http://www.alamodejournals.com because life tastes better with ice cream. Wed, 13 Jul 2011 10:00:17 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Word-Free Wednesday Well, sorta word-free, if you don't count the captions. I really, really haven't had time to blog lately, as you can tell by the lack of posts in the last few months. So I guess I'll sneak in a few photos from Hawaii that I never got around to ... http://www.alamodejournals.com/index.php/2011/07/leid-back/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=leid-back I really had my sights set on visiting Beirut, Lebanon this year (for the week proceeding Easter), and up until a few weeks before I was still checking flights and crossing my fingers that it would be possible. However, with unrest at an all time high, it was probably best ... http://www.alamodejournals.com/index.php/2011/05/hawaiian-style/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hawaiian-style Just about a year has past since my visit to Istanbul and I'm finally getting around to posting the last of the photographs from the trip. As I look at the images, reminiscing about the neighborhoods we explored, the names of restaurants and dishes we consumed, a lot of the details are hard ... http://www.alamodejournals.com/index.php/2011/04/eating-istanbul-part-ii/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eating-istanbul-part-ii Some say opening a new restaurant is very much like giving birth to your first child. You jump into the deep end not fully sure of what you are getting yourself into; a long journey involving months of planning, hard work, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. But ... http://www.alamodejournals.com/index.php/2011/03/spice-table/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=spice-table Saturday night saw us heading out to the Mission once again, this time to meet a new friend in the bay area at Bar Tartine. An extension of Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson's ever popular Tartine Bakery, the restaurant is just the type of place you wouldn't mind having around ... http://www.alamodejournals.com/index.php/2011/01/weekender-sf-part-iii/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=weekender-sf-part-iii If there's one thing I never tire of when visiting the city, it's the ferry building. I have to go every single time. It's one of those few places that fall under the must-go-or-i'll-whine category. I'm not sure most people I know understand this fascination, but at least Gordon indulges ... http://www.alamodejournals.com/index.php/2010/12/weekender-sf-part-ii/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=weekender-sf-part-ii A couple of weeks ago we took a quick trip to San Francisco to visit my good friend Gordon for a few days. Who knew that a weekend of eating, hanging out, and eating some more could yield so many good memories (and yes, tons of photos). I'm going to ... http://www.alamodejournals.com/index.php/2010/12/weekender-sf-part-i/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=weekender-sf-part-i Over the summer I finally made it out to the much lauded Santa Monica Farmers' Market. While the market lives up to its reputation for having some of the best produce and artisanal food stuffs in Southern California (a popular stop for LA chefs), I found it somewhat lacking in ... http://www.alamodejournals.com/index.php/2010/11/shell-shucked/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=shell-shucked Just wanted to share this photo I took of friends Michael & Michelle, who will be getting married in a month's time. For some reason it really resonates with me. Hope you like it too. http://www.alamodejournals.com/index.php/2010/10/love-conquers-all/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=love-conquers-all As promised, the second half of my assignment for Riviera Magazine, and below, another excerpt from Miles: Vien Dong "Northern Vietnam has produced a number of the country’s most iconic dishes, including pho, which is nearing total assimilation into the American appetite. Vien Dong is no less canonical. The restaurant ... http://www.alamodejournals.com/index.php/2010/10/big-bites-in-little-saigon-part-ii/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=big-bites-in-little-saigon-part-ii