the bar and a group of three young college dudes (I’m sure from OSU since it’s down the street) look and me and say, “Well you look dapper!” LOL! Oh, kids can be so funny some times!

Anyway, today we ran more errands, visited Codes’ house, had drinks at Union, had more drinks and food at Hubbard, then went back to Union for even more drinks. I’ve never been to a White Castle so I had to go and try it after the bars. Omg, these things was so cute and cheap!

These sliders are definitely easy to eat. They practically melt in your mouth! That’s probably why people can eat so many of them. I also tried the chicken rings, but they weren’t all that great. I don’t know what I was expecting but they were kinda limp and didn’t have too much flavor without the bbq sauce.
White Castle, Columbus OH

Bacon cheeseburger White Castle
Bacon cheeseburger. $1.25Jalapeno cheeseburger White Castle

Jalapeno cheeseburger. $0.89

Original chicken rings White Castle

Original chicken rings. Six for $2.19

Original chicken rings White Castle

Deep fried chicken pieces in a fun shape – can’t go wrong with that!

White Castle

They come individually boxed!