Skyy vodka and cranberry juice with a lime wedge. $10
Todd English’s Olives, Las Vegas NV
Ran away from a conference to grab lunch at the Olives bar. I really liked this place. The atmosphere was relaxed, the service was excellent, and the food was delicious!
Ruby Celebration martini – Absolut ruby red vodka, cranberry juice, splash of champagne, garnished with lemon wedge. $12
Creole Bloody Mary – Karlsson’s Gold vodka, Roux’s Cajun Bloody Mary mix, garnished with olives and lemon wedge. $14
Roux Louisiana Kitchen, San Jose CA
These cocktails were weak! The martini tasted ok, but the bloody mary was not at all spicy. Lame restaurant, lame drinks!
The Pattern by Isaac Goes, San Jose “Downtown Doors” Project. I like that San Jose has this public art project showcasing works from local artist.
Dragonfire martini – Absolut vodka with fresh lemon-lime juice and jalapeno. $12
Red lotus martini – Absolut raspberry and pama with fresh lemon-lime and cranberry. $12
Dragonfly, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO
These cocktails were a little expensive but pretty tasty. I was pleasantly surprised at how spicy the Dragonfire martini was – definitely chest-warming.
City Hall, Old San Juan
Caipiroska – crushed lime and vodka. $5.81
House margarita – made with fresh orange juice. $6.85
St. Germain Bistro & Cafe, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO
These tasted weak and watered down. I did enjoy the flavor of the house margarita at least, but the caipiroska was forgettable.
View of the green building across the street from our table inside St. Germain. I loved all the brightly painted buildings in this town. They helped create a fun atmosphere while walking around.
Sea breeze – vodka, cranberry, grapefruit. €12
Mojito – rum, sugar, lime, fresh mint, club soda. €12
Do Brazil, Gustavia, SAINT BARTHELEMY
Omg, I love St. Barths! This island was SO relaxing (and expensive). Of course, we had to celebrate our arrival to this amazing island with delicious cocktails. I had the sea breeze during lunch upstairs in the restaurant and the mojito at our lounge chairs on the beach.
Looking down towards Shell Beach from Fort Karl. Do Brazil Restaurant is directly behind the row of chairs. I walked up the hill while everyone stayed behind to sun. They’re relaxing under the first set of umbrellas from the right. The water was super clear and fairly warm despite the occasional rain shower. I wanna go back!
Project 365: Day 91
Ugh, I’m SO tired of fried food right now (I didn’t think I’d ever say that, lol)! I decided to hit Subway for lunch instead of going to a local fast food restaurant. There are no healthy options for lunch nearby my Charleston work location. Perhaps there are some further away, but I only have so much time during lunchtime to drive somewhere and get food. For dinner, I had leftovers from last night. The one thing that is saving this trip is that the weather is really nice. That’s keeping me motivated to work out.
Vodka with soda and a splash of cranberry. Happy hour $4 each
The Tropicale, Palm Springs CA
This was the trip that we learned that these cocktails were called Rose Kennedy’s. We had been ordering them as “vodka soda with a splash of cran”, silly us! 🙂
“Hubbard Grille was proud to host our ‘Become Legendary’ cocktail-naming contest in which patrons submitted cocktail names. Fans voted & celebrity judges deliberated, listed below are the nine newly named cocktails, try one and enjoy! All cocktails are $10.” – Hubbard menu
But on Sundays, the cocktails are only $5. Heck yeah! I liked that the cocktails were tried were very different and all of them tasty. Sundays at Hubbard are the way to go!
Hubbard Grille, Columbus OH
Little Miss Rosemary – named by Ron Hosenfeld. Watershed vodka, rosemary syrup, lemon juice, lemonade; served in a chilled martini glass, garnished with a sprig of rosemary.
Cider House Rules – named by Allen Cochran. Absolut Citron vodka, apple cider, Pama liqueur, cinnamon sugar rim; served in a short rocks glass.
Rumdog Millionaire – named by Holly Beach. The Kraken black spiced rum, basil, honey, 7-up; served in a short rocks glass.
The Housecat – named by Samantha Giesige. Fireball cinnamon whiskey, apple cider, OYO whiskey, amber maple syrup; served in a short rocks glass garnished with an apple slice.
We sat at one of the tables next to the bar that has a couple beer spouts attached. Unfortunately, they were experiencing a glitch in their system to the spouts were working that day, but it’s a great idea. Apparently your table is charged by the amount of beer that you pour.
I enjoyed these cocktails at Fish & Farm but I don’t think they were worth $12 a pop. You can get delicious, more intricate cocktails and other places for less money. And you’ll get larger pours!
Fish & Farm, San Francisco
The Scofflaw. Classic Prohibition Era cocktail. Templeton rye, dry vermouth, house-made grenadine, fresh squeezed lemon juice, Reagan’s orange bitters, orange peel garnish. $12
Basil Blush. Hangar One vodka, fresh lime juice, agave nectar with a fist full of basil and freshly Watkins cinnamon shaken and served up. $12
Taylor Street Margarita. Herradura Blanco tequila, cointreau, fresh lime juice, and agave nectar shaken hard and served on the rocks. $12
Pama Manhattan. Woodford Reserve bourbon, Pama pomegranate liquor, chilled and served up, garnished with a brandied cherry. $12
Silverfox and I came here to redeem an expired daily deal coupon (so we were at least able to deduct the face value). We tend to be early eaters so it was nice find out that we arrived during their happy hour (Tue-Fri, 5pm – 8pm). Well drinks were only $4 and the pours were decent, score!
Mercury Lounge, San Francisco
Rose Kennedy. Well vodka soda with a splash of cranberry juice.
Cape Cod. Well vodka with cranberry juice.
Madras. Well vodka with orange juice and cranberry juice.
Johannes Restaurant, Palm Springs CA
Ok, the title of this blog entry is a little unfair, but I wanted to vent a little bit. I actually had a very good experience at Johannes. The service was excellent as was the food.
But I’m just gonna go out and say it – I hate super dark restaurants!
For me, part of an amazing dining experience is being able to actually see what I’m eating. For instance, my duck appetizer tasted great and I’m sure it looked amazing – BUT I COULDN’T SEE IT! I really wanted to see the amazing roasted duck against the dark lentils and the beautifully drizzled raspberry vinaigrette. BUT everything looked just like a dark lump. I tried positioning the candle to get better shots to no avail. What you see on this blog is WAY better than what I actually saw in person!
How does a dimly lit room improve my dining experience!? I can’t see my food. I can’t see my dining my guest. I CAN’T SEE ANYTHING!!!
This is becoming such a pet peeve for me that I’m tempted to decline my next reservation if I enter a restaurant and see that it’s lit like a Paleozoic cave! Just wait, I’m gonna do it! This is ridiculous!
So in conclusion, I enjoyed my dinner but it was a little overpriced considering that I couldn’t FULLY enjoy my meal.
Lillet blonde. Over ice, orange zest. $9
Grey Goose vodka martini up with olives. $11
Pimm’s cup, lemon juice, over ice. $9
Brussels sprouts salad (special). Lemon juice, olive oil, pecorino cheese and walnuts. $12
Very bright and refreshing. This was a simple salad that you can easily make at home. I think the hardest part would be leafing the brussels sprouts, probably very labor intensive.
Honey and soy glazed duck breast. Sliced roasted duck breast, Beluga lentil salad, tiny greens and raspberry vinaigrette. $11
My favorite dish of the night. It was served cold and tasted amazing. I’m sure it was beautifully composed, but I really couldn’t see much of it. The dark duck on the dark lentils looked like a black blob in the restaurant. The flavor were great and the textures were fun.
Australian grass fed kangaroo loin. Glazed bosc pear, veal bacon, walnuts, orange, cranberries, broccolini, juniper merlot reduction. $29
The kangaroo didn’t taste as crazy as I thought it would. I guess the chef recommends it served medium rare, but this came out pretty rare. I wish I would have ordered it medium instead. It was very tender and the reduction tasted great. The bosc pear came out super hot and delicious, and I loved the mixed topping.
New Zealand grass fed young lamb rack. White beans, zucchini, tomatoes, grilled green onions, triple Dijon mustard sauce. $36
Wow, you get a LOT of lamb – 6 ribs of it! This was very delicious and super tender. I wish the grilled green onions weren’t on the plate though. They seemed too clunky for an otherwise beautiful plate.
Baguette and pesto butter.
Well vodka with cranberry juice and a lime wedge. $4 for happy hour
Downtown Tiki Lounge, San Mateo CA
This is a pretty chill place with great happy hour drink and appetizer specials. The tiki vibe is adequate with all the fake palm trees, bamboo trim, and tiki statues scattered throughout. Only ducked in for a quick drink while waiting for friend, but this place would be a great after work hang out!
We had an absolutely wonderful dinner at Range on Valencia Street in the Mission. The restaurant is dimly lit so I wasn’t able to take any good food pics, but I thought I’d post these anyway for posterity, hehe. We also had the creamed nettles with a poached farm egg for an appetizer, but that pic didn’t come out at all. Enjoy!
Range, San Francisco
Pink Panther cocktail – Tito’s vodka, pomegranate, tawny port, black pepper, lemon.
Yummy yummy cocktail and I loved the soft pink color!
Smoking Gun cocktail – Bulleit bourbon, maraschino, Dolin sweet vermouth, scotch rinse.
I didn’t like this cocktail as much. I think the scotch rinse was too much for me.
Pan roasted bavette steak with horseradish, barley, brussels sprouts, shiitake mushrooms and baby turnips. $28
Yum! I’m not a huge horseradish fan, but these were mild and tasted great with the perfectly cooked steak. The brussels sprouts were yummy and the baby turnips were so frickin’ cute!
Coffee rubbed pork shoulder with creamy hominy and braised greens. $25
Omg! I’m hungry just recalling this dish! The pork was so tender and juicy and the coffee rub gave it a great flavor. The sauce was to die for and tasted SO good with the hominy and greens. A definite winner dish!
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2014
Vittle Monster 