Posts Tagged ‘Travel Feasts’
La Duni Latin Kitchen in Dallas, TX
Gah. Sorry about the quiet few days here, but I’ve been in Texas ya’ll! I flew down last weekend for my gorgeous friend Mariam’s wedding (I mean, STUNNING), and haven’t had much time at the comp. It was my very first time down in Texas and besides the wedding festivities, I was excited about the FOOD. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a whole lot of time to explore Dallas by way of calories, but a group of us did manage to get away one day for brunch. My friend Masuma who lives down there recommended a few places, and we ended up going to La Duni Latin Kitchen at the Northpark mall location which was near our hotel.
La Duni
La Duni
Food Dance in Kalamazoo, MI
pretty centerpieces
Here are a few facts about Kalamazoo: No one’s really sure where the name came from. It used to be known as the “Paper City” for its paper mills. It’s the original home of Gibson Guitars. It was once the headquarters for Checker Taxis until they filed for bankruptcy in 2009.
I guess there’s actually nothing super fascinating to tell you about a place as exotic-sounding as Kalamazoo, except maybe the exceptional dinner I had at their not-quite-as-exotic sounding restaurant, Food Dance.
Nota Bene in Toronto
A family-style dinner
If my first dinner in Toronto with Mickey Contractor and co. was any indication of how the rest of my stay would be, then I should have known it would be fantastic. We kicked off the week in style by dining at Nota Bene, a David Lee restaurant. The restaurant name is Latin used to indicate that special attention should be paid to something (or Italian for “note well”). And that you can taste — with a mix of flavors and focus on “farm-to-fork” locally-sourced ingredients, every mouthful was fresh and inviting.
Cavatelli pasta
Ok let’s be real: the cavatelli pasta kinda resemble, well, little maggots. But if you can get over that, the truffle oil and mushroom fusion was a perfect starter.
Hamachi Ceviche
Buena Vista Bistro in the Design District – Miami
Faraz's Orangina-slash-contribution to my Buena Vista post
My trip to Miami a few weeks ago was a whirlwind, but I still managed to squeeze in brunch at Buena Vista Bistro before I left with my friends Shahla and Faraz. I think Paris was still on their minds (they came back from there just the evening before!), because Buena is a pocket-sized French bistro on a street that doesn’t have much else in the immediate vicinity.
Buena Vista Bistro - Miami
Buena Vista inside
The inside has a very 50s aesthetic — black tables and chairs, mirrors making up half the wall and the entire menu written on a chalkboard behind the counter. But on that warm day, we decided to take it outside under the shade of bright yellow umbrellas.
Eggs Benedict
Sustain restaurant in Miami
As much as I was craving the vaca frita at Havana Harry’s, when I went back to Miami this past weekend, my friend Shahla and I decided to try something new. We first thought we’d go to Taverna Opa (a Greek restaurant where I hear there are a lot of waving napkins and smashing plates happening), but the line at the door was out of control. We decided on another Mexican tapas place, but on the way there, we came across Sustain. The decor inside was alluring enough for us to change our minds and eat here instead.
Sustain restaurant in Miami
Sustain is all about locally grown, organic food so the menu changes seasonally and sometimes even more often than that. Shahla had never been, but we decided might as well be a little adventurous with our food. Yeah. Sometimes that can work out for you, and sometimes it doesn’t. This time, not so much. I think our meal started well and ended well, but everything in between wasn’t anything to rave about. We started with the squash blossoms:
Fried Squash Blossoms, $16
This is one of those seasonal menu items. It was filled with cheese and kind of tasted like Indian pakoras (fried fritters)…I don’t know if they use cumin or coriander in it to make it taste that way to me and it was a little unexpected. This was the good beginning.
Swank Farms watercress salad, $7
Havana Harry’s in Coral Gables – Miami
On my recent trip to Miami, we made a little dinner stop at Havana Harry’s in Coral Gables, an authentic Cuban restaurant that happily keeps a very unpretentious, family-friendly vibe.
Havana Harry's in Coral Gables
Havana Harry's inside
