Channeling My Inner Crocodile Dundee

April 25, 2014 by Loren in Australia, Dining Out, DTour, Food, Places, Travel

On the twentieth and final day of my free (thanks DoubleTree by Hilton) trip around Australia, I found myself underwater and face-to-face with a deadly, 1,700-pound beast. Submerged in the ominously named Cage of Death, I was staring at the eyeball of Chopper, a 5.5-meter long, 80-something-year-old saltwater crocodile who lives in Darwin, Australia. Thankfully there was thick plexiglass between us, because he was hungry.

I was sent to the Crocosaurus Cove by DoubleTree by Hilton with an all-expenses paid visit. Even though it’s located in the heart of a city, upon walking through its doors, all of the nearby restaurants and bars suddenly seemed worlds away. There were massive crocs everywhere, including a movie star named Bert from the Crocodile Dundee movie.

To help set the mood, someone promptly thrust a baby croc into my hands. She was smooth and lightweight, probably about the length of my arm. With a rubber band around her little snout, I felt her surprising strength between my hands as she writhed for freedom. And this was just a baby. I could only imagine how powerful an adult must be.

From my clear, underwater cage, I watched the full-grown male inch over, calmly eyeing me with suspicion. When a bite of meat lured him above, he sprang up and chomped down hard with his massive teeth. Soon after, as I got hoisted out of the aquarium, he snapped his formidable jaws at my feet. He obviously had an appetite, and I doubted the taste of human flesh was a stranger to his palate.

After toweling off and changing back into my clothes, my expert guide led to me to a different saltie’s tank. Perched safely up above his habitat, a piece of beef heart dangling from my fishing pole, I waved meat in front of the giant beast’s head. When he felt like exerting an effort, up he sprang, chomping down hard with his massive teeth. Turns out, these deadly beasts have the strongest bite ever recorded in the animal kingdom. They lie and wait in rivers and near beaches, and when an animal ventures too close, their jaws take over. For especially strong opponents, they’ll clamp down tight and roll over and over until their prey is immobilized.

While Crocosaurus Cove specializes in a controlled danger, they also have a huge fish tank and feeding show, and an Australian reptile exhibit. Inside the darkened exhibit filled with lit-up terrariums, we got to hold (another) bearded dragon and blue-tongued skink, and for the first time ever we watched a python eat a rat whole, a process which took about 20 minutes start-to-finish. And no, it wasn’t behind glass - it was right on the floor in front of us.

We were getting hungry too, so with crocodiles still on our minds, we ventured a few blocks away to a unique hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Magic Wok, which offers a wide assortment of animal protein, salties included. We each tonged veggies and meats (like croc, kangaroo and emu) onto our trays, selected sauce and noodle cards, and handed them into the kitchen window. The cooks immediately went to work, using their hands and body weight to engage the ingredients in a kind of circular dance in and above the big, steaming woks. I’m almost certain you can’t go wrong at this place. Both of our random concoctions were absolutely delicious.

Full and happy, we started back to our hotel down the brightly-lit street. I couldn’t believe this was the final day of our whirlwind DTour around Australia. What a wild ride it was. It seemed appropriate to be ending it with a full immersion of all things crocodile. We had seen this country’s most venomous snakes, a deadly box jellyfish, and a huge cassowary capable of tearing open your chest. But the saltwater crocodile is the largest predator of the bunch. And aren’t you supposed to go big and then go home?

Disclosure: My epic Australian DTour of a Lifetime was sponsored by DoubleTree by Hilton, but have no fear: what I blog about is totally up to me. Thanks DoubleTree, I had a blast!

Food, Posters and Cats in Nashville

September 13, 2012 by K & L in Dining Out, Food, News, North America, Places, Roadtrip 2012

After a cheap night of camping at a state park in Kansas, we drove for what seemed like ages until we reached Nashville, eager to get out of the car. We pulled up to our friends’ house in the Germantown neighborhood just as the sun was making its descent, painting the sky in oranges, yellows and reds. We were excited to visit, especially after hearing from another friend that it is “the best city in America!” - this coming from a guy who rarely uses superlatives. We decompressed a bit at Andrew and Emily's house and met their two cats before heading out to dinner.

By the time we sat down at our table, we’d memorized our order: bone marrow, beet salad, and the pork loin entree. So tasty! Especially the (vegetarian) beet salad.

The next morning, we went to the huge, year-round Nashville Farmer’s Market, featuring tons of local (and not-so-local) fresh fruit and vegetables, pickled and jarred products, and pretty much anything else one could want. Our attention was railroaded by the peaches everywhere, which seemed to be calling our name, so even though they hailed from Idaho, we loaded up with about two pounds and started brainstorming recipes.

Next, we hit up the historical strip downtown, intent on visiting the world-famous Hatch Show Prints shop. This group has been typesetting and printing local concert posters for decades, with a recognizable style all their own. Inside, it was dark and smelled like oil-based ink, the walls covered floor to ceiling with a mix of awesome vintage and contemporary prints. We were both instantly overwhelmed and inspired, captivated by the subdued grandiosity of the operation. Walking around in awed silence, we took it all in while our creative urges came to a rolling boil. This Nashville institution is an inspiration, to say the least.

There were also two super-happy if somewhat overweight cats lounging in the sunny windows behind some prints for sale. In fact, the cats were the centerpiece on a recent Hatch print, and boast their own hashtag: #hatchcats. Adorable and hip. We didn’t end up buying any original prints since we're technically homeless, but we did pick up a t-shirt and a postcard.

Back on the east side, we met Emily for lunch at Five Points Pizza. We each got a slice, split a salad, and splurged big-time on some garlic knots - garlicky dough twisted up into fist-sized knots - served with a tomato sauce dip. Apparently this place is fairly new but is already getting raving reviews. We agree with the praise!

Across the street, we browsed a row of cool shops, including a tiny, well-curated menswear store called Hello Boys, where Kristen bought Loren a belated birthday present: a pair of tie clips, which she’d been on the hunt for.

Before leaving the area, we popped into Bongo Java Roasting Company, a Nashville staple that takes pride in roasting coffee beans in-house and serving delicious caffeinated concoctions. The chalkboard specials, we came to find out, are invented and voted on by their own staff members. Loren got a special pumpkin-spice iced espresso, and Kristen got the regs (black iced coffee).

It was a quick yet fabulous visit to Music City, and we can’t wait to come back (and hopefully see Andrew next time too!) Thanks for the southern hospitality, Emily!

Lunch in Denver

September 11, 2012 by K & L in Dining Out, Food, News, North America, Places, Roadtrip 2012

With barely two hours to spare in Denver, we beelined for the hip LoHi neighborhood, another stop on our could-we-live-here tour. LoHi, so-called because it encompasses the lower stretches of Highland, was beckoning us with its foodie haven small restaurants and bungalow houses. We’d been through here once before during Kristen’s business trip back in February, but this time we couldn't wait to sample some of the local fare.

So we got straight to business, settling down at Linger restaurant just in time before the kitchen closed during the lull between lunch and dinner. After noticing sweet potato waffle fries on the menu, we knew we’d arrived at the right place. In addition to the dream-come-true sweet potato goodness, our lunch consisted of braised goat tacos, and a delicious and beautiful salad.

Goat tacos with feta, cucumber-red onion slaw, dill, mint & chimichurri

*Crispy lentil salad with goat cheese, gala apples, and pistachio paste!*

We stopped in a coffeshop around the corner where we ordered some energy to go before winding through the neighborhood, checking out potential properties. While Denver isn’t quite Boulder, it still seems like a great place to live.

And from there, we turned east with our sights set on Kansas, where we’d hope to camp. Colorado, we hope to see you (and your prairie dogs) again soon!

Sampling Some of Sonoma's Best

August 25, 2012 by K & L in Dining Out, Food, News, North America, Places, Roadtrip 2012

Since we needed to delay our arrival into San Francisco by a day in order to be able to meet the schedules of our hosts, we chose to pass the time in the Napa/Sonoma areas. As expected, we drove by countless vineyards, with their perfect rows of ripening white and red grapes.

Deciding we were allowed to spend more money than usual on the super-high-quality food in the area, we limited our lodging to tent camping, and again lucked out with the last spot in Sugarloaf Ridge state park, on the Sonoma side.

After setting up our tent as a way of staking our claim to the spot, we drove down the windy mountain road into downtown Sonoma, and landed at the El Dorado Kitchen, which soon became tastebud heaven.

For starters, we both sampled some local wines: Loren opted for a Sonoma white and Kristen a Napa red. Kristen again ordered the duck, this time served two ways: seared duck breast and duck leg confit. The mix of all the flavors - the duck jus, apple puree, turnips, pickled cherries and shitakes, and rich duck - made for an incredible palate pleaser.

But, Loren’s roasted Petaluma chicken dish - simple as it sounds - was a home run, winning best plate of the night (at our table). It was the most complex-tasting roast chicken we’d ever sampled, with crispy skin, squash puree, chanterelles, piquillo peppers, romesco and chicken jus.

As if we couldn’t indulge anymore, we ordered the molten chocolate cake with sweet corn ice cream. Delectable.

We were both exhausted as we pulled up to our campsite, and despite the renowned conditions for stargazing that the State Park boasts, we beelined for the sleeping bags. We didn’t even make a fire that night! Instead, we entertained ourselves by finishing up the Netflix movie we’d had since early July.

The sun woke us up around 8am as it rose over the ridge, and we battled a swarm of yellow jackets that really wanted to share in our fried egg breakfast. Eventually, we gave up and ate in the car.

Plated, with sriracha and hungry yellow jackets

We also paid to shower at the park’s facilities, 40 seconds of water for 25 cents. Kristen used 3 quarters, and came out of that experience thinking about how indulgent we are with our normal showers. Loren only used 2 quarters, and owing to the cold he’d picked up somewhere after LA, he wasn’t as thoughtful post-shower. With both of us nonetheless revived from our showers, we headed into wine country to sample some of the local sips.

We ended up arriving rather early - 11am - and were the first patrons at Audelssa, a fancy wine tasting shop in Glen Ellen, near Sonoma. With Loren under the weather, Kristen took one for the team and sampled for both. Audelssa ended up being a great place to start, because it is a small operation: all grapes are handpicked, and the vintner only makes 3,000 barrels a year. Apparently they don’t distribute, and sell only to their wine club members and whatever bottles are bought by happy tasters. It was a nice experience, and in talking to the server, we picked up a tip for a future camping meal pairing: canned sardines supposedly go perfectly with chardonnay. After the 6 large sips Kristen had sampled, she was a bit giggly and ready for caffeine, so we headed into downtown Sonoma.

After a cappuccino at a shop near the square, we started back towards the vineyards but were captivated by another establishment at a scooter importer. So we got round 2, this time chai instead of coffee.

Next we drove to another vineyard, this time a very big operation, Gloria Ferrer. It wasn’t quite the experience we were hoping for, as they “didn’t do wine tastings, per se.” We had to order half-glasses of the five wines that we could, and therefore missed out on the sparkling wines for which the vintner is known.

Despite the less than tasty wines, the patio where we sat offered gorgeous views of the Sonoma Valley and the estate. By that point, we’d had our fill of the grapes and were eager to make the quick drive into San Francisco. After all, we plan to return to wine country, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Getting a Taste of LYFE

August 24, 2012 by K & L in Dining Out, Food, North America, Places, Roadtrip 2012

After reading a great article in Wired Magazine about ex-McDonald’s executives starting up a new restaurant concept called LYFE Kitchen, we knew we had to try it (or, rather, Loren made us go). Their flagship location (and one-and-only so far, though they plan to open hundreds in the next couple years) is in Palo Alto, CA, and we were on our way in that direction anyway.

The founders of LYFE have a lot of knowledge about the fast food business from their experience running McDonald’s, but have thankfully chosen to apply it to a new (and better) system of food service. Instead of supporting unhealthy foods and evil factory farming, LYFE is supporting the next phase of eating: healthier food and local, organic, sustainable farming. In fact, their name stands for Love Your Food Everyday.

The place had a welcoming feel with beautiful interior design using natural materials, an array of herbs and spices growing, a wide-open view into the kitchen area, and quotes about food printed on the walls (including one of Loren's favorites, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food"). We wanted to sample a few different items, you know, just to see, so we ordered a few different things at the front counter, where they asked our name and gave us a coaster to take to our table. The tables are equipped to correspond with our coaster, so the servers know where to deliver the food.

A few moments later (not as fast as McDonald’s, but who cares?) our summery cucumber mint cooler arrived, and a few minutes after that, the rest of our food. We shared an Asian-inspired noodly brothy fish dish and a little gluten-free margherita pizza. Both were fresh and tasty.

On our way out, we couldn’t resist getting one more thing for the road, you know, just to see, so we ordered baked sweet potato fries, which comes with agave ketchup. They were so delicious and so much healthier than their McDonald’s counterpart: salty white potatoes with high fructose corn syrup ketchup.

Even though LYFE’s prices don’t really compare with conventional fast food joints, we sincerely hope LYFE catches on and makes people more aware of their food choices; to put the quality of their food and the source of their food above price. For a healthier life and a healthier planet.

Charming Carmel and its Valley

August 22, 2012 by K & L in Dining Out, Food, News, North America, People, Places, Roadtrip 2012

The quaint and ritzy Carmel-By-The-Sea was our next stop along the California coast. Loren had been before and wanted Kristen to see it in all its glory. We drove through a few random neighborhood streets to get a feel for the residential area, where every single street is lush with trees and gardens and unique, just-the-right-size homes. We walked only a few minutes along the white-sand beach at the end of Ocean Avenue, as the weather was a bit nippy, and then proceeded to grab lunch, via high Yelp ratings once again.

Our choice was a good one; we ended up sitting outside at a cute bistro called Basil. In order to sample a few different dishes, we split two appetizers and one big salad. The shrimp plate and lamb meatballs were the winners.

To take in a little more culture, we walked around and found ourselves at the Carmel Valley Coffee Roasting Company for coffee and (of course) blogging. It was the perfect place to just chill for a couple hours.

Our next stop: Carmel Valley, the inland companion town to the chillier Carmel, with rolling hills and warmer weather. We arrived and unpacked at Sarah and Taylor’s house, a large but cute ranch-style u-shaped home, which wraps around a magnificently old live oak tree. Unfortunately, these trees were getting hit with an infestation of gross little caterpillars (soon to be moths), which were hanging from a line of silk literally everywhere. As soon as we arrived we walked right into them, and afterwards kept finding them on our clothes.

After a wonderful dinner at a nearby Greek restaurant with the happy couple, we went back to their house to wind down and then hit the hay. Lovable black cats seem to be a theme on this trip. At four of the homes we’ve crashed at, there has been a really cool black cat living there. One of the cats at Sarah and Taylor’s house, Cowboy, got into our bed and went to sleep with us. He even came back the next morning and helped wake up Loren, cute little guy.

Sarah was at work teaching kindergartners, and Taylor was in the metal shop making art, so we set off to explore Monterey, an historic town known for its world-class aquarium and charming Cannery Row. But we were on a different mission; Kristen actually lived here for a year at age four when her Navy dad was in postgraduate school, and we wanted to find her old house. Her faded memory of the house at such a young age made it nearly impossible (“I think that’s it!” “No, wait maybe that one!”), but it was still fun to try.

Before heading further up the coast, we stopped in Sand City to see Taylor’s current sculpture projects, and Kristen lucked out with another Hawthorne family guided tour. We saw the super-cool loft apartment above the metal shop where Taylor used to live, and another gallery space filled with modern paintings, sculptures, and furniture.

From there, we shared a bowl of veggie soup, splurged on some delicious strawberry-rhubarb pie and savored a cappuccino at Sweet Elena’s, and moved on.

What Happened in Vegas

August 15, 2012 by K & L in Dining Out, Food, News, North America, Places, Roadtrip 2012

Always up for good counterpoint, we jumped from Zion to Las Vegas, where the scenery changed from sheer rocky cliffs to towering hotels, from river to fountains, from nighttime sky to neon flashing lights.

*Dashboard temperature reading as we entered Vegas*

Adjusting to the extreme heat and general sensory overload, we checked into the Hotel Monte Carlo, which turned out to be cheaper in cost than our digs in Sedona. From there, we threw on our “nice” clothes and set out on the strip for the long walk through what seemed like miles of hotel lobbies, casino rooms, high-end malls, and finally landed at The Venetian for dinner.

Good food is super easy to find in Vegas (among other things). Reasonably-priced good food is tougher... so we landed at Bouchon, which is somewhere in the middle of the price range but at the top of the quality range. (The chef, Thomas Keller, has been named “America’s Best Chef” by Time Magazine.) With classic french bistro decor, a relaxed ambiance, and some jedi mind tricks that made us feel like we were on the ground floor (rather than the actual 10th floor), we sank into our table eager to have something other than camp cooking.

We devoured the warm-up course: bread and pistachios with some of the best butter we’d ever tried. For a main course, Loren opted for the Sole Marinière (sautéed fillet of sole, caramelized baby artichokes, manila clams, oyster mushrooms, coco beans, and a delicious seafood broth). For Kristen, the Veal Chateaubriand (seared veal loin, crispy polenta, jingle bell peppers, glazed figs, fennel bulb & sauce soubise).

It was really hard to peel us out of our happy-belly stupor, especially knowing that we definitely had to make our way, in the heat, all the way back down to the Monte Carlo. Turns out Vegas at night trumps Vegas by day. While it was still super hot, and while there were tons of people still out on the streets, things seemed marginally less hectic. And at least we had the neon lights to keep our focus from the heat!

We weaved our way through the nudie card slappers (who are in some way trying to generate business for escorts but as far as we could tell, couldn’t pass out any cards) to the Eiffel Tower restaurant, which is a part of Paris hotel. Unable to eat anything more, we chose liquid dessert of Margarita and Strawberry-Basil Mojito. The view from the bar was pretty spectacular: the Bellagio’s fountain. (In fact, the drinks at Eiffel Tower were so good, Kristen somehow managed to pay the bill but leave her credit card at the bar. Luckily she realized it a few hours after the fact and was able to freeze that account... she eventually cancelled it after the restaurant reported back they hadn't found it the next morning. And of course, 45 minutes later, they found it at the hostess stand. Too late. What you spend in Vegas stays in Vegas!)

After leaving the Eiffel Tower bar, we made it just in time to catch another showing of the Bellagio Fountain show, which was a bit overshadowed by the terrible choice in music ("God Bless the USA"... why didn't Bellagio stick with Clair de Lune, like in Ocean's Eleven?) but still worth seeing. Our next stop was a spot close to our own hotel, the Cosmopolitan's Chandelier bar, where we topped off our liquor buzz with another drink each, though the ambiance far outweighed the drinks this time. After that liquid confidence, we made it back to the Monte Carlo where we decided to try our luck in the casino. First stop: slots. We each lost one dollar immediately, expecting it'd last for at least a few "spins". That sucked. Kristen swore off gambling, Loren tried Fast Roulette and digital Blackjack, and both turned in fairly early by Vegas standards. Total money lost at casino: $25.

All in all, we spent our money where we wanted to: on food and drink. Dinner was literally more expensive than our hotel room for the night. Vegas is certainly a spectacle, and we'll be back at some point at least to try more restaurants, to catch a Cirque du Soleil performance, and to visit the currently-under-renovation but soon-to-reopen Neon Graveyard in North vegas. Until then, we'll save up.