Travel – Page 33

Roadtrip (2022) – Bob’s Well Bread and Lunch at Bells (Los Alamos)

August 12, 2022 mmm-yoso Bakery, Caffeine Fix, Croissants, French Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Travel

After an excellent dinner at Bell's, the Missus and I were looking forward to our return for lunch. But what to do in Los Alamos before lunch? We had pretty much seen the entire town the day before.

I thought that the Missus and I should ponder that over some caffeine and perhaps a croissant? And I had a place in mind.

At the Eastern edge of the (4 block) downtown area in a structure that was formerly a gas station resides Bob's Well Bread.

The business has quite a story. You can read it here. Bob's Well Bread has quite a following, mainly for the artisan, small batch bread made from all natural ingredients. I've heard the phrase "like European" artisan breads in several posts I saw. We wouldn't be grabbing a loaf on this trip; but since it said "Croissants" clearly in the window sign, how could I not try that?

We went in and ordered a Cortado for the Missus, a cold brew for me, and a croissant. The Missus also got several cookies as well.

We then went and had a seat sat one of the picnic tables outside.

I was expecting to have my name called, but the very nice young woman working actually brought us our coffee and croissant. How nice!

So, how did this croissant lineup? In terms of the looks department, it was beautiful; perfectly baked. It was crisp and flakey; the interior so moist and almost creamy in texture. Unfortunately it was really lacking in butteriness and since I love my croissants au buerre, this failed at the "third point". Bummer…..

The Missus did love the cookies we bought however, and I think if we're in the area we'll stop for those and perhaps a baguette.

Bob's Well Bread Bakery
550 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440

As for our plan? We decided to head on over to Solvang which is just 20 minutes away and get some cookies for the Missus's coworkers. We then took a stroll around Danish Disneyland and just chilled.

We then returned to Los Alamos, relaxed a bit, then checked out. I parked the car and we crossed the street to Bell's right at 11am.

We had requested to sit on the patio again. Same relaxed and friendly service. A lot of the Servers were wearing "Franch" t-shorts…..Bell's say they serve Fr(ench R)anch cuisine.

We looked over the tempting menu and placed an order for four dishes and then went one step father. There was a sandwich we wanted to order, but knew we wouldn't be able to finish, so we got a takeout order as well!

My two favorite dishes came out first.

The Steak Tartare ($25) was amazing. It is now my favorite version in the U.S. it was just so perfect.

Just the perfect cut, the beef was super tender, like the night before, all items were perfectly seasoned. Perfect amount of capers, and that egg yolk, oh my! This was just so clean tasting and refreshing.

I also loved the Country Pate ($18), it was tender and had just right amount of wine in it.

Nice amount of offal-ish flavor for me; the cherries didn't overwhelm anything, and the fried shallots in the pate was perfect. Was not a big fan of the baguette as it was typical hard and chewy American style. The frisee was a lovely addition to the dish.

I was shocked that the Missus ordered the Escargot ($16). While the Missus loved the Escargot in Burgundy, She had never found a version here in the States that She enjoyed.

Well, mark this as the first Escargot She liked outside of France….leave it to "Franch" to deliver. Good amount of garlic, nice balanced flavors. The menu noted that these were "wild snails" and they were much more tender than I expected. Still, that baguette……

I was also surprised that the Missus ordered the La Brujula Tinned Mussels in Escabeche ($20)!

These Spanish tinned mussels were quite good, nice and tender. We didn't care for butter and the ketchup like sauces, but the homemade saltines were wonderful.

This was wonderful meal, we actually enjoyed it more than our dinner. And we really want to do it again soon.

Bell's
406 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440
Current Hours:
Thurs – Mon 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 830pm
Closed on Tuesday – Wednesday

And as the postcript. On the lunch menu there was Braised Beef Cheek Sandwich that sounded so good. So, after consulting with our Server, we got it to go with the bearnaise aioli on the side.

It was still in fine shape after the five hour drive home. The bread, in this case a ficelle held up fine; the meat was so intensely beefy; I loved the pickled Basque peppers…..

I guess we'll need to return again soon!

Roadtrip (2022) – A Stroll Around Town and Dinner at Bell’s (Los Alamos)

August 9, 2022 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, French Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Travel

After getting lunch in Los Olivos, we headed up to our main destination for the road trip, Los Alamos with a population of under 2,000. Why, you might ask? Well, when doing research for road trip destinations and Michelin restaurants, I came across a one-star restaurant in, of all places, Los Alamos! WTH? To make it even more enticing, the cuisine was French; or French influenced….in fact, we got a laugh when we saw that Bell's claimed they served "Franch" cuisine!

We've always enjoyed the Santa Ynez Valley, so we thought why not spend an evening in Los Alamos? We arrived a bit early at our accommodations, the Alamo Motel, which was basically right across the street from Bell's, though the main strip of the town is basically 4 blocks long! I notified the really efficient and friendly young lady in charge that we had arrived and she promised to text us when our room was ready.

And then we set off to take a look at Los Alamos.

There were two markets, well make that one market…..

And one convenience store….a couple of wine tasting shops, several restaurants, one really good looking bakery, which we would check out the next morning, and a couple of art/antique shops.

We did a bit of "window shopping" and folks here as would be expected were super warm and friendly.

We really enjoyed slowing things down and relaxing……

I had read that Los Alamos became popular as a stagecoach stop.

And there is undoubtedly a "old west" vibe to the town.

Check out the 1880 Union Hotel.

Apparently, the saloon here was a great place to grab a cocktail before Covid; but is now open for private events only. Bummer, it would have been fun comparing it to the Iron Door Saloon in Groveland.

Many of the buildings were repurposed, but kept signs and other indicators of the history visible.

We returned to the motel; our room wasn't quite ready yet, but there is a wine bar in front of the motel.

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Along with some nice shaded seating, quite important on a pretty warm day. The Missus and I had some sparkling water and just relaxed until our room was ready.

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Soon enough our room was ready, 2 hours earlier than scheduled. I walked over to the market next door, grabbed more sparkling water, and the Missus and I settled in and had a nice nap.

We awoke nice and refreshed. We took a short stroll before dinner. Yep, that's pretty much the town below.

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Loved this street sign!

With Covid still in our head, we had made 530 dinner reservations outdoors.

We were seated in the lovely back patio. The Service was so relaxed, very friendly, and we just enjoyed ourselves. Bell's is super dog friendly; in fact there were four pooches having dinner with their "hoomans"!

This one was especially charming!

Bell's does only a Pre Fixe menu for dinner, which at the time of our visit was just $75 per person. The husband and wife team (Daisy and Greg Ryan) behind the restaurant are alumni of Per Se and Daisy Ryan, who is the chef was named one of the Best New Chefs by Food & Wine Magazine….yes, in Los Alamos.

We placed our orders and during the evening, the Missus wasn't sure what wine to match with Her dishes….wouldn't you know, the great staff brought Her like 6 different whites to try? And they were like "half pours"!

We started with the Santa Barbara Sea Urchin and ordered it with the Caviar ($15 supplement). As you can see; the uni was pristine; just perfect.

It had a wonderful sweet-brininess, buttery texture….in fact, it didn't need the caviar which kind of over powered the dish. I was worried that the mille crepe would be on the sweet side; but it was quite neutral in flavor and basically was just a wonderful vehicle to get that uni to your mouth.

What we noticed with the quite simply dressed Salade of Finley Farms Lettuces was how perfectly each leaf was dressed.

In what would be a recurring theme; we enjoyed the wonderful balance of flavors and seasonings.

To us, the least impressive dish was the Santa Barbara Bluefin Crudo.

The bluefin was of good quality, but call us jaded, we thought the ojo blanco and the garlic oil really didn't stand up and uplevel the mild flavored fish.

We absolutely adored the Duck Confit.

The Missus told me; "this is what I want your duck confit to be"! Egads! This was wonderful, perfectly seasoned, not overly salty, perfect firm, but not hard texture, fairly moist. It went so well with the jus, lentils, and the sweet-acidic tomatoes! The sourdough croutons added a wonderful crisp-crunch to the dish.

At this point the Missus asked me if we could hang around a bit longer the next day (Monday) and get lunch here. I was able to make reservations for lunch! So we'd be returning the next day.

I had seen Ris de Veau on the menu online; but unfortunately, that had been replaced by the time we had our dinner; so I ordered the Bodega Bay King Salmon.

Man, those heirloom tomatoes were outstanding and the tarragon added a nice anise touch to this; something I would not usually put on salmon I make. The capers added that nice briny-salty component and the Hollandaise added a nice, balanced creaminess to things.

The Missus got the Capuchon de Chevre, basically a hood shaped pasta stuffed with chevre.

Loved the combination of the eggplant cream and the sweet corn; what a wonderful combo!

The Missus got the Almond Financier which was to Her taste (i.e., not too sweet).

Quite refreshing.

I got the Dark Chocolate Glacée.

Which, while being ice and cold….wonderful on a very warm day was a bit too sweet for me.

Overall, an excellent meal. The staff was so wonderful and we loved the fact that there was an automatic 20% service charge for the staff. It's great that Bell's really wants to make sure the staff who are from the area are paid well. And then I was told that our Servers comped two of the glasses of wine, so I made sure to leave a bit more.

Bell's
406 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440
Current Hours:
Thurs – Mon 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 830pm
Closed on Tuesday – Wednesday

We took another short stroll after dinner, it seemed like everything closed at 6 or 7 on Sundays. As we headed back to our room, the Missus and I noted how relaxed we both felt. I guess Los Alamos will do that to you!

The Missus and I were both looking forward to lunch the next day. And guess what? We enjoyed that even more!

Stay Tuned!

San Miguel de Allende (2022) – Lavanda Café, El Mirador, and Mercado de Artesanías

August 4, 2022 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Markets & Grocers, Mexico, San Miguel de Allende/Guanajuato, Travel

We had a bit of walking scheduled for our full day in San Miguel de Allende, so I thought getting a "good start" in terms of breakfast and caffeine was important. A few blocks from our accommodation was a place that I had read about named Lavanda Café. One of the key elements about this café was that they featured specialty coffees for the "coffee snob" in the household along with some good looking breakfasts for yours truly. I had also read that the place gets pretty busy with folks waiting in line. So, we made it a point to get there by 815, 15 minutes before opening time. There were two parties already in line when we arrived.

Soon enough the place opened up. The folks working here were very warm and accommodating. We requested and got a table upstairs which was nice and relaxing; which seemed miles away from the busy dining room below.

Looking at the coffee list the Missus immediately found something She wanted.

And at 50$ MX – about $2.50/US, this is the cheapest Geisha we've ever got.

And while She thought it to be on the "weaker side" with regards to Geisha, I thought it was still a bargain.

As for me….well, the Missus "strongly recommended" that I try the Café Lavanda, a lavender based pour over.

I just didn't enjoy the strong floral tones in this.

The Missus wasn't very hungry so we decided to share one dish and went with the Cazuela (148 $MX – about $7.25/US).

Snapseed This was quite lovely and came with bread and butter. The egg was nice and perfectly done; still oozing with goodness, the rustic bacon was also quite good. The roasted tomatoes adding acidity and tangy touches. The red chili based "sauce" was rich but not overly spicy and we enjoyed the earthy mushrooms in the dish.

We enjoyed the service so much that we decided to return the next morning.

Lavanda Café de Especialidad
Calle del Dr Ignacio Hernandez Macias 87, Zona Centro,
37700 San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

After breakfast we headed right uphill for about three-quarters of a mile. The view during the walk was quite stunning. We got up to Salida Real a Querétaro and to the lookout named El Mirador.

And while the view from El Mirador was quite nice, we actually enjoyed the view from the street on the way up more.

From here we headed north on Salida Real a Querétaro then took a left (downhill) at Capilla del Cavalio ("Calvary Chapel").

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Whenever we passed a building with the gates open, we'd take a peek at the courtyards; some of which were stunning.

It was a nice little walk to the Mercado de Artesanías.

This sprawling market is quite large with everything from jewelry to shawls to produce.

There seemed to be quite a few Ex-pats and tourists in the artisan portion. While the food, produce, and hot food areas seemed to have more locals.

We enjoyed our time visiting the market, but really didn't see anything that grabbed our attention. We also noticed that prices here were a bit higher than those in CDMX.

We weren't ready for our afternoon break yet and decided to make one more stop before getting some lunch……

Stay tuned!

San Miguel de Allende (2022) – Cafe Oso Azul and Luna Rooftop Tapas Bar

July 30, 2022 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Mexican Restaurants, Mexico, San Miguel de Allende/Guanajuato, Travel

Our wonderful driver; Aaron made getting to San Miguel de Allende a snap. Our accommodation, the very comfortable and well appointed Casa Lani Luxury B&B was just at the edge of the somewhat busy, touristy Centro area.

We were the only customers staying at the B&B during the two evenings which made for a relaxing and peaceful stay.

The first order of business after quickly getting settled was to take a stroll around the downtown area and get our bearings.

Most cities and towns in Mexico have a main square (the "Zócalo"). Here in San Miguel, it's the Jardín Allende.

A wonderful green space, which is fairly peaceful in the morning, but gets more lively as the days passes and is really buzzing at night.

Right across the street is the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel. Made of pink sandstone it is quite striking. The church was closed at the time of this visit; we'd return later. We headed next door to the Iglesia de San Rafael.

Which was quite striking in its own right.

Notice the statue of Saint Anthony Abad to the right. Notice anything? The pig perhaps? Well, in case you didn't know, Saint Anthony the Abbott is the Patron Saint of pigs! Yes indeed, you can read more about it here if you're interested. And if you desire; the next time you're in Paris you can get a dish from Au Pied de Cochon, named La Tentation de Saint-Antoine ("The Temptation of Saint Anthony") which consists of deep fried pig trotters!

San Miguel is known for being quite artsy and is indeed very colorful. We loved checking out the courtyards and various nooks and crannies……

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We decided to stop for a little caffeine boost on the way back to our room and dropped into a quiet and quaint little cafe; Oso Azul.

And enjoyed being the only customers in the place…..

Cafe Oso Azul
Zacateros 17, Zona Centro,
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

I wanted our dinners in San Miguel to be fun and special. I had been told about and had read about Luna Rooftop Tapas Bar in the Rosewood Hotel. The view at dusk is said to be wonderful. So, I made reservations. We walked on over and were showed our way to the rooftop and yes, the view was amazing.

The staff were friendly and accommodating. And the residents with wings made sure we knew who "really" ran the place.

They basically had very little fear of hooo-mans…..

It was a great place to have cocktails….

And watch the sunset….along with our new fine-feathered-friends…..

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Things in San Miguel were more expensive than CDMX….for instance, the Guacamole; which was pretty good cost 250 $MX, about $12.25/US! For a bowl of Guacamole…

Which came with Tlayudas, Tortillas Chips, and Chicharron.

In what would become the running joke of the evening….the Missus loved the chicharron. So, we asked if we could have more….the guys working were surprised. I'm guessing most folks aren't into the pork rinds here? They also found this amusing and quickly brought the Missus a serving of just chicharron.

For the rest of the evening, whenever the Servers would come by they would ask the Missus; "more chicharron?? More chicharron??" And when She did say "Si…muy chicharron…" They would all crack up! They were really a fun bunch!

As for the food. Well, let me just say that the presentations were nice, but the flavors were quite mild, and dare I say somewhat mutes for our tastes.

The shrimp in both the Shrimp Ceviche (275$ MX – $13.50/US) and Aguachile (280 $MX – $13.50/US) were cooked! And thus quite tough. Both dishes really needed more citrus and were on the bland side.

The Duck Confit "Carnitas" (295 $MX – $14.50/US) were dry, but at least had some gamey duck flavor.

The Manzano Peppers on the duck was really good though….sweet, fruity, with a slight kick.

And of course the Missus had more chicharron!

But of course, the main reason we came here was for this.

As we finished up and the wonderful staff bade us farewell, we could really see why San Miguel de Allende was a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Luna Rooftop Tapas Bar (In the Hotel Rosewood)
Nemesio Diez 11, Zona Centro
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

San Miguel de Allende was indeed colorful; the people friendly, and we were hoping that our upcoming meals would be as delicious as San Miguel was beautiful.

Mexico City (2022) – Entremar, Revisits to Temporal and Panaderia Almuerzos

July 28, 2022 mmm-yoso Croissants, Mexican Restaurants, Mexico, Mexico City, Seafood, Travel

We took a nice nap after a pretty busy morning, after which it was time to head off to an early (430pm) dinner. I had tried getting reservations at the very popular Contramar, but was unable to. I then switched to Contramar's sister restaurant Entremar and could only get an early dinner reservation. Even though I thought we'd done enough walking for the day, the Missus disagreed, so we decided to walk the 2 1/2 miles to the restaurant. To be honest, the weather was very pleasant making this a nice walk.

We arrived at the restaurant, located in the ritzy Polanco district and couldn't believe how busy it was!

There was a bit of a queue to get in. As I stood in line, aggressive "Abuela's" pushed their way past me! This was such a change from the usual polite and well mannered folks I was used to in CDMX. I guess the potential of seafood will drive some folks to this!

Anyway, it wasn't a big deal and we had reservations. We were escorted upstairs and I gotta say the clientele upstairs were pretty tony…….

The staff worked so hard and were very gracious. We placed our order and just chilled out.

The first item to arrive was the Ceviche Contramar.

The fish was very tender, the marinating liquid had a perfect balance of sour with just enough salt to make it enjoyable. Very nice!

We didn't enjoy the Aguachile Verde Contramar as much.

The shrimp was quite tough and fishy and the "sauce" didn't have enough citrus tones for our taste.

The one dish we were looking forward to was the Pescado a la Talla, red snapper that is butterflied, sauced, and grilled. We chose the "Contramr" version, which had half of the fish rubbed with a red adobo sauce and the other half with parsley (De la Barrita) based rub.

This came with some really tasty black beans. Surprisingly, at least for us, we really enjoyed the parsley rub more! It had nice garlic tones; some cumin, and you could really taste the mild, almost sweet flavor of the snapper, which was grilled perfectly! Don't get me wrong; that adobo rub had some nice smokiness and spice; but you really couldn't enjoy the great quality of the fish as much.

Overall; the Pescado a la Talla made the meal a memorable one and we'll gladly return.

Entremar
Hegel 307
Polanco V Secc, 11560 Ciudad de México, Mexico

I enjoyed that fish so much that when the Missus suggested walking back to our room I readily agreed!

Not having to be anywhere allows you to enjoy and notice things more.

Like this restaurant with a familiar name.

And this bar where I guess you might be able to "Break on through to the other side"?

It was still quite early, so we decided to stop for a cocktail and a snack…..we chose another place we'd been to a couple of times; Temporal. Where we sat downstairs at the bar area.

I got my favorite cocktail here; the Suerte de Dragon ("Lucky Dragon").

Sadly, this Mezcal and beer based cocktail tasted watered down and the usual spiciness of it was really muted.

As a snack we got our favorite menu item at Temporal; the Gulf Crab Sopes.

Which were smaller then on previous visits; the sopes were really gummy, and there was too much filler and not as much crab as on our previous visits.

Bummer…….

Restaurante Temporal
Saltillo 1, Hipódromo, Cuauhtémoc
06140 CDMX, Mexico

We slept well and got up early the next morning.

Our next stop was going to be San Miguel de Allende and we had hired the amazing Aaron Cruz to drive us there.

Since it was going to be quite the drive; we headed to another familiar stop close by; Panadería Almuerzos for a Croissant and then got some coffee from Mercado Condesa.

I've often said that the croissants at Panadería Almuerzos are our favorite outside of France….and this delivered.

And the coffee wasn't bad either.

Panadería Almuerzos
Av. Vicente Suárez 64A
Colonia Condesa, CDMX, Mexico

Cafe Toscano
Calle Michoacan sn Mercado Condesa
Hipódromo Condesa, Cuauhtémoc, CDMX, Mexico

Breakfast completed, we headed back to our room to finish packing and check out. Aaron would be arriving soon to take us to our next stop; San Miguel de Allende.

Thanks for stopping by!

Roadtrip (2022) – Ragamuffin Coffee (Oxnard), Ojai Certified Farmers Market (Ojai), Olive Hill Farm, and Lunch at Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe (Los Olivos)

July 26, 2022 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Caffeine Fix, Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Travel, Ventura County

Whew, ever sine we got back from Ojai, the Missus has been wanting the amazing produce we got from the Ojai Certified Farmers Market. In addition, there was a place I'd been eyeing out to try in Santa Barbara county. So, we planned a overnight road trip to hit up some favorites, old and new, then grab dinner, and as it would turn out lunch from what is a new favorite of ours.

We first drove up to Ventura County and stopped at a place I've posted on twice before; Ragamuffin Coffee.

I needed a caffeine boost for all the driving and the Missus wanted some natural process beans.

Just what I needed.

Ragamuffin Coffee Roasters
550 Collection Blvd. (In the Annex Food Hall)
Oxnard, CA 93036

Next up a quick drive up to Ojai to the Farmer's Market.

We got three baskets of tomatoes from this stand…..last time we chowed it all down before we left town!

More broccolini.

And some eggs…..which are so good.

The Missus eyed some nectarines from this stand.

And ended up buying a half dozen….

And She's already has me planning our next trip up!

Ojai Certified Farmers Market
300 E Matilija St.
Ojai, CA 93023

I then made the 90 minutes drive to Los Olivos. We'd be having dinner and spending the evening in Los Alamos (California, not NM) and our room wouldn't be ready for a while; so I thought a stop in Los Olivos would be nice.

We stopped in at our favorite Olive Oil stop during our last visit here Olive Hill Farm.

We did a light tasting and the wonderful, no-nonsense young lady working was amazing with spot on flavor profiles.

We ended up getting a bottle of the Lucca.

Olive Hill Farm
2901 Grand Ave
Los Olivos, CA 93441

I'm thinking that we have a pretty large collection of Olive Oil right now…maybe I should do a tasting post. What do you think?

It was around time for lunch, so we took a look at a couple of places. Unfortunately, even thought the Fess Parking Inn is still there.

The restaurant we enjoyed in the Inn, the Bear and Star has been replaced.

So, we took a look across the street and decided to have lunch at the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe.

Along with the outdoor dining, there was a wind shop, bar, and restaurant.

The Missus had seen a salad being brought to one of the tables when we walked pass, which is how we decided on this place.

It was the Grilled Romaine Wedge.

I will often grill romaine or cabbage these days which the Missus enjoys, so this was a no-brainer for Her. She enjoyed the bacon and gorgonzola, and the salad wasn't over-dressed.

I looked over the daily specials menu. It was pretty hot, so I decided to order a bowl of the Japanese Cucumber Gazpacho.

While I would have preferred this a bit smoother with more of the vegetal "chorophyllic" cucumber flavors, it was quite refreshing with a clean finish.

I also ordered the Zucchini Sticks.

While some of the pieces of zucchini were under cooked and too hard for my taste, there were a couple that were nice and creamy. These were nicely seasoned and not overly salty.

This was a decent lunch, though nothing special; the staff was quite busy, but were professional and doing their best.

Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe
2879 Grand Ave.
Los Olivos, CA 93441

As we strolled on over to our car, the Missus and I remarked about how much we enjoyed the vibe of Los Olivos. We just wished there were better accommodations (like under $400/night) and perhaps a nice destination restaurant.

It was a nice visit though….and it had been almost five years since we were last here!

We got back to the car and headed off…..Los Alamos beckoned.

Mexico City (2022) – Museo Frida Kahlo and Lunch at Tostadas Coyoacan

July 21, 2022 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Mexico, Mexico City, Travel

After a thoroughly enjoyable caffeine stop, we headed to Museo Frida Kahlo.

It was a nice stroll ad a line soon formed outside "La Casa Azul", the house where Frida Kahlo was born and where she lived with her husband Diego Rivera. We had gotten tickets online which was a good move as folks who came without tickets were out of luck for the day.

I've read that Frida Kahlo produced only about 200 paintings during her lifetime. But it is both her work, some of which are dark, emotional, surreal, and project the constant pain she was in after first contracting polio when she was 6, which caused her right leg to be shorter than her left and then the bus accident when she was 18 when the bus she was riding in hit a trolley causing a metal handrail to impale her. And her somewhat tumultuous marriages to Diego Rivera (they were married twice and Diego had an affair with Frida's younger sister!).

Of her paintings 55 were self portraits.

One of Frida Kahlo's most well known quotes:

"My painting carries with it the message of pain.”

The upstairs portion are fascinating to many as it has her bedroom and studio….where you can see her wheelchair stationed at the easel she used.

And the bedroom and bed where she spent so much time recovering from the accident and then her last years when she was in declining health.

For us, it was the medical portion and the corsets that Frida had to wear that really made an impact.

It really brought home the pain and suffering of Frida.

Walking in the garden area, I was struck by the displays of the tumultuous life of the artist, with the wonderful peaceful tranquility of the garden.

Which I guess just hits home the complexity of the duality of life……

Museo Frida Kahlo is well worth the time.

Frida Kahlo Museum
Londres 247
Coyoacán, 04100 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico

For lunch we headed back down Ignacio Allende to Mercado Coyoacan.

Where it seems that you could get every kind of trinket you could possibly want!

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The interior though, was a hustling and bustling market.

I had recommendations and read quite a bit about Tostadas Coyoacan which is located in the Market, so we found the bustling stand.

We ordered three Tostadas which arrived in minutes. Man, they've got quite the system going.

The amount of protein piled on the tostadas is quite admirable for the price.

The best of the bunch was the Camarones which had a nice balance of sour to salt and the shrimp were tender. The chicken in the Pollo Mole was quite tough and dry; the mole really weak in flavor. The pork in the Cochinita was tender, but was quite weak in terms of flavor from the typical aromatics (i.e. oregano/cinnamon/cumin).

Still, the most expensive tostada was the camarones which is about $2.50/US, the other two are about a buck-fifty; so I wasn't going to whine too much about this meal.

Tostadas Coyoacán (In Mercado de Coyoacán)
Ignacio Allende No.49
Coyoacán, 04100 CDMX, Mexico

After lunch we crossed the street to Jardín Allende where there was an arts and crafts market.

We strolled around a bit before calling our Uber and heading back to our hotel.

Where a nice afternoon nap was awaiting us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Roadtrip (2022) – A Walk Around Downtown and Dinner at Nocciola (Ojai)

July 17, 2022 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, Italian Restaurants, Road Trip, Travel, Ventura County

We took a short nap after our busy morning. It was quite warm when we woke. The Missus was fully engrossed in the book She purchased from Bart's Books the previous day. So, while She relaxed in the air conditioned comfort of our room; I decided to head on out for another walk.

This time, I walked on over to the Arcade and walked thru the the middle portion.

It was quite charming with art work and friendly folks.

There is a distinctive vibe to the town. It's laid back, and drivers actually stop to let pedestrians cross the street. Folks were telling me hello as I walked past them.

I wish I took photos of all the pooches we met. There was one little fellow being transported in a "stroller"; he looked so cool with his shades and his hat on. On the previous evening we were walking back to the hotel and a woman and her pooch we had seen earlier were walking toward us. She put the leash down and went to adjust her jacket. And then totally forgot to pick up the leash and started crossing the street without her dog! The dog sat on the corner with a puzzled look. Such a good boy!

You could just see the thoughts racing thru the little fellows head:

"Huh? Am I an orphan now?"

"Why is my mommy walking away without me?"

"I'm being a good boy; is my mommy going to come back for me?"

As the woman walked toward us, I pointed to the pooch on the corner and told her:

"You forgot something…."

She turned around, cracked up, and jogged back to get her little one…..

I walked around the front of the Arcade and crossed to street to check out Libbey Park.

It was a nice albeit pretty warm day. I also noticed that there were many more cars around, nice cars, like Porsches, 'Vettes, and such.

The next day was going to be the 4th of July and Ojai has a bunch of events the most popular is the parade which goes down the main street. People claim "their spot" by setting up chairs on the sidewalk.

There were chairs set-up from when we arrived!

Spending more then one day in a town like Ojai means you start seeing interesting touches around the town.

I headed back to the hotel, relaxed for a bit then we headed out to dinner. Our dinner destination was about a mile and a quarter from where we were staying, which was a nice walk. We reached Nocciola a bit early so we took a look at the park across the street. Cluff Vista Park was once the site of a gas station, but had been converted into a nice little park.

Our dinner reservation was for Nocciola, a Italian influenced restaurant located in a Victorian House. We had reservations for patio dining; the tables were perfectly spaced, the service was very professional, and we enjoyed our meal.

For our meal we ordered one Insalate, two Antipasti, and one Secondi. We mentioned that we'd be dining "family style" and things started off nicely as the kitchen automatically split the Crescione ($19), the Watercress salad without us even having to ask.

Loved the pleasant bitterness of the watercress, the salty-milky Parmesan crisp, the hearts of palm, and were pleasantly surprised that avocado tastes quite nice with a bit of balsamic on it.

The Olive Oil served with the breads was wonderful; peppery and grassy, just like how we like it.

The Missus also had Her favorite glass of wine on this trip; a Alisl Vineyard Grenache. In fact, we went looking for this bottle on the walk back to our room, stopping at several places, but to no avail.

I was really looking forward to our next dish; the Lamb Carpaccio ($21). Sadly, it was the weakest dish of the evening. It really needed more salt, was lacking in the "flavor of the pasture" which makes lamb so distinctive. It was just strangely bland in flavor so that the julienned celery just overpowered the dish.

The Quaglia ($26), roasted quail set things back on track.

The quail was tender, moist, and full of flavor. The porcini mushroom so wonderfully earthy and delish. The polenta had a wonderful texture, somewhat firm, but creamy. The Marsala sauce completed all the players and didn't over power the dish. Very good.

The Anatra ($42) was also delicious.

That confit duck leg was excellent, the skin crisp, the simple flavor of the duck shining thru…..the Missus gave it Her seal of approval by saying "this is a good as yours"! I thought the roasted breast was a bit over done, but it was still moist and tender, with a meaty-gaminess. The truffle honey glaze was nicely balanced, not overly sweet, with nice nutty-earthy-savory tones.

We really enjoyed this meal. Like I mentioned earlier, the service was efficient and processional. Our settings were changed between every course, the table scraped down between courses.

Nocciola
314 El Paseo Rd.
Ojai, CA 93023

It seems like our meals got steadily better each night we were here!

We enjoyed our stroll back to the room as we made several stops to do some wine shopping along the way.

The next day we packed up, while we liked the fact that Ojai had a great Fourth of July Parade and festivities, we weren't comfortable with the crowds. We got our caffeine fix at a familiar stop and headed on home. It had been a nice road trip and I'm sure we'll return to Ojai one day.

Roadtrip (2022) – Luci’s Trail, Ojai Coffee Roasters, Ojai Certified Farmers Market, Ojai Olive Oil, and Rainbow Bridge Natural Food

July 16, 2022 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip, Travel, Ventura County

Our last full day in Ojai was going to be pretty full. Even though we did some hikes the previous day, the Missus still wanted to do another hike. So, we got up early and headed over to the Valley View Preserve and did Luci's Trail. The Missus loves hills…..not switchbacks mind you, but just heading uphill. Luci's Trail wasn't very long and didn't have a zillion switchbacks and the view was quite lovely.

The mist was still rising when we started.

But soon enough we rose above it.

And we enjoyed the view.

The trail is short enough….it took us just a tad over an hour to complete.

After which we headed into town and stopped for our caffeine fix at Ojai Coffee Roasters.

Nice people here; the Missus enjoyed Her pour over and I my cold brew.

Ojai Coffee Roasters
337 E Ojai Ave.
Ojai, CA 93023

It was still fairly early, so we took our coffee back to the Hummingbird Inn, freshened up, then sat in the front yard and enjoyed our coffee.

As a bonus, folks were bringing out their pooches for morning walks around the property which is super dog friendly. Got to meet a sweet Black Lab named Midnight…..I shoulda taken a photo, but was just having so much fun.

After our "coffee time" we headed back into town and went to visit the Ojai Certified Farmers Market. We both loved this farmers market….so much produce! I stopped counting at 20 produce booths!

I didn't take too many photos because we were just having a great time. We did buy some amazing tomatoes which we'd have for lunch. And since we'd be heading home the next morning and had a fridge we also bought some wonderful looking tomatoes and broccolini.

Ojai Certified Farmers Market
300 E Matilija St.
Ojai, CA 93023

Sundays 9am – 1pm

Here's what I made with the broccolini.

Topped with a couple of poached eggs and some truffle….man this was good!

After wandering thru the Farmers Market we walked back to the car and headed to our next destination. Ojai Olive Oil has a booth in the Farmers Market, but we wanted to a a tasting of a full range of their products. So, we headed off to their farm and tasting room. I had read that finding the farm was slightly confusing, so we followed the instructions on their site and found the tasting room with no problems.

Tastings were $10 per person. And you get as many of all the various olive oils and vinegars. You get a small container to hold the tiny cups and a bag of bread as well.

The cups are labelled so you know what you're tasting.

We were told that we could have as many tastings as we wanted and should not overfill the cups. I laughed and told the friendly woman about our our olive oil tasting in Crete and that we understood.

We sat outside and went thru our tasting.

After which we made some decisions and strolled back to the tasting room.

While we do prefer the stuff Pasolivo and even Temecula Olive Oil, we settled got bottles of the Tuscan, the Andalucian, and some Lemon Infused Olive Oils.

Ojai Olive Oil Tasting Room
1811 Ladera Rd.
Ojai, CA 93023
Hours:
Daily 10am – 4pm

On the way back to the hotel we decided to stop and pick up something for a light lunch. We had liked how some of the item looked in the deli of Rainbow Bridge Natural Food, so we decided to pop in and get a couple of items.

Which we took back and ate in the wonderful front yard of our accommodation along with some of those wonderful tomatoes.

The Missus especially liked the cauliflower and this did the trick of holding us until dinner.

Rainbow Bridge Natural Food
211 E Matilija St.
Ojai, CA 93023

It was now time for a short nap in the air-conditioned comfort of our room…..

And then it would be dinner time!

Thanks for stopping by!

Roadtrip (2022) – Some Hiking, Shopping, Bart’s Books, and Dinner at the Dutchess (Ojai)

July 11, 2022 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Burmese Food and Restaurants, Road Trip, Travel, Ventura County

We did quite a bit during our first full day in Ojai.

Starting the day with some hiking. We decided to head out to Rose Valley Falls for a quick hike. Getting an early start meant we easily found parking near the camp grounds. The hike was quite short and for the Missus unexciting….except for me taking a fall and smashing up my iPhone. The actual trail took us like 20 minutes and the photos came out looking much more dramatic than how things looked. All the Instagrammers were out having a fun time with their selfies here.

After this short hike we got back on Rose Valley Road and did the Piedra Blanca Formations Trail, which was an easy and enjoyable hike.

The start was thru chaparral shrubland for about a mile. At that point you start getting a peek at the amazing white rock formations.

We found the formations to be quite interesting. Upon closer look you'll see caves, crevasses, and striations.

And if you're like me….if you stare at the formations long enough you start seeing shapes. I thought this one looked like an elephant. What do you think?

While this was a super easy hike for the Missus, She enjoyed the solitude. We didn't run into another hiker on the trail until we were almost on our way out. Plus, those formations were quite interesting.

On our way back we decided to stop in at the Arcade again. We dropped into Heavenly Honey, which was on the busy side. so, we just bought some gifts and headed on out.

Heavenly Honey Company
206 E Ojai Ave.
Ojai, CA 93023

One of the Missus's coworkers who loves Ojai mentioned a wonderful "resort" nearby that we should take a look at. So we headed off to Ojai Valley Inn. This being the Saturday before the 4th the place was pretty busy but we found parking and had a nice little stroll on the property.

It was a nice setting, but not our kind of thing. We checked out the menus at the two restaurants, but the Missus wasn't too interested.

On the way back to our hotel, I decided to make a stop at Bart's Books, which claims to be the "world's largest outdoor bookstore."

We easily found parking and walked on over.

The books that line the shelves facing the sidewalk are available 24 hours a day and you pay via an honor system.

The bookstore is located in the original home of the founder of the shop Richard "Bart" Bartindale in established in 1964.

While the Missus perused various travel books, I asked the staff up front where the food and cookbooks were. They were located in the "kitchen", duh…..

The shop was quite empty during our visit and the Missus really enjoyed the shop and even found a book She wanted. We would return the very next day to explore a bit more.

I later figured out why She enjoyed this shop so much. It seems that "Bart" was inspired by those little wooden book carts along the Seine….which is of course, in the Missus's favorite city…..must be the Ojai Psychic Friends Network at work?

Bart's Books
302 W Matilija St.
Ojai, CA 93023

We then headed back to our accommodation at Hummingbird Inn. Located just outside the main "strip" in Ojai, it's pretty peaceful and relaxed…well, Ojai is quite relaxed as a whole. The Missus really enjoyed the shaded outdoor area out front where She could sit and read.

The hotel is very dog friendly, as is all of Ojai, and in the mornings all the folks staying in the place would have their pooches out doing their morning rounds.

While the Missus enjoyed the day, I took a stroll over to the IGA a few blocks down the street to get some sparkling water.

We enjoyed the markets in Ojai….man, the produce looked quite good and I should have taken photos of the nice selection of cheeses and such…..

For dinner, I made an interesting choice at a restaurant called The Dutchess.

Located next to Ojai Rotie; the Dutchess is a bakery/coffee shop during the day, which then converts to a Burmese Restaurant for dinner service. Even though I wasn't convinced this combo would work, I thought it might make for an interesting dinner. I booked indoor seating for 7pm.

We arrived and were seated immediately. Good thing I made reservations as all tables, especially for outdoor dining were booked.

The service was very warm and friendly; though a bit slow and disorganized. Our main Server seemed only to be able to do one thing at a time…..I ordered a cocktail and the Missus asked to have a taste of one of the wine….well, the woman brought the wine, then left….not returning for almost 10 minutes, at which time the Missus said She'd take the wine….the Server then disappeared to return with my cocktail….then vanished again for another 10 minutes to get the Missus's wine. Oh, and then she got us our water. This would pretty much be the pattern for the whole meal. She was very nice however.

Thankfully, the food, which seemed like a Burmese fusion had it much more "together"

We started with the Chickpea Tofu ($10).

The Missus loved this dish! The perfectly crisp exterior gave way to a wonderful creamy and light interior. The beany-nutty flavor came through nicely. Though I thought the dish was a bit on the salty side, a dip into the tamarind sauce just evened things out for me. The Missus didn't need the sauce at all and just loved this dish.

For us, the only disappointing dish of the evening was the Tea Leaf Salad ($20).

While I was glad this dish used cabbage; the dressing way too sour, the dish really lacking in the fermented bitter-tartness I enjoy from laphet.

For me, my favorite dish of the evening was the Puri ($18). Lest you think this is just fried bread with perhaps a chickpea dip, think again.

This version came with a fabulous Chicken Liver Mousse. The Dutchess's "baking chops" really delivered here as well as the puri was light, yeasty, full of flavor with a nice hint of salty-sweetness.

The Chicken Liver Mousse had a smooth-creamy richness, nice savory-earthy offal tones that were tones down with the plum jam. This was so good!

The Dutchess also displayed some good "baking chops" with the Danbauk (Biryani – $31) topping the dish with puff pastry.

The puff pastry was very light with a wonderful texture. The rice in the dish was tender and the complex seasoning, while again on the saltier side, did well with a touch of raita, which added a nice, refreshing component to everything. Wish there was a bit more lamb in the dish; what we tasted was wonderfully gamey.

We were pleasantly surprised with our meal and would dine here again.

The Dutchess
457 E Ojai Ave.
Ojai, CA 93023

Ojai was indeed full of surprises…..good ones!