Compared to the glittery metropolis of Tokyo or the ancient sublimity of Kyoto, it’s easy to forget the more grounded and working class city of Osaka. But that would be a mistake. The second largest metropolitan area in Japan…
Discovering San Francisco: dive bars, red meat, strips clubs, and martinis.
June 28, 2018
By the time I first made it to Haight-Ashbury the only hippies left were crusty gutter punks yelling at the tourists from their cardboard sidewalk guesthouses. A jangle of extremes. A mix of cultures, tempered by the past, with…
The House of Prime Rib – June 16, 2018
June 20, 2018
Do a search of the places you should try, must try, need to experience before you die, in San Francisco, and one particular anachronism from a by-gone era will surely appear. Like the stubborn soul of the city itself,…
Spirits spotlight: My favorite Scotches
June 13, 2018
Scotch Scotch is a subclassification of whisky that must be made in Scotland using only water and malted barley (to which only whole grains and other cereals can be added), matured in oak casks for no less than 3…
Backpacking the Ancient Lakes and Kamiak Butte.
June 7, 2018
Last year my awesome partner Katy (aka Unicorn) hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. Having hiked extensively in my younger days I was quite jealous of her adventure, but suffering several knee injuries and surgeries my through-hiking days are over….
Paris. Chasing the romantic ghost.
May 31, 2018
When I asked my daughter if she could pick any place in the world to see she chose Paris. A city hopelessly entwined with the collective consciousness of postcard stereotypes and cartoon romanticism. Both deeply longed for in my…
The Columbia Room (DC) – May 9th, 2018
May 17, 2018
The Columbia Room is a small cocktail bar tucked away in a DC alley that has a list of awards and credits including the Spirited Award’s Best American Cocktail Bar, the Washington Post’s Best Bar in DC, two years…
Pineapple and Pearls – May 8th, 2018
May 14, 2018
I was visiting Washington DC for a couple of nights and chef Aaron Silverman’s two Michelin starred Pineapple and Pearls came highly recommended. The website is a bit mysterious with no sample menu and very few photos. The restaurant…
Bitterballen, hotchpotch stampot, jenever, and haring. Hunting down traditional Dutch food in Amsterdam.
May 10, 2018
Honestly, when it comes to northern European food, I hadn’t heard good things. But I have to say I fell in love with traditional Dutch food. Tasty bar snacks, hearty home-style meals with long simmered meats, a variety of cured…
Walking every goddamn inch of Amsterdam’s Old Centre, the canal rings, and the Jordaan.
May 3, 2018
I know the trope. Go to Amsterdam, get baked, sleep with a Ukranian prostitute. It’s so pervasive that that’s all that anyone seems to think about Amsterdam. Just the mention and you get the squinty nod of wishful collusion….