Dining Out / QuiltCon in Pasadena

I am often asked how I choose the restaurants to dine at when I am traveling.  So, today I am sharing one of my plans when I drove to Pasadena for QuiltCon in February.

First, I draw a very rough map of the area.  How far from point A to point B?  Mainly my hotel and the convention center. How far to walk, how far to take a shuttle?  I use Google Maps on my iPhone when I travel, so I know where I am going and it will tell me how far it is by car or by walking

Now for the list of places that interest me.  I find these through Yelp using the search "farm to table" because I want to eat the freshest foods.  I find they are the most delicious.  After the choices are narrowed down, like for dinner places, I use Open Table to get a reservation.  We also ate at Wahoo's Fish Tacos and PF Chang's.

The Meat District is where we dined on Thursday night. We took the hotel shuttle.  Their memus are in the shape of cleavers!  The boast of having the best burger.  I ordered mine medium, it came crawling off the plate. That's how they like to serve it. It didn't cut the mustard.  No real 'meat' flavors, because in my humble opinion, it wasn't cooked enough.  Salt would have been good.  Those bones in the middle?  Bone marrow. I didn't order them, but they tasted like fish, which can't be good.  Were they stored next to fish in the frig? I don't recommend this restaurant.  The service was good though.

This restaurant wasn't on my list, because some friends recommended it. Dog Haus - with a great selection of hot dogs - all kinds - great selection.  A nice outside patio and within walking distance to the Pasadena Convention Center. It's in Old Pasadena - around the corner is Blick Art Supplies.  I can't remember today what was on my dog, but it was utterly delicious.  Good fries, tatertots and sweet potato fries.  I would highly recommend this restaurant.  Come to find out there are two of these restaurants near me in Orange County, CA.  Hot dogs!

A longer walk that first realized, but such great scenery along the way and the lunch was oh so delicious and fresh. They have wonderful salads, you can have meat added, and lovely veggie sides. I had one of the most delicious cookies there (white chocolate and cranberry).  Tender Greens - and they have many other locations, which I am happy about.

This was a great find.  Azeen's Afghani restaurant, on Yelp, of course.  A small and intimate restaurant with great service, larger portions to share and the food was divine!  We had a table of 7 people who could talk easily and hear ourselves. Great setting.  A car ride away from our hotel.

Napa and Foodie Delights

We had lunch at this farm to table restaurant, Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch.  The food was divine and we could have lingered here all afternoon.

We did alot of food sharing at our table with three of us.  The soup was savory and warm. 

Be still my heart.  Meyer Lemon Meringue pie with a graham cracker crust.

An afternoon appointment at Elyse Winery in Napa.  Their wines are so great, especially their Nero Misto, Zinfandel and the Jacob Franklin.  It is a small winery and it is by appointment only.  You will not be disappointed.

Two of the wines that we tasted.  There was more, but these too stood out.

The countryside is so beautiful in Napa

Coffee...the nectar of the Gods.  We love coffee. A trip to Oxbow Public Market became a daily ritual for us. And look at the name of the coffee!!! 

We had Decaf Flat Whites, and it was the most delicious cup of coffee...ever! and decaf. go figure.

We stayed at Embassy Suites in Napa.  They make breakfast for you. My daily routine was oatmeal, pancakes and sausage. A great way to begin each day!

This restaurant was a great find in the Whole Foods/Trader Joes shopping center in Napa on Trancas.  Heritage Eats.  You can choose your veggies, rice and meats.  Hot delicious food. And they have Vietnamese coffee too!  We ate here a couple of times.

Taking pictures of our food.  We are such geeks!

another cup of delicious coffee

Breakfast at Grace's Table in downtown Napa.  I Googled breakfast places and this came up boasting the best eggs benedict and pancakes.  So we went to check it out. Delicious!  Link to yelp is here

Ventured out to Napa Roasting Company, which is on the way to Oxbow Market.  We got our coffee to go!  They supply many restaurants in Napa with their coffee.

C Casa in Oxbow Public Market has a place for really unique tacos.  We would recommend this culinary delight. Clean, crisp and spicy flavors.

The Ritual Coffee sign.  Had double Flat Whites so we could get larger cups.

another cool restaurant inside the Oxbow Public Market is the Kitchen Door.  Love the pots and pans display.

Shelves on one side displayed vintage collections of cooking tools

I loved the rolling pin collection.  This restaurant is large and has a nice seating area.  A variety of dishes on the menu to choose from.

The Eight Noodle Shop restaurant.  We ate at this restaurant twice for dinner and it did not disappoint.  Great dishes. Noodles, veggies, great flavors and not expensive.

A Trip Down Coffee Lane in New York City!

Our first stop was 'Mud' and it is a charming place with seating inside and out in their patio. I love the sign.  I felt like I was stepping back into another time in my life.  The food was excellent, and they make a mean iced coffee too.

For lunch I had a bowl of their homemade granola, yogurt and fresh fruit and it was divine.  I would imagine their brunch menu would be divine!

We shared this quesidilla made with black beans and mango and it was excellent

I heard about The Big Gay Ice Cream Shop on the food channel, so being lovers of ice cream, we had to go and try it out!

We shared a 'Salty Pimp' and I would highly recommend it - vanilla, caramel, sea salt and dipped in chocolate.  It was well worth the subway ride.

Harney and Sons Tea Lounge in Soho, after a tiring day of walking, shopping and having fun.  Sit down for a brewed pot of tea and a cookie.  Divine.  An unbelievable variety of teas - we had Jasmine Pearl Tea.

The great wall of tea!

We took the subway over to Brooklyn for an arts festival.  Had a nice sandwich and a pretty darn wonderful latte at The Brooklyn Roasting Company. They had tables and living room settings inside an industrial building.  The coffee was smooth, rich and delicious.

A view of the Brooklyn Bridge

Between subways, we ran into this place with huge fabric donut pillows on the wall.  They make gourmet donuts.  Donut Plant - jelly donuts are square. We picked up a few and were on the run!

Stopped in for breakfast at The Popover Cafe

I had a bowl of oatmeal and this amazing light, fluffy and enormous popover with strawberry butter!  And a good cup of coffee!

Can you tell that breakfast is my favorite meal?  The Grey Dog Cafe.  A greeter shows you a bandana, and you have to remember the color, because that bandana is marking where your table is inside the restaurant.  You stand in line to order your breakfast.  We shared a spinach and feta cheese omelet, and some very delicious french toast with a side of fruit.

The latte, also amazing, on a very unique table top of an old map of NY

Birch Coffee.  I've actually had their coffee before, and they make a cold brew too, that you can make yourself and store in your frig for more coffee delights.

We both ordered their regular size latte.  It was the most delicious of all of the latte's that I had this week.  Hands down.  Should have ordered the larger size. I could have easily ordered a second, but I restrained myself.

And last, but certainly not least, breakfast at Irving Farm.  It's a long narrow place, like most NY establishments.  The best bakery section, with unusual morsels of goodness.  I had a rhubarb scone, and a cup of stick to your ribs oatmeal, and a vanilla latte.  I had heard that they make their own vanilla syrup, so I had to give it a try. Creamy deliciousness in a cup. I want to go back and have one of their muffins, and another vanilla latte.

The Hobbit Restaurant in Orange, CA

My dinner group (Jamie Fingal), which meets every month to go out to dinner, for the last four years, had a lovely dining experience at The Hobbit Restaurant in Orange, CA. It is one of our favorite places to dine! This is our table.  The Hobbit has been open since 1972 and is touted as a unique dining experience serving up a 7-course prix fix menu. I remember dining here in the 80's, where we had to get our reservations 6 months in advance.  We began our adventure at 7:00pm in the bar on the second floor.

The main dining room which is elegant, but also feels like you are in a 'home' setting with the decor, windows, fireplace and very friendly and helpful staff.  Michael Philippi is the chef and owner of The Hobbit, along with his lovely wife, Debra, who coordinates events, and greets you at the door of your culinary experience.The Hobbit has been a family owned business since it began in 1972.

Loved the look of this table pedestal in the bar area

Champagne and Hors d'Oeurves are served in the cellar, and this is where you select your bottle of wine for dinner.  This is a wonderful area to walk around and talk to your table guests, as well as, others who will share the dining room with you, if you so desire.

Some of the Hors d'Oeurves - oysters, stuffed dates, cucumber wedges with caviar, beef sticks, cold soup, just to name a few

The Menu

The butter, sculpted in the shape of a rose.  I didn't want to cut into it, but when the rolls were offered, and smelled absolutely heavenly, the butter was carved into.  Nothing like butter!

First course - Cornmeal crusted smoked catfish, with sauteed mustard greens and Creole sauce.  It was delicious.  I didn't know that catfish could taste like this!

The toast to friendship and the September birthday girls - Ann and me!

The wine!  Delicious and full bodied wonderfulness

Roasted duck leg with pineapple chutney, and hose made Pappardelle pasta.  The duck was so succulent and I cherished every bite of this masterpiece.  This was quite memorable.

Watermelon and Baby Mache with peach balsamic vinaigrette.  Wonderful and refreshing flavors.  I thought the cucumbers were a nice touch, with their flower-like presentation.

Intermission.  We walked out to the patio with our wine and rested for a bit.  This vine on the wall was intriguing.

White peach sorbet, upon our return to cleanse the palette.  I wanted more.

Wild mushroom stuffed filet is what three of us had, with seasonal vegetable, and two lovely roasted and caramelized carrots, which I would have loved more of.  The steak was cooked to perfection, as I enjoy my steak more on the rare side.  It literally melted in my mouth.

Jacquin had the fresh herb pesto crusted Wild Coho Salmon with Beluga lentils and sauteed pea tendrils.  We all had a taste, and the flavors from my first bite of Salmon were amazing - full of deep flavors, but not heavy.

Dessert - double chocolate lava cake with sea salt and bourbon caramel with fresh berries!

and an extra bonus, for the birthday girls.  A champagne glass with whipped cream and three melt in your mouth handmade chocolate truffles and a candle.  Made my wish and blew out the candle.  What an amazing evening.

This is the wine that we enjoyed during the last half of our dining experience.  If you are ever in Orange, California - make a reservation at The Hobbit.  10:00pm over and out.  This is a dining experience that I would highly recommend.