Tag Archives: red wine

Arepas de pernil – Pica Pica

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Arepas de pernil - Pica Pica
Grilled sweet yellow corn pocket stuffed with slow cooked pulled pork, avocado, tomato, pica’pun, ajo aioli. Served with Pica slaw and taro chips. $10.75
Pica Pica, San Francisco CA

This was really tasty and very filling. The texture of the grilled corn arepa was fantastic and I liked that there were whole kernels mixed in too. The pulled pork was flavorful, and the crisp fresh Pica slaw was a great accompaniment.

Sangria - Pica Pica

Sangria. Red wine, passion fruit, apple, and Adriana’s special spices. Glass $7

Noe Valley
This is how people decorate their trees in Noe Vally, lol! Ok, maybe just this house.

Blackened trout – Alamo Square Seafood Grill

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Blackened trout - Alamo Square Seafood Grill
With green peppercorn sauce (red wine reduction and green peppercorns), roasted brussels sprouts, vegetables, and rice. Daily 3-course prix fixe $14.50
Alamo Square Seafood Grill, San Francisco CA

I enjoyed the trout. It was a small, thin piece with not a lot of meat but it tasted good and was prepared well. I wasn’t a fan of the green peppercorn sauce though. The color was off-putting and I didn’t think that the sour taste did anything to elevate the trout.

Esperance bordeaux - Alamo Square Seafood Grill

Chateau Moulin de l’Esperance, bordeaux, 2009. Half off bottle $18.50

Esperance bordeaux - Alamo Square Seafood Grill

Happy hour cocktails – Nola

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Ginger julep - Nola

Ginger Julep: Bulleit bourbon, house made ginger syrup, Evolution lemon juice, muddled fresh mint, Bundaberg ginger beer. $6
Nola, Palo Alto CA

You never know how a bar is gonna pour when they have happy hour cocktails, but these drinks were quite large and actually had alcohol in them! Score! The bartenders at Nola were super nice and made great, tasty cocktails. Perhaps the sangria was a bit sweet, but I can forgive that for the enjoyable experience.

Saucy's sangria - Nola

Saucy’s Sangria: a refreshing house infusion of red wine, apples, oranges, lemons, limes, pineapples, agave nectar and fresh fruit juices with a brandy float. $6

Pink flower
Pink flower that I can’t seem to identify by appearance (Vasona Reservoir). Help, anyone?

Local Marin miyagi oyster – Roxy’s Cafe

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Local Marin miyagi oyster - Roxy's Cafe
House pickled shallots, red and black tobiko, black pepper. 10-course chef’s tasting menu $75
Roxy’s Cafe, San Francisco CA

What a great way to start a meal with great local ingredients that are beautifully presented and delicious to the taste! I really enjoyed the flavor combinations in this tiny bite and couldn’t wait to see what was next!

House red wine - Roxy's Cafe

House red wine.

Hamon Education Tower
View of the California Academy of Sciences from the Hamon Education Tower Observation Deck at the de Young Museum. Beautiful!

Lentil and asparagus soup – The Stockpot

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Lentil and asparagus soup - The Stockpot
Set menu £8.20
The Stockpot, London ENGLAND

We wanted to try this no frills eatery located across the street from our hotel. The dining room was basic and cozy, and our waiter was very outgoing and confident. The menu was really eclectic and all over the place so it was a bit hard to decide on anything. I’m always wary of restaurants with large menus filled with random items because I feel like they won’t cook any of the dishes REALLY well. In this case of The Stockpot, I was right. All the food we tried was marginal. This soup looked unappetizing and was really bland.

Cuvee Jean Paul house red wine - The Stockpot

Cuvee Jean Paul house red wine. Half bottle £7.50
At least the wine was really affordable!

Soho Square
Soho Square. This is such a cute park and a perfect location to picnic with friends. We met up with an old SF friend who lives in London now, and along with a group of his friends, partied with too many bottles of champagne at this park. It was a blast from what I can remember, lol!

Cheese and wine – Z Hotel Soho

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Cheese plate - Z Hotel Soho
Assorted cheese, olive, biscuit, raisin and hazelnut bread. Complimentary
Z Hotel Soho, London ENGLAND

The Z Hotel had a great complimentary cheese and wine break available in the early evening. They set it up in their cafe and actually had a pretty good selection of snacks and alcohol. We only made it down for one evening, but we had a great time. I was generally impressed by the professionalism and service from the Z Hotel staff overall. Although the rooms were super small, the central location of the hotel was perfect for this visit! 🙂

Red wine - Z Hotel Soho

Red wine. Complimentary

Palace Theatre
View of the Palace Theatre from my Z Hotel room, Cambridge Circus, West End.

Grilled baby squid

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Grilled baby squid
Served with steamed vegetables.
Sitges ES

Ugh, I can’t remember the name of this restaurant. It was located inland in their downtown area near(ish) the train station. Oh well. The food was pretty good though and the service was excellent. Our waitress was very sweet and helfpful. We sat outside in their back patio area and had a wonderful meal. These baby squid were adorable and tasty too! I would have enjoyed a different side than the steamed veggies though.

Crostini and Luis Canas rioja

Complimentary crostini with roasted peppers and cheese. Luis Canas Crianza 2007, rioja.

Casa Bacardi Sitges
Casa Bacardi Sitges. I thought it was weird to have a large Bacardi tasting room/museum in Sitges, but I’m usually clueless about most things. 🙂

Roast chicken – Ma Bourgogne

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Roast chicken - Ma Bourgogne
Poulet fermier roti. Served with French fries (frites). 18€
Ma Bourgogne, Paris FR

Wow, this roast chicken had an intense chicken flavor! I’m not sure it they added extra chicken flavor seasoning or if the chicken was just that good, but it tasted unreal compared to American roast chicken. I will say that the sauce/drippings was kinda salty, but the chicken itself was tender and juicy. The fries were also rockin’! We later came to find out that you can’t avoid the “frites” added to most dishes, argh!

Red wines - Ma Bourgogne

Beaujolais Villages. Verre 15 cl 5€
Sancerre rouge. Verre 15 cl 6,50€
I mean you can’t have a meal without red wine, right?! 🙂

Notre Dame Cathedral

Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris. This cathedral is SO frickin’ large that I couldn’t fit it into a single shot. They also had risers set up in front in celebration of its 850 anniversary so that also obstructed from taking a clear head-on pic. Wow, 850 years! It’s also amazing on the inside!

Red wine to ease the international flight – United Airlines

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Red wine - United Airlines
Marrenon, Mediterranee, Classique 2011. $7
San Francisco (SFO) to Paris (CDG), United Airlines

Uh, I hate long international flights! I used to get excited about flying, but now it’s such an inconvenience to get to where you want to go. Or maybe it’s because I’m always flying economy, lol! Someone needs to give me their unused upgrades! 🙂 It helps to drink some wine to wind down and relax before settling in for the upcoming movie marathon. And please do yourself a favor and don’t eat the lame Summer Harvest mini pretzels.

Bay Area

Bye-bye Bay Area!