Barcelona: Day Five

Emily and I woke up on Sunday morning and headed to a cute café for breakfast. It was called Café Cometa and had a definite NYC vibe with its succulents on every table and cute interior. The menu featured everything I love in a brunch spot – avocado toast, yogurt, smoked salmon – all the essentials. We also appreciated the English version of the menu – though I’m sure this wasn’t our most authentic Spanish meal of the trip. 

We grabbed a seat outside, because who doesn’t love al fresco dining? – and I ordered yogurt with granola and a slice of avocado and tomato toast. PLUS a mocha latte which was definitely unnecessary but, delicious nonetheless.

We tried to watch a Youtube video to figure out the proper way Emily was supposed to eat her egg – but we definitely did not succeed.

After our meal we walked around the corner for my donut stop of the trip – La Donuteria! I’ve been following them on Instagram since I booked my flight to Barcelona and I love that they’re constantly changing their flavor offerings. It was very quiet when we arrived, and I conducted a full-on photo shoot with Emily, the soon-to-be-full-time-artistic director of Peanut Butter Is My Boyfriend.

I got a chocolate apricot donut and a Crème de chocolate con leche con praline – they were pretty pricey, and though beautiful, definitely didn’t compare to other doughnuts I’ve had!

Next we hopped in a taxi and made our way to the Gothic Quarter for two stores that we wanted to get souvenirs from – the FCB Barcelona Team Store and Toni Pons.

I had read that Barcelona, and particularly Toni Pons, were the spot to buy espadrilles – a type of shoe that was first created in the Pyrenees region of Catalonia. I love espadrilles – they’re always super comfortable for the summer with the perfect laid back but classy look.

Apparently, the name for espadrilles comes from the Catalan word for espardenya – the bottoms of the shoes are made of espart which is a tough grass that’s also used to make rope.

I was amazed at how many different styles the Toni Pons store had. And since I’m horrible with decisions, I was also overwhelmed. I tried on about 5 different pairs (after one of the men working there helped me figure out what European size I was!) and then I was stumped between two pairs. One a more traditional canvas espadrille in tan/beige and the other an espadrille with a navy blue leather upper. I was so stumped, that the man helping me and the cashier made a bet about which I would buy! They both told me to go with the traditional canvas ones, but I ended up going with the leather because I thought they were more unique!

They are SO comfortable and now I wish I had bought about 5 more pairs while I was there! They’re available online, but I don’t really feel like paying the hefty international shipping fees.

We ambled our way back to the hostel and even found ourselves in the middle of a Palm Sunday procession. With more foresight, I would have been really cool to go to mass in one of the beautiful and historic churches, but we enjoyed the nuns singing in the streets. It felt a little weird that so many tourists were just stopping and taking pictures. I put my phone away and tried to be respectful (after snapping one picture for the memory…)

When we got back we took a very necessary hour + nap and then it was time to wake up and get ready to explore Montjuic, a massive hill overlooking the water that was basically in the backyard of our hostel.

There’s a castle at the top of Montjuic and it is also the location of many Olympic sites – the Olympic Ring, Olympic Stadium, Olympic swimming facility, and the stadium where we would be seeing Ed Sheeran in concert later that night! (Palau Sant Jordi).

We started by walking up, and up and up and taking in the views of the city. We spotted a lot of smoke on the horizon, and while my mind immediately went to a terror attack, Google let us know that it was a yacht that had been burning for hours!

We wound our way up towards the Hotel Miramar, a gorgeous hotel on Montjuic. We walked around a bit before realized we were off-course for our destination – Montjuic Castle.

Backtracking, we realized we had much more to climb – so up we went. It was no joke – I was dripping in sweat, Emily’s Achilles was killing her, yet the gondola to the top was way over-priced for the distance it would have carried us.

We powered through and eventually made it to the castle – which was free on Sunday’s after 3 pm (it’s like I planned that or something…oh right, I did!)

I attempted to read along with the brochure and learn something, but it was kind of dry material. Instead, we entered the center of the castle and found tons of the wooden games I had seen at the Farmer’s Market! They were probably meant for kids, but Emily quickly came up with a rough translation of the instructions and we started trying to balance weird wooden pieces on top of each other.

Who knows if we were playing right – but it was a ton of fun! I would love to make some of these games for my backyard. (With the tools and handy skills that I don’t have, for the backyard that I don’t have…)

After we got bored of the games, we sat down on a bench and reevaluated our plan – it was a long time until the concert, and there aren’t really any bars or restaurants on top of Montjuic where we could spend our time pregaming. So we headed back down on foot and walked to El Sortidor – the restaurant that both our cab driver and cooking instructor had recommended to us.

It was bizarre – the hostess told us they weren’t seating people – even though there were tons of people at the tables outside and even someone inside the restaurant eating…

I was bummed, but we headed to Carrer Blai, a street right near our hostel that is filled with tapas and pinchos restaurants. It seems that every restaurant on the block is named “Blai 9” or “Blai 11.” There’s no cars down the street – just restaurants and tables.

So let’s take a quick pause to talk about pinchos (or pinxtos). I didn’t really know what they were before I arrived – but essentially they’re little bite-sized bar snacks, almost like tapas, but with wooden skewers through them. They line the bars, and when you’re done at the bar, they charge you based on how many skewers you have on your plate! Different skewers may cost slightly different amounts, but for the most part, pinchos on Carrer Blai cost just 1 euro each! Other parts of the city they’ll cost between 2 and 2.50 euro.

We had our first true pinchos experience before the Ed Sheeran concert on Carrer Blai and to be honest, I barely know what I ate. I wasn’t blown away by any of it -  I mean, it sits out on the bar all day – but some of the bites were tasty and I wasn’t really the biggest critic once I started sipping Cava. There were cod fritters and some cheese and stuff piled on a mini pancake – if anything, they made for pretty pictures!

After eating and drinking our fair share (and having our first chocolate filled CHURROS of the trip) we scurried back up the street to our hostel for a quick phone charge and champagne chug. What I didn’t finish of the bottle, I poured into one of Jon’s empty beer cans – ROADIE!

Soon we were in a taxi (they don’t have Uber in Barcelona, but they do have MyTaxi which is essentially the same thing) and on our way to Palau Sant Jordi.

When we got out of the cab, the light of the setting sun combined with the sight of the Olympic ring – plus the anticipation of seeing Ed Sheeran and the copious amounts of cava – had me smiling from ear to ear. We sat in the grass and finished our drinks while I serenaded Jon and Emily with Ed Sheeran songs.

For some reason I pictured the venue being outside, but we soon discovered that Palau Sant Jordi was an indoor arena (that holds 18,000) that was created as part of the Olympic complex. Jon and Emily stood in line for beers while I rushed to my seat – scared that I was going to miss even a second of Ed singing.

I shouldn’t have worried – because there were two openers. One of which was Anne-Marie who sings Alarm – I got reallll into it.

When Ed Sheeran started, I was in my own world. I am 99% sure I was the only person in our entire section that stood up the entire show and sang along to every word. Jon and Emily were good sports, only knowing a handful of songs.

ED SHEERAN’S CONCERTS ARE MAGIC. I said it about 2348932 times over the course of the trip, and Emily and Jon kept making fun of me, but I’ll say it again anyway: It’s nuts that it’s JUST HIM up on the stage with his guitar and loop pedal. SO MUCH BEAUTIFUL MUSIC. I died. And I decided that no matter the cost, I simply need to see him again when he’s at Barclay’s in the fall.

Ugh. I still can’t get over how perfect it was – hearing him perform Barcelona IN BARCELONA.

After the concert, we walked alllll the way back because – why not? Also, because we couldn’t get a taxi.

When we arrived back in our hostel’s neighborhood, we all agreed it was a good night to take off from clubbing – so we set out in search of some good drunk food.

Jon wandered into various establishments asking, “Hamburguesa con queso?” But we kept striking out. For a city that stays up drinking all night – there are very few dining establishments whose kitchens stay open. There were plenty of pinchos available – but we were looking for something a little more, well, American. We ended up in a halal restaurant, feasting on naan and dosa and curry. It was almost like we were in New York shoving our faces with lamb over rice.

The man working at Tabaq late on a Sunday night was like our knight in shining armor. He was so nice too – we couldn’t have been happier. Also, it turns out that the folks on TripAdvisor think Tabaq is the best Pakistani/Indian food in Barcelona! SCORE. 

After that, we crawled contentedly into our beds. (Not sure how I haven’t yet mentioned that I was on the top bunk and every time I climbed up, I had visions of the handrail coming out of the wall and me plummeting to my death).

Hard to believe we had only one day left in Barcelona, but it wouldn’t disappoint!

READ ABOUT MY OTHER DAYS IN BARCELONA:

Barcelona: Day Four

Before leaving for the club on Friday night, I had set out my running clothes to provide a small glimmer of hope that I might actually achieve more physical exertion than simply walking at least once during the trip. It wasn’t because I felt guilty about not working out, or about eating and drinking non-stop- which was surprising to me. The motivation was purely the fact that I knew even an easy 3 mile run along the water could potentially be one of the best parts of my trip – that’s how happy running makes me. And if I could do it relatively pain free, I’d be even happier the rest of the day.

Since we had actually left at a “normal” hour Friday night (Saturday morning…) I shocked myself by waking up, throwing on my sneakers, and heading outside for a run.

Our location was really convenient for a run down to the beach and along the water and as I went I passed a few fellow runners and a farmers market – I instantly felt wonderful. My legs were a little achy from all the walking we were doing every day, but at that same time, they felt refreshed because I hadn’t done any strength training or real cardio all week.

I ran along the water and it was pretty, but I was on the Port Vell side so it’s mainly just a lot of boats. When I started, it was still not very crowded out but by the end of my run the streets and waterfront were starting to fill up.

I stopped at a park with benches and used my phone to do a deck of cards workout with squats, dips, sit ups, etc. I got a few weird looks but it was a very quiet area so I didn’t feel too weird.

On my run back to the hostel, I had to stop at the farmer’s market! There were a handful of booths with cheese, vegetables, jams, chocolate, and bread. There were also a ton of games set up – they were made out of wood and kind of reminded me of Nok-Hockey, but I didn’t recognize any of them. Later in the week, I’d find them at Montjuic Castle and Emily’s Spanish would help us play a few of them!

When I got back to the hostel (after running back and forth on our street a few times to end at an even number on my Garmin - #RunnerProblems) I turned on the lights, opened the window and said “GOOD MORNING, RISE AND SHINE.” Much to the chagrin of Emily and Jon, I was ridin’ high on endorphins and ready to get the day going.

Brunch & Cake

Eventually, I got everyone up and motivated – we showered and got ready for our planned brunch at Brunch and Cake – a restaurant that my friend Brynn had told me to follow on Instagram FOREVER ago. It’s one of the most aesthetically pleasing Instagram accounts in the world – the food is so damn colorful, plated beautifully, and HEALTHY!

I got a café con leche for the walk to Brunch and Cake as I tried to mentally prepare Emily and Jon for the wait that we were sure to encounter when we arrived. Brunch and Cake is located near the college, and you can tell you were in the college neighborhood – the places just seemed hipper. Sure enough, Brunch and Cake was packed and we were told there would be an hour and ten minute wait.

Jon stood on the sidewalk to people watch while Emily and I walked down the block and found a cute café where I got a green juice. The inside of Cosmo was SO so cute and I felt like I was in Brooklyn.

Jon texted in seemingly no time that we were up next – it ended up not even taking an hour until we were seated and handed menus (in English!) at Brunch and Cake.

As usual, Emily and I decided on two things that we wanted to split. The first was a salad that had sweet potatoes, arugula, guacamole, salsa, and a vegetarian taco “meat” that was absolutely ridiculous in a good way. We also split a banana/oat pancake that was legitimately the size of the entire dish, with the banana layered underneath and covered in granola, seeds, nuts and fruit. Plus, all of the syrup that was poured on top.

The pancake was a little dry, but that salad was phenomenal!

Parc de la Ciutadella

After brunch we took our time wandering over to the Parc de la Ciutadella, where we passed the Arc de Triomf. As we passed under the arc I naturally compared the park to Washington Square Park.

There’s a pedestrian street that leads from the Arc de Triomf to Parc de la Ciutadella and we took our time taking in the band that was playing, the people selling massive balloons, blowing bubbles and sat on a bench to watch insanely talented kids perform soccer tricks. Eventually we continued into the park and I was instantly in love. It was Central Park-esque in the sense that people were lounging out on the various lawns with full on picnics and towels set up – you could tell they planned on spending many hours there.

Everyone you looked there were different performances going on and we sat down to watch a group of hippies slacklining. I so wish I had gotten up the nerve to ask them to try it, but the Riekorderling Raspberry cider I was drinking, while delicious, wasn’t quite strong enough to give me that extra push ;)

There were however small children whose parents were nowhere to be found that were giving tight-rope walking their best attempt, with the help of the random men who lifted them up. Europeans man – so much more laid back!

I even saw people with these awesome blow up bean bag type things and now I definitely need to get one for days and nights in Central Park.

We all could have spent much more time exploring this park – there’s even a zoo inside – but sadly we had to be on our way to walk over to our cooking class!

Weaving in and out of the maze-like streets of the Gothic Quarter, I was happy I had decided to pay the $10 a day to use my phone data. There were a few days when I didn’t turn it on, but for the most part we would probably have spent the entire week lost had we not been able to use Google maps. Yes, we had physical maps, but the streets are so winding and confusing that we didn’t stand a chance! It wasn’t until day 3 or 4 that we finally felt confident getting ourselves back to the hostel.

Foodie Experience Barcelona

We arrived at our cooking class and waited outside the door for a few minutes, making small talk with some of the other people who would be in our class (there were 11 of us total). When Angel opened the door and let us into the space, I knew it was going to be a good night. It was bright, spacious and absolutely spotless.

Angel went through the menu that we would be cooking that evening, and then led us outside for a tour of La Boqueria.

I hung on her every word as we wound our way through one of the oldest food markets in Europe – we stopped at a few different booths and learned about ham (jamon), seafood, saffron, paprika and more. I’ll be writing an entire post that goes into more detail on the Foodie Experience – because it was incredible and anyone going to Barcelona should absolutely do it!

I wrote notes on my phone the entire time and learned SO much about food that I had never known. The difference between Serrano and Iberico ham, the salt content in Atlantic seafood vs. Mediterranean seafood, the different between anchovies vs. boquerones, and the fact that in Barcelona, barnacles are considered a delicacy.

Angel explained that the front of the market tends to be really packed with tourists, but as you make your way further back its more local. She also mentioned that a lot people are starting to get upset that vendors are essentially selling out and selling smoothies and ice cream because that’s what the tourists are buying. 

After our tour of La Boqueria, we headed back to the kitchen and Angel went around the big island explaining what the different steps of the recipe would be. We each got assigned a task for the meal prep – I was on veggie chopping duties.

The knives were extremely sharp, and I had already managed to slice my finger with a bread knife cutting baguettes in bed at 5 a.m. during the trip – so I was a little wary. I managed to make it through the peppers, carrots and green beans without amputating a finger or hand.

We each raised a glass of sangria and said cheers the way the Catalonians do – Salud y Buena Vida!

The rest of the evening included lots of wine, lots of laughs from Emily who couldn’t keep it together for some reason, and lots of interesting information and stories from Angel as she used our prepared ingredients to make tortilla and paella.

The tomato bread, a very traditional Catalan dish, blew me away with its simplicity and flavor. Sourdough toast, three streaks of a garlic clove, and half of a tomato rubbed all over the bread. A hefty drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle of sea salt and VOILA – one of the freshest appetizers ever! I’m so sad that the specific tomatoes they use in Barcelona can’t be bought in the US – but I’m going to have to give it a try anyway.

The tortilla is also very traditional – and it’s not a tortilla like you picture when you think of Mexican food. It’s actually more like a frittata and the only ingredients are eggs, potatoes, tomatoes and olive oil! I was fascinated by the fact that the onions and potatoes were cooked by boiling them in olive oil. The sound of it all sizzling away was music to my ears.

Angel also showed us a Youtube video of someone flipping the most massive tortilla – before showing us the easier way of doing it using a flat surface and a spatula. 

Watching Angel make the paella was like watching an artist – simply following a recipe would never yield the same results and what she made for us. Filled with vegetables, chicken thighs, sausage, mussels and prawns – it was incredible!

Another great moment during the class was waving across the roof to Angel’s 100+ year old neighbor – so adorable!

The last hands on portion of the class was getting to blow torch our own Catalan Cream for dessert – turning a layer of sugar into a crispy, crunchy, caramelized creation.

We all hung out around the table eating, drinking, talking, and enjoying the experience before saying thank you and goodnight to Angel. I also purchased some saffron (it’s very expensive, and I got a very small container of it) and smoky paprika for if I ever attempt to make my own paella!

We got back to the hostel and began to get ready for another night out on the town. When I heard that we would be going to a craft beer hall, I was PUMPED. Pumped enough to ignore the fact that the club we’d be going to was going to be techno music.

CocoVail was AWESOME and had so many beer options. There was live music when we arrived and we were given wristbands that meant every beer was $5! I had two IPAs (shocking, I know) and enjoyed the laid back, picnic table vibe of the beer hall. I also enjoyed a conversation about Sunday Funday on Rainey Street with an expat from Austin, Texas! 

Eventually it was time to head over to City Hall – a short walk away from CocoVail. This was the first club we went to that wasn’t on the beach – it was located in the middle of the city and used to be a theater in its heyday. Redesigned, it now features different types of DJs and themes every night of the week. We happened to be there for techno night – which is so not my scene. I lasted for one song in the basement because of Emily’s pleas to give it a chance – but I couldn’t hang with the ravers.

We ventured upstairs to the ground floor where there was a much smaller dance floor and DJ playing non-stop 90’s and 2000’s hits. I was in heaven. I mean, Miley Cyrus and Avril Lavigne? Jackpot.

I got a water bottle from the bar, which Jon proceeded to squeeze and spray all over my face. I was not a happy camper. As he recounted later, “Lauren didn’t talk to me for like 5 whole minutes – that’s a really long time for her to stay mad!” Accurate! But then I ordered a tequila and orange juice and my spirits improved. I love that a lot of times when you order a drink at a bar or club in Barcelona you get a cute little glass bottle with your mixer and pour it into your glass yourself.

We ended up being the last three people on the dance floor at City Hall as we requested that the DJ play Ke$ha. We took the subway home that night because the metro station was right outside of City Hall and our walk back we were hysterical about I don’t even know what. Ke$ha and raucous laughter in the streets - perfect way to end the night! (More baguette, meat and cheese too, of course!)

READ ABOUT MY OTHER DAYS IN SPAIN: 

Barcelona: Day Three

After our quick "nap," it was time to head out for our journey to Girona and Figueres – a 12 hour day of touring.

We decided to walk from our hostel to the tour office (we booked through Julia Travel) and along the way we stopped at a market for some apples and a café for café con leche, a sandwich and a chocolate croissant to split.

1)     The café con leche from Barcelona has ruined my life because it was SO PHENOMENAL and now I find myself paying $5 for cappuccinos and other delicious espresso drinks with frothy milk and cream. I can no longer bear the thought of sad drip coffee with skim milk and a Splenda.

2)     I swear that all ANYWAY eats in Barcelona are sandwiches of ham (jamon) and cheese on the most amazing baguettes (except they probably aren’t called baguettes there because that’s a French phrase). I believe they’re called bocadillos. Anyway, they’re so simple, but they really are delicious.

3)     The chocolate croissant blew my freaking mind. As usual, I served as the human garbage can throughout the trip – finishing anything that Emily and Jon were too full to eat. When Emily didn’t want any of this croissant, I gladly finished every crumb.

Walking Tour of Girona

After some trial and error we figured out where we needed to be for the bus tour and signed in. Eventually we were led outside to the buses which were very spacious (no bathrooms though – which always stresses me out!) Emily and I sat next to each other and for the beginning of the trip our tour guide talked a lot about what to expect out of the day. Everything throughout the day was repeated in English and Spanish which made things a little more time consuming.

The bus ride from Barcelona to Girona was about an hour, and despite the espresso, I fell asleep HARD after eating my sandwich.

When I woke up, we were approaching Girona, driving through beautiful green fields close to the border between Spain and France – with the Pyrenees in the background.

Everyone was given a little radio with headphones which would make it easier to hear the tour guide as we walked around the historic city of Girona.

We had a few minutes to grab a coffee or use the restroom before meeting up with our tour guide. She was extremely sweet – and it was so adorable hearing her English portion of the tour. It was totally understandable, but with little mishaps like “print foot” instead of footprint.

The city of Girona is sooo picturesque. You really feel like you’re stepping back into medieval time as you wander through the cobblestone streets and alleyways. The cypress trees look otherworldly set against the massive cathedral and stone walls that still surround the city.

There are 4 rivers in Girona, meaning you can amble along a river (the view from one reminded me of Mykonos) and I don’t know about you, but I’m always happiest when I’m near water.

We came to a statue and our tour guide explained to us that the tradition is to “Kiss the Lioness’ Bottom” if you wish to return to Girona. Emily and I had a good laugh taking Boomerangs of us “kissing the butt” a la Finding Nemo.

Another interesting fact our tour guide told us was the legend of St. Narcis’ foot print (“print foot”) – apparently there are tons of legends surrounding him. One says that an army was attacked Girona and St. Narcis ran out of the city walls in one direction, but his footprint pointed in the other – causing the attacking army to go the wrong direction. Or…something that like. There’s a statue, and touching the footprint is supposed to bring you good luck.

To be honest, the rest of the information I kind of half paid attention to – it wasn’t super interesting to me and the fact that half the time I was hearing Spanish made it hard to keep me listening. But for an hour I was content to take pictures and look around. Emily is a big Game of Thrones fan and apparently they’ve filmed multiple scenes in Girona, including one on the massive stairs of the Cathedral.

Towards the end of the tour we headed into the Jewish Quarters – where Girona’s Jewish population used to live. Apparently it’s one of the most well-preserved in the world – and it was really awesome to navigate through the narrow streets thinking about how much history you were surrounded by.

By the time we were standing outside of the Jewish Museum and our tour guide was rambling on and on about what we would see if we went into the museum – Emily and I had had enough – we knew which areas we wanted to go explore on our own, and as the clock ticked down we knew our free time was dwindling. We peeled off from the group and scurried down an alley way where I had seen the elusive garlic mincing dish I have been hunting for forever. I picked out a ceramic garlic grater in a pretty pattern and for 5 euro I had successfully found one of the souvenirs on my list.

We started to make our way up to the main city wall, which you can walk along, and I was in heaven. It was absolutely gorgeous – perfect weather, greenery everywhere, the smell of fresh flowers, views of the Pyrenees, and not crowded with tour groups like the streets had been.

We found a secluded area and had a full on photo shoot in the fields – how amazing is the portrait mode on the new iPhone? I spent the rest of the trip making Emily take glamour shots of me. Not vain at all.

I think we both could have stayed on top of that hill all day long, but we wanted to make sure we had time to eat something before we got back on the bus so we wound or way down and back into the streets and ended up eating at the most adorable café. Turns out that Federal Café is a chain of Australian Café’s with 6 locations in Spain (Girona, Barcelona, Valencia, and Madrid).

Those Australians man. They sure do know how to do brekkie.

I felt like I was in Soho except surrounded by 100X more history and charm as I sipped my turmeric latte (!!) and ate my Greek yogurt with granola, composing the perfect Instagram shot of Emily’s avocado toast with MACADAMIA NUT DUST.

Even though it may not have been a traditional Spanish meal, it was one of our favorites of the trip. I think it was a combination of being exhausted and finally sitting down, the gorgeous setting, the fact that we were outside and the weather was beautiful, plus the food being so so aesthetically pleasing – not the mention the waiter was very easy on the eyes.

As we sat there, I realized there were SO MANY cyclists. With BEAUTIFUL, expensive bikes. They were no joke cyclists – and Girona is no joke hilly. I also saw tons of people running…maybe that’s why I felt so at ease and relaxed in Girona. I was amongst my people! I had found the bike riding, hill running, turmeric latte sipping Catalonians!

We wrapped up lunch with the perfect amount of time to go to the bathroom and re-board our tour bus. I was sad to leave Girona – it felt so homey and comfortable there – but I kissed the Lioness’ Bottom so that means I’ll be back one day, right?

Salvador Dali Theater & Museum

As soon as we were back on the bus, our other tour guide started talking again – and he was talking a lot. I just wanted to sleep. Eventually I tuned him out and dozed on and off for the hour and 45 minute drive to the Salvador Dali Museum.

At this point, I didn’t really feel like wandering a museum for the 5 hours we would be in Figueres. But as we stopped outside the museum and our tour guide started speaking – I was captivated. Not only by the interesting information, but by our tour guides passion for Dali and his work.

The outside of the Dali Museum looks very strange – but when we found out that all of the little yellow things stuck to the building are supposed to be BREAD – I was like, “Wow, even stranger than I thought.” Oprah might love bread, but I think Salvador Dali loved bread even more.

It’s not just any bread on the outside of the museum (which Dali fully designed himself) – it’s bread that was historically made for funerals, giving the museum a bit of an eerie feel. But the giant eggs on top (yes, eggs) are full and uncracked, representing life and ideas. Dali has a quote that I love – “Beauty should be edible, or not at all.”

It was really cool going to a museum of an artist that was a lot more contemporary than a lot of the artists you typically study – his references seemed a lot easier to grasp and understand, despite the fact that he was a surrealist and a lot of his work is very “out there.”

Our tour guide took us into the museum and you first come to a giant courtyard that has a LOT going on. He talked us through a lot of it, and I found myself hanging on his every word. I also had an epiphany that one of the tattoos on his arm was Dali’s famous mustache – which is when I realized this guy really knew his Dali.

Next we walked into the “theater” where there is a giant painting that will play tricks with your eyes – I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but it’s cool! Then, we were told that we were standing above Dali – and he was actually buried right below us!

Dali was such an interesting person and I can’t wait to get my hands on a book to learn more about him. He was apparently super narcissistic, but clearly a genius in many ways.

I was sad when our tour guide was done speaking and sent us off to explore the rest of the museum on our own – but we really did enjoy a lot of the different rooms even though I’m not a huge art person.

The tour also included entry into the jewel exhibit – and while some of them were cool to look at, at this point I was dragging a little bit and didn’t spend much time there. The best part was potentially when we walking through the revolving doors into a pitch black room to a massive security guard standing there that literally made us JUMP and shriek. It was terrifying yet hysterical.

We exited and then realized we probably should have found a bathroom while we were inside before our two hour journey back to Barcelona. The security guard let us back into the jewel exhibit but we could not find a bathroom for our lives so we talked our way back into the main museum.

Then we sat outside at our meeting place and waited for the bus.

On the ride back we had WiFi and chargers - #BLESSED! Emily and I fell asleep listening to Ed Sheeran and other random tunes and the nap time was CLUTCH.

We got dropped off in Barcelona and started walking our way back to the hostel – I had survived the entire tour on two hours of sleep + random bus naps throughout the day! This newfound ability to function on almost no sleep set my “NO SLEEP TILL TUESDAY” tone for the remainder of the week. Eek.

Night Out

When we got back to the hostel we quickly showered so we could make it downstairs for 8:30 group dinner. When we got down there, we were the only ones, since the group activity for the day had been watching the sunset from “Bunkers” which is up above Park Guell. We sat around for awhile, I journaled and an Englishman made me a cup of tea! I was getting reallllly hungry but we held out and waited for the group to return – including Jon. They had all been drinking wine for the past few hours, so the mood instantly livened up.

Dinner was lasagna made by Simone – a young girl from Italy with the most magnetic personality in the world. It wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever eaten, but it was free and fun to eat with the group – while drinking pitchers of sangria and getting ready for the night ahead.

I decided I couldn’t handle heels again, so I dressed down significantly for the second night. We got to the bar and everyone from the hostel was given a delicious shot (the sugary, mixed kind) and then we all went in on splitting liters of sangria that came out in little personal kegs with sparklers on top.

Around 1:30 we started the walk from the first bar to the club – a walk that I usually took to Instagram Live – WHY?! Someone needed to stop me. The club that night was Shoko, and like Opium the previous night it was down on Barceloneta Beach. You can leave the clubs and walk out onto the beach, which is pretty cool. We didn’t like Shoko as much as we liked Opium and we couldn’t exactly place what the reason was. I think this was the only night that we stuck to our 3:30 a.m. curfew because we weren’t having an absolute blast.

While waiting in the taxi line to go back to the hostel, men walk around selling bocaditos – so tempting, but Emily and I passed because we wanted to buy our own bread, meat and cheese to eat at the hostel.

Another day down, and we were starting to get into a groove!

READ ABOUT MY OTHER DAYS IN SPAIN:

Barcelona: Day Two

Day two was our big sightseeing day – I had scheduled and pre-booked a bunch of tickets to hit all of the big tourist attractions. By the end of the day, Emily and I both agreed that we liked doing all of these in one day because a lot of the time, the tourist attractions ended up being a little underwhelming, though we are glad we could say we saw all of these main sights.

La Sagrada Familia

We headed to the subway which was pretty easy to navigate as long as you knew which station you needed to get off at! Our hostel was verrrry close to one of the main subway lines and a bus stop too, which was really convenient throughout the week.

As soon as we got off the subway, there was the Sagrada Familia, looming over us in all of its incomplete glory. It was definitely a “WOW” moment, to just see it there in the middle of the city. I guess it’s how some people feel when they find themselves standing at the base of the Empire State Building for the first time.

I was absolutely starving, since we had never really eaten dinner the night before, and we stopped into a café down the block and sat down for a quick breakfast. I ordered a ham and cheese with a coffee. When my sandwich came out, I was instantly transported back to my childhood, eating a grilled cheese sandwich with ham on perfectly buttered and grilled toast. It wasn’t anything fancy – but it was perfect.

We were a few minutes behind schedule after paying, so we scurried over to the entrance of La Sagrada Familia, which we had pre-purchased tickets for. They sell tickets in time slots and I highlyyyy recommend booking in advance of your trip.

We were told we needed to enter on the other side of the church so we walked around, only to be told that I had printed my ticket confirmation, not the actual ticket, and we needed to go back to the other side to have my ticket printed. We did that, then went back to the other side and finally, entered the church.

The inside was impressive for sure – and because we were there at 9:00 a.m., it wasn’t yet completely packed with tourists. The sunlight was streaming through one particular stained glass window and was casting pretty lights and colors on some of the columns.

The concrete inside of the church looked so soft – almost like putty. When we touched them, we realized they were SO SMOOTH.

After looking around for a little while, we did the Nativity Tower tour– it’s an additional fee and you can choose to go up either the Nativity façade or the Passion façade. I had done some research, and settled on the Nativity façade because it offers better views and has less construction happening on it.

The views were nice, but not breathtaking. The most impressive part was the walk down the spiral staircase (you go up in an elevator) and looking all the way down down down. I think the reason we didn't love the view from the top is because La Sagrada Familia is the most iconic part of the Barcelona skyline, and it was missing since we were at the top of it!

Our general consensus was that the outside of the church was definitely the most impressive part – it’s so massive and so so detailed. It wasn’t until I was running around trying to find a bathroom that I realized there was an entire museum underneath – I wish I would have taken some time going through it and learning a bit more.

At the end of the day, I wouldn’t say that the interior of Sagrada Familia is an absolute must-see if you aren’t really interested in churches – but absolutely go to marvel at the exterior. If you do pay to enter the church, I recommend going up one of the towers to make it more worthwhile.

Parc Guell - Monumental Zone

After Sagrada Familia, we took our time walking from the church to Parc Guell. We bought some of the classic giant water bottles I remember from my trip to Greece (1 Litre for $1) and stopped in some stores along the way. I found the CUTEST store that had all healthy foods, juices and KOMBUCHA. I wished I was hungry so that I could have eaten there! They also had veggie shaped pillows that I was really tempted to buy.

We had perfect weather the entire trip (minus the soccer game) – warm in the sun, cool in the shade.  But man was the walk to Parc Guell hilly! After getting a little lost, we eventually made it to the park, but the signage made it difficult to figure out where exactly we needed to go to get to the “Monumental Zone” that we had purchased tickets for. Eventually, after asking a few people, we found our way to the queue.

From the line, we could see the classic Parc Guell benches that everyone takes their pictures at (including the Cheetah Girls).  We were really underwhelmed at first because they were just in the middle of a big dirt patch. We thought that was all our ticket was going to get us – and we were pretty disappointed as we stood in line for 20 minutes waiting for our 12:30 entrance time. Eventually, we realized there was an entire area of the park we were going to get to walk around. PHEW.

We had our photo shoot on the benches and I must say, for such an iconic photo, the benches really aren’t the best part of the park by any means. Our favorite were the Monument Stairs, where we took tons of pictures and enjoyed looking at all of the beautiful tile work that the park is known for.

We stopped at the café inside the park and I had a delicious mango coconut juice.

We finished walking through the Monumental Zone and one of my favorite parts was how amazing the flowers smelled. We stopped on a bench to listen to some music and it was so beautiful.

Gaudi House Museum

Next stop was the Gaudi House Museum, which is located inside the park. It was the cheapest tour we did at just around $6 and while it wasn’t very visually impressive, I really liked reading and learning more about Gaudi since he is such a huge part of the history and culture of Barcelona. Did you know he was a vegetarian?!

After the museum, which didn’t take long to go through, we made our way down from Parc Guell to find the subway. We somehow managed to pass it and had to backtrack.

Casa Batllo

We got off at our stop which was right outside of Casa Batllo, our final tour of the day. We had some time to kill, so I wandered in and out of some stores, including the TIGER department store which I absolutely loved! It’s a chain throughout Europe that started in Copenhagen. http://www.apartime.com/barcelona-guide/shops-&-markets/tiger-store-in-barcelona

At 5:00 we started our Casa Batllo tour and it was hands down the coolest museum/tour I’ve ever been to. You are given a mini iPad and headset and using augmented reality, you walk through the house, garden and roof while hearing tons of interesting information. On the screen, you can see how the space used to look – as you turn in the room itself, the screen reacts and shows you the area that you’re looking at. Not sure if that made any sense – but take my word for it – it was very unique and very much worth it!

Jon met up with us when we were in the fourth room – his hangover from the night before finally cured. We took our time going through Casa Batllo and it was nice to take a last look at it from the street on our way out, once we had learned more about it.

Las Ramblas

Then, we started to make our way back, stopping in Zara before taking some pictures at Placa de Catlunya (I compared it to Columbus Circle). Then, we walked down the busy main street of Las Ramblas – essentially the Times Square (NYC) or 16th Street Mall (Denver) of Barcelona. Street vendors, chains, stores and tons and tons of tourists.  We definitely saw someone get pickpocketed as we made our way down Las Ramblas, and while I’m glad I got to see it, it definitely wasn’t my favorite place to be.

Arume Dinner

We got back to the hostel around 8:15 that night and had about an hour to shower and get ready for our dinner reservations. Callie had told me about a restaurant she loved so much she ate it twice during her trip to Barcelona last year, so I had booked us a table in advance.

We all decided to dress up since it was our one planned dinner out – and also Jon was excited to wear the dress pants he had bought at Zara.

Arume was a quick 15 minute walk from our hostel, which was good because I was wearing heels. Jon and Emily took beers for the road – which I’m still not sure is legal or illegal – but either way, everyone does it.

The restaurant was in the El Raval neighborhood, which I had read was a little seedy. Sure enough, it was the only time the three of us felt even remotely unsafe during the trip. And that’s dramatic – it just was clearly a little sketchier than most other areas.

When we got to the restaurant it was packed – and the spaces are just as small as many places in NYC. I told them I had made a reservation, but we still waited about 15 minutes to be shown to our table. The wait staff were extremely friendly and the restaurant was adorable.

We ordered drinks (Emily loved her Blackberry Mojito and I was in heaven with a Jalapeno Grapefruit Margarita) and were given a bread basket with olives and olive oil. I swear the olive oil is 100X better in Barcelona than it is here.

Our appetizers were the highlight of the meal:

“Uncle Walter’s Ceviche” with Almond Milk:

SO FRESH with little crispy corn cornels and watermelon – it was different, but so tasty, light and refreshing. Even Jon tried it and took seconds!

Spanish Betanzos Tortilla with Iberian Chorizo:

“Tortilla” in Barcelona is a very traditional dish – and it isn’t necessarily what you would expect. It’s potatoes, onions and eggs – almost like a frittata! The waitress explained that the traditional way of serving it is a little liquidy in the middle – and asked if we were ok with that. YES, traditional way please! Later in the week, our cooking class instructor also explained that a good tortilla should be moist in the middle.

The tortilla at Arume was cheesy and chorizo-y and very very good.

For our entrees, Emily and I decided to split two different dishes, while I convinced Jon that he should get the pork cheeks!

Monk Fish:
Wok Cooked Udon Noodles in Red Curry and Langoustine Bisque

The monkfish itself was delicious, but even to me, the langoustines were super fishy. The udon noodles were very short, not typical udon noodles, and I didn’t get much of a red curry flavor. I didn’t love this dish.

Milk lamb “Raval Style:”
Sweet potato, cumin yogurt and Arabian Salad

I personally loved this – the lamb wasn’t the most tender I’ve ever had but I devoured the sweet potato puree and love cumin. It’s not for everyone though, and Emily thought that the dish was over-seasoned.

Iberian Pork Cheeks:
Iberian pork with orange, aniseed chestnut puree and apples.

Ever since trying my coworkers beef cheeks in St. Louis, I swore I would always order cheeks whenever they were on the menu. Instead, I convince Jon to order them. I tried a bite, and the meat was just as tender as I remembered. The chestnut puree was very interesting!

Opium Night Club

By the time we finished dinner it was pretty late, and we figured we had missed the group leaving for the bar. So Jon and Emily bought beers at the market next door and I bought myself a cheap bottle of Cava and we set out for the hostel.

When we approached the bus stop at the end of our street, we saw the entire group from Hostel One standing and waiting and decided, OK, guess we’re going out! I popped the bottle of champagne and passed it around before hiding it in my jacket and getting on the bus.

We walked a ways to the bar, I ditched the bottle of cava, and we entered the super packed space. Emily and I got margaritas which ended up being straight tequila. By the time I finished mine and Emily’s, the original plan was “just going to the bar, not the club” was out the window. I chugged a water bottle and said I would go to the club.

The group was going to Opium, a club that everyone had suggested. “We’ll just go to see it and then head home,” Emily and I said…….

Let’s just say, Opium was too amazing to leave at a normal hour. Instead, we stayed until about 4 a.m. and by the time we got a taxi and crawled into bed at the hostel, we had only 2 hours to sleep before our bus tour to Girona and Figueres.  

I had spent the entire night telling Emily, “you don’t want to see me on 5 hours of sleep,” “you don’t want to see me on 4 hours of sleep…” etc. but we were having such a blast! Opium was great – it was on the water, it wasn’t overly packed, we got a drink fairly quickly, and the music was PERFECT. I was a little overwhelmed by all the strobe lights, but once I embraced them, I was in heaven.

Moral of the story? The following day, Emily got to see me on 2 hours of sleep.

READ ABOUT MY OTHER DAYS IN SPAIN:

Barcelona: Day One

I started my trip to Barcelona with the intention of journaling every day. That plan lasted until I got to the hostel – I have extremely detailed notes about my journey from NYC to Barcelona, but beyond that, I’m recapping each day based on memories, a few scribbled notes, my original itinerary and pictures in my phone.

Day One: Travel + Barcelona Football Match

I left my apartment on Tuesday at 2 p.m. after half a day at the office. As I got on the subway, I picked up a key that a woman dropped on the platform and returned it to her – praying that it was good karma that would protect me from Barcelona’s notoriously talented pick-pocketers (spoiler alert: all three of us made it through our trip without being pick-pocketed!)  

As I transferred from the 6 train to the E train, a nice man helped me down the 534543 stairs with my 44 lb. bag. It was a small miracle that my bag weighed in at under 50 pounds. Of course, I had spent the morning at the gym doing arm exercises and even the 44 pounds was a struggle for the hour and a half journey.

At one point, the train got stuck underground for a good 5 minutes and I did a very good job of not jumping to conclusions and panicking that we were stuck forever and I was going to miss my flight. Must be all that yoga keeping me zen...

When I made it to the Airtrain terminal I felt like such a tourist – the ticket machine was not my friend that day.

I made it to Terminal 8 of JFK by 3:23 and while American Airlines check-in and baggage drop process seems a lot less efficient than Delta’s, I was through security by 3:49 and meeting Jon at our gate!

At the gate, Jon finally decided to try to book all of the tours I had sent him weeks ago and while some were already sold out for the times Emily and I were going (Sagrada Familia and Park Guell), he got into a few.

My butt was in my seat at 5:07 and I was, as usual, in awe at these giant planes. First class has legit BEDS! I’m so used to flying domestically in tiny planes. Is it weird that I’m so much more freaked out by huge planes than little ones? They have no business flying through the air!

Dinner was some cheese and crackers and chicken with rice and some creamy sauce. The side salad was so pathetically sad, but overall I’ve come to expect worse from airplane food so I was pleasantly surprised.

American doesn’t serve Fresca, my go-to in-flight beverage, but on International flights beer and wine are free and they have DIET DR. PEPPER. That’s what I went with.

I slept from about 6-6:30, woke up briefly, and then fell asleep for another 30 minutes or so.

I started watching Passengers as I ate at around 7. By 8:15 I popped a melatonin and slept until 11:45 which is a solid chunk of time on a flight! When I woke up I finished watching Passengers and jotted down two quotes from it that I really liked:

You can’t get so hung up on where you’d rather be that you forget to make the most of where you are.”

“If you live an ordinary life you’ll have ordinary stories. You need to live a life of adventure.”

They seemed fitting for the start of my trip!

As we started coming in for our landing in Barcelona, I blasted Ed Sheeran’s Barcelona followed by George Ezra’s Barcelona – followed by Duele El Corazon.

We went through customs (Jon almost knocked over a temporary wall) and hung out for 2 hours or so while we waited for Emily to land. Jon got two pinchos at a restaurant – more on pinchos later – but we really had no idea what he was eating.

We scoured the place for outlets to charge our phones but had no luck.

When Emily arrived we made our way to the Aerobus, which we had pre-purchased tickets for. We had no trouble finding it. We stowed our luggage and connected to the free WiFi. It was a quick trip and while we originally planned on going from Placa Espanya to the metro, we chickened out and decided to hail a cab to our hostel and to figure out the metro when we didn’t have massive suitcases. (Ok, Emily and I had massive suitcases, Jon not so much).

We easily walked over to a cab and our driver was so nice! He knew we were American and put on an Eric Clapton CD and as we got closer to our hostel, he explained we would be staying in a neighborhood called El Poble-sec. Airbnb’s neighborhood guide (a feature that I love), describes El Poble-sec as:

“Tucked away in the shadow of Montjuïc, Barcelona’s “dry village” actually boasts the city’s cheapest bars. Transcending its previous reputation as a semi-seedy watering hole, Poble-sec is now renowned as one of Barcelona's favorite destinations for fashionable nights out. Many of Barcelona's best restaurants, tapas bars, and arts institutions make their mark in Poble-sec while its playful nature keeps it feeling down-to-earth despite its proximity to the heart of city.”

Our taxi driver also told us a good place to go for lunch in the area – his suggestion was in Placa del Sortidor (Sortidor Square) and was called El Sortidor. Our cooking class instructor ended up giving us the same recommendation later in the week. Unfortunately, when we went to eat there, the waitress either didn’t understand us or didn’t want to seat us because she said they were closed even though they clearly weren’t!

Anyway, our cab driver also told us that the main street we were living off of, El Paral-lel, gets its name because it runs parallel to the equator. Similarly, Avinguda Meridiana runs along the Prime Meridian.

He took a wrong turn as he talked to us and stopped the meter early – after having been warned so many times about sneaky cab drivers who take advantage of tourists, we had such a great first experience and were soon walking into Hostel One to check-in!

An impressively dread-locked Frenchman greeted us and helped us with our bags. We walked into the lobby/kitchen/common area and were offered breakfast (available every morning for 2.50 euro) but we passed. Our room wasn’t ready yet, so we sat and got the whole spiel from Kim, another young person from France.

This was my first experience staying in a hostel, and I had originally gone back and forth between a hostel vs. an Airbnb. There are obviously pros and cons to both, but Hostel One really ended up exceeding my expectations.

We were given the door code (AMAZING not having to worry about keys!), the WiFi password, and told the rules about writing your name on anything you wanted to keep in the fridge.

Every day Hostel One hosted an outing to a touristy attraction – Parc Guell, Montjuic, etc. Then, each night at 8:30 pm, people staying in the hostel (or either of the other 2 Hostel One locations in Barcelona) were invited to enjoy a free dinner downstairs. The people who work for Hostel One are from all over the world, so one night you could be eating lasagna cooked by an Italian and the next, Quiche Lorraine cooked by someone from France! (Those were the two group dinners we joined in for). Dinners are donation based and the money from the previous nights dinner buys the ingredients for the next day's meal.

During the dinner, the staff would explain the plan for the evening – each night the group journeyed together to a bar at 11:30 PM, followed by a club around 1:30 AM. I knew before the trip that the hours in Spain were going to be a change, but actually hearing them say we weren’t leaving for the bar until 11:30 PM was crazy.

We locked up our things with the hostel and set out for Quimet & Quimet – a restaurant that Anthony Bourdain featured on his popular Travel Channel show “No Reservations.” It was super close to our hostel and we arrived about 20 minutes before it opened, and wandered around a little while to kill time. I found an amazing vegetable shirt in a thrift store and tried asking if I could try it on off of the mannequin but the language barrier meant no vegetable shirt for Lauren! SO SAD.

We were the first three people to enter Quimet y Quimet, which is an extremely popular and typically packed restaurant! We ordered our first glasses of sangria of the trip and while Jon was less than thrilled with the almost entirely seafood-centric menu, I was in heaven!

Quimet y Quimet’s famous for their montaditos – small, bite sized sandwiches. I ordered their most popular one – salmon, yoghurt and truffled honey. It was so so delicious. The bread was so crispy, light and airy, the salmon so fresh and the yoghurt so creamy. I could have eaten about ten of these.

I also ordered an order of the stuffed baby squid and the baby broad beans with codfish – both were incredible!

All that seafood cost me under $20 and was an amazing first meal in Barcelona!

After Quimet y Quimet, we made our way to another restaurant so Jon could get some meat – a cheeseburger to be exact. He considered it to be Spanish because the cheese was Manchego (MY FAVORITE).

Then, it was time to go back to the hostel and hope that our room was ready. We chilled in the lobby for about a half hour chatting with people as they came and went and (wrongly) assumed that they knew we were waiting to be shown our room. Finally, we were like, “uhmmm excuse me is our room ready yet?” And the guy was like, “Oh you’re ready to see your room? Yes!” OY. Just goes to show how much more laid back people are in the rest of the world.

When we got to our room, I was shocked at how big the lockers were. My entire large suitcase + carry on backpack fit in it no problem.

We realized none of us had the right converters/chargers for our phones and headed out on a mission to find the right converters – for just 5 euro we were in business. We took an hour nap before showering – I forgot how small European showers are. 

We stopped downstairs and headed to the subway with someone else from our hostel who was going to the Barcelona football game that night – he led us to the subway and when we got off, we followed the crowd towards Camp Nou, where FCB plays their games. We stopped at a bar along the way and after much struggle, I managed to order a “vino blanco” while Emily and Jon got huge beers in plastic cups that we drank in the street. We sat down at a table with two guys from Michigan and Boston who happened to be college hockey players. Seriously, cannot escape hockey. We got a little closer to the arena before stopping at bar #2.

We ducked into a souvenir shop before entering Camp Nou. Did you know they only serve non-alcoholic beer there? Fact.

Camp Nou is absolutely massive – the capacity is 99.354. Though I’ve been to the Big House, the size of Camp Nou was still impressive!

Honestly, I thought the atmosphere was going to be a little crazier than it was – but it was still a really awesome experience, especially because Barcelona won 3-0 and Messi scored two goals!

Another fun fact – at Camp Nou, the toilet paper is outside the stalls. So remember to take some before you go into a stall…

It rained on and off throughout the game and luckily I had a rain coat but it was still very wet and pretty cold so we were a little cranky when we got out and realized it was going to be quite a struggle to make our way back to the hostel.

The line to even get INTO the subway station was absolute madness so we decided to start walking back towards the hostel (over 3 miles away) while trying to hail a cab. We walked for a LONG time before we were able to hail one, but eventually, we did.

Jon and Emily were champs and went down to join the hostel pre-game but I was absolutely exhausted and had no interest in being social. I went to bed and woke up to Emily returning at 4:30 AM and Jon coming back around 6 AM. Not only had they gone down to the pre-game, but they ended up “going to the bar with everyone for one drink.” Which turned into, “Going to the club just to see it…” This would continue to happen to us the rest of the week...

I had slight FOMO, but I also knew that the following day was jam-packed with tours and walking and I didn’t want to make Emily deal with a hungover, complaining Lauren all day.

READ ABOUT MY OTHER DAYS IN SPAIN:

Eating My Way Through The City of Bridges: 8 Pittsburgh Restaurants

Who knew that Pittsburgh had so many phenomenal restaurants? On a recent trip, I discovered some of what the 'burgh has to offer. 

What that really amounted to was experiencing what the Richard DeShantz Restaurant Group has to offer - seeing as I ate at 3 out of 4 of their restaurants during my stay, with a few other spots along the way. 

Shall we? 

Habitat

Habitat was where we managed to get a reservation for Valentine's Day Dinner - a motley crew of 5 co-workers dining at this restaurant located in the Fairmont Pittsburgh. It was upscale, featuring local ingredients with dishes inspired by flavors from around the globe. 

Fresh Tandoor Baked Naan 

This flavorful naan came served with spreads including the best hummus I have ever had in my entire life. I still stand by that statement - it tasted like straight-up chickpea euphoria. 

Roasted Organic Beet 

Served with goat cheese, wild flower honey and berries - this was a beautifully plated dish. I loved that the beets tasted so earthy and natural.

Carrot Ginger Soup 

This was phenomenally fresh and simple - it truly just tasted like carrots and ginger. I couldn't eat a ton of it, but it was delicious is small doses. 

Striped Bass

For my entree I went with the striped bass after much back and forth, based mainly on each dishes accouterments. The striped bass came with a a chickpea panisse that was disappointingly dry, Castelvaetrano olives, tomato marmalade and chive cream that was crazy good. 

The striped bass was very well cooked and overall, I enjoyed the dish though I wasn't blown away. My favorite part of the meal remained the hummus! 

Some of the other entrees that intrigued me were the Black Cod with mushrooms and turnips and the lamb rack because I <3 Lamb. 

I also loved that the menu had an extensive vegetarian portion - with 4 entree options including Chickpea Ragout and smoked heirloom carrots that tempted me to go veggie for the night. 

Dessert

We also had two amazing desserts - one with macadamia nuts, bananas, and other deliciousness and one that was a classic brownie sundae with lots and lots of chocolate. Both were addictive. 

Bakersfield ~ Tacos. Tequila. Whisky. 

This spot was right around the corner from our hotel and was a standard tacos, margaritas and guac spot. The one thing that stood out was the fact that their Premium Margarita featured Grand Marnier - the secret ingredient to a killer marg. 

Tako

The margarita menu is extensive and each carefully cracked concoction sounds better than the next. Pineapple Jalapeno? Grapefruit & Sage? Spicy Cucumber? How's a girl to choose? All that I sampled were A+, though I will admit the Grapefruit & Sage was lacking any real grapefruit flavor. 

Guacamole 

I love the DIY guacamole menu - pick your base and load up on add ons that range from more traditional (corn, mango, green onion) to out-there (tuna belly, shishito, sesame seeds). Each item comes at an additional cost, but building my own guacamole was one of my favorite parts of the meal! I highly recommend mango or pineapple for a sweet touch, pepitas for a bit of a crunch and queso fresco because...cheese. 

Tacos 

Get them all. Seriously. You can't go wrong. My absolute favorite was the Baja taco - in fact, it was probably my favorite fish taco, or taco in general, ever. The description is simple enough - tempura white fish, jalapeno lime aioli, white cabbage slaw and cilantro. I'm not sure what made it so amazing - but it was life-changing. 

Also incredible was their namesake "Tako" taco - grilled octopus, harissa aioli, preserved lemons, mizuna greens & herbs and pickled red onion. This was the most smoky, charred tasting thing I have ever eaten - with the hint of lemon, it was killer. Not to mention it was perfectly tender - not chewy like octopus can sometimes be. Who knew that an octopus tentacle nestled in a corn tortilla could be so good? 

The second time I went to Tako, we ordered the TACO BIG BOARD. 

It's big. 12 tacos. 4 girls. We made a dent, but didn't come close to finishing it. Each taco is more than generously sized - we sampled a good variety including the Tako and Baja again because I insisted, along with the Chorizo (carmelized onions, roasted poblano, romesco, fried egg, queso fresco, arbol hot sauce, cilantro), Mushroom (roasted maitake, garlic aioli, truffle huitlacoche salsa, brussel sprout salad) and more. 

I definitely need to go back to try the Duck Confit and Korean tacos. 

Poke

Some of the best I've had - so fresh, and the "whipped lime" was so creative and different. Big eye tuna, seaweed, spicy soy dressing, whipped lime and rice crackers. Phenom. 

Meat & Potatoes

On my last night, I dined at this Pittsburgh staple, also by Richard DeShantz. Another gorgeous space, I wasn't sure I would love this spot since I wouldn't consider myself a meat and potatoes kind of girl. I'm definitely more of a "vegetables & fish for the most part" girl. 

That being said, I spotted pot roast on the menu, and that is a huge comfort food for me. A very random dish that brings me back to my childhood and eating it with red cabbage. 

So many people recommended it that I decided it was worth a shot - plus, it was named one of Food & Wine's Best Gastropubs in the U.S. in 2014. 

Cocktails 

These cocktails were STRONG. I had two during my meal - both tequila based, obviously. The first was a special - basically a mezcal mule. It was strong and smoky and I could only drink it in small sips. The second was a lot sweeter and smoother - The Mexican Honeybee - Espolon tequila, lemon, smoked local honey, orange bitters and a mezcal rinse. Let's pretend I know what a mezcal rinse is, shall we? 

*Okay, I Googled it, and I'm pretty sure it just means they literally rinse the inside of the glass with mezcal before pouring in the cocktail. 

Fried Brussels 

Is it dinner if you don't get unhealthy Brussels Sprouts? Not really. 

These were fairly simple - Parmesan and lemon aioli - but tasted great. 

Lamb Ribs 

These were a special the night that we went to Meat & Potatoes - lamb ribs served with crunchy chickpeas ensure that I would be ordering it. The flavor was GREAT, but the meat wasn't as tender as I would have expected from a place that prides itself on it's meat! 

Mushroom Ragu Side 

HOLY GARLIC. You really couldn't even tell that these were mushrooms they were so over-seasoned with garlic. 

Pot Roast

Braised chuck roast, baby carrots, turnips, cipollini onions, parsnips, mashed potatoes and horseradish gremolata. 

WOW was this tender and just as comfort-food-y as I had hoped. I didn't even miss the red cabbage because of the combination of gravy + onions, parsnips, turnips and baby carrots. WOOT FOR ROOT veggies. 

The mashed potatoes weren't out of this world, but I've never really met a potato that I didn't like. 

This really hit the spot, as Pot Roast always seems to do when it's well done. 

Social House Seven 

This group outing results in ordering a TON of food - I was put in charge of ordering appetizers for the table - a roll I relish. I also love relish on my hot dog rolls. 

Anyway. Social House Seven is like the Pittsburgh version of Tao. Large, fancy inside with a huge Asian-fusion menu and koi fish swimming until a clear glass panel when you walk in the door. 

Among the items that we sampled: 

CHEE CHEE FRIED BRUSSELS SPROUTS
 

CRISPY ROCK SHRIMP
 

KI KING BROCCOLI
 

STEAMED PORK DUMPLING
 

GRILLED SHISHITO PEPPERS
 

WHOLE ROMANESCI

Grilled over a robata grill and served with whipped feta, these were very unique and very delicious. The texture made it impossible to think you were eating cauliflower. Though my coworkers didn't seem too thrilled, I thought they were great!

Sea Bass Pumpkin Noodle

This entree was SO good. I seriously loved it and was surprised at how much I enjoyed the whole meal in general. Squash ribbons and snow peas slathered in a red curry broth with red curried coconut with a big hunk of sea bass on top. While the fish was a little dry, the squash noodles and curry sauce made up for it. 

Peace Love & Little Donuts

Wouldn't be a trip without a donut spot! 

Pittsburgh's most well-known doughnut shop seemed to be Peace, Love & Little Donuts so we had a dozen delivered to the office on Valentine's Day (DUH!) 

While these doughnuts didn't make the top 5 list, they were delicious, as all doughnuts are in their own special way ;) 

I liked the fact that these were little - though it didn't stop me from eating them throughout the day. If anything, it made it easier to "just try one more...." 

I was shocked to find that my favorite flavor was the one coated in mini M&Ms! Never would have guessed that. 

Peace, Love & Little Donuts has "Groovy" donuts (the simple ones, like cinnamon and glazed), "Far Out" donuts (frosted donuts with flavors like strawberry, mocha, and chocolate), and the donuts that are more my speed - "Funkadelic" (frosting + crazy toppings). 

Overall, I was impressed with the food scene in Pittsburgh. There were tons of other places I wanted to try, and I never got my Pittsburgh Pierogies, but I left with a new favorite taco! 

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The Perfect LA to San Diego Road Trip Itinerary

Everyone dreams of cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway (put your top down, crawl into the backseat) - and while it's something I'd certainly like to do one day, time didn't permit it during my last west-coast visit. 

Instead, I settled for cruising from LA to Irvine to San Diego, for a quick 48 hour trip jam-packed with exciting things, thanks to an itinerary crafted by moi and executed by my amazing friend and tour guide Emily. 

Here's how it went down: 

1. Workout in LA 

LAX --> 613 N. La Cienega Blvd. (30 Minutes)

Land at LAX, drive to workout class. If you're anything like me, that doesn't sound nuts - it sounds perfect! 

I went for a killer class at Rise Nation - which you can read about here. 

2. Healthy Meal at Cafe Gratitude 

Rise Nation --> 639North Larchmont Boulevard (15 Minutes)

I've been dreaming of eating here for AWHILE since my Instagram feed is always full of drool-worthy pictures of their veggie-centric, organic dishes. It certainly did not disappoint. 

You can read all about what we ate here. 

3. Sing 'Beverly Hills' While Driving Through Beverly Hills 

Thanks, Weezer! 

4. Brews at Ballast Point Brewery

Cafe Gratitude --> 110 N Marina Dr. Long Beach (45 Minutes)

I am a big fan of Ballast Points Grapefruit Sculpin IPA and have tried a bunch of their more creative flavors - like the Habanero Sculpin. Though not all of their beers are my favorite, I appreciate their eclectic choices and was excited to check out their brewery.

The place was right on the water and though we just missed the sunset, it was gorgeous to look out at the water while we enjoyed our flights!

5.  Sleep

6. "Breakfast" at Sidecar Doughnuts 

270 E 17th St #18 

My friend once cried while eating a doughnut from Sidecar, and I came pretty damn close after trying their Huckleberry doughnut. They import them overnight from Oregon! While the other doughnuts didn't thrill me, it was worth the trip for that Huckleberry heaven. 

You can read my full review here. 

7. Drive to Torrey Pines 

Sidecar Doughnuts --> Torrey Pines (1 Hour, 15 Minutes)

Ideally, we would have gone for a hike here, but the trails were closed because of the heavy rains that had turned everything to mud. It was still a very pretty drive and I'm glad we made the stop! 

8. Fall In Love With La Jolla Cove 

Torrey Pines --> La Jolla Cove (15 Minutes)

Wow. Wowowowowowwwww. I could have stayed here FOREVER. It was one of the prettiest, most relaxing afternoons of my life. I mean, a freaking RAINBOW appeared. Come on, now. 

See the Sea Lions 

Seeing these little guys sunning on the sandy shores was such an unexpected surprise. I am pretty certain that I straight up squealed. SO cute. 

Workin' On My Fitness 

Why not get in a little exercise while you walk around? I came up with a bunch of different exercises you could do at La Jolla Cove - you can check it out here. 

Check Out the Sea Cave

Emily and I kind of stumbled into this - it's $5 to walk down (and eventually, UP) a shit tone of stairs - with this as the view! 

Walk Around the Shops In Town 

So many cute stores - v. dangerous for your wallet if you're anything like me. I made a few purchases that were unnecessary but, OH WELL. 

Eat at George's at the Cove

Though the meal wasn't super amazing wonderful by any means - the view made up for it! 

You can read my full review here. 

9. Watch the Sunset at Sunset Cliffs 

La Jolla Cove --> Sunset Cliffs (30 Minutes)

There is nothing I love more than a beautiful sunset. I get emotional about sunsets. I would be embarrassed, except I'm not - because what is better than quietly sitting by the water and enjoying the beauty of nature? (While taking a million pictures to Instagram...oops). 

Emily and I drove here and pulled over on the side of the road while we waited for the sunset. There were tons of people out and about watching it with us. It was a gorgeous sunset, but I still have yet to see one that beats my hometown beach's sunsets!

10. Night Out in San Diego's Gaslamp District

Sunset Cliffs --> Downtown San Diego (20 Minutes)

After struggling for a good long while to find parking - we took a quick nap before heading out for dinner, drinks and dancing. 

The Neighborhood (777 G Street) 

Great beer, great cauliflower. 

Henry's Pub  (618 Fifth Ave) 

Interesting crowd, but great DJ. 

The Tipsy Crow (770 Fifth Ave)

Loved this spot! Multiple floors, giant connect four. Highly recommend if you're looking to go out in the Gaslamp District. 

11. Sleep

I also highly recommend NOT getting locked out of your Airbnb and spending the night in the apartment building's hallway. But that's a story for another day. 

12. "Breakfast" at the Donut Bar

While I didn't love these donuts, the shop was super cute and serves both donuts and craft beer. I like it, I like it. And I also got to eat a donut that had an entire pop-tart stuffed inside of it. No biggie.

You can read my full review here. 

13. Desert Garden in Balboa Park 

Rumor has it that the landscaping in this section of Balboa Park is what inspired the illustrations in Dr. Seuss' work! Though it was raining when we made it there, the plants and cactus were still awesome to take some pictures of! 

14. Drive Back to LA

So there you have it! 14 steps for an LA --> SD Road Trip. 

Here are a few other things that I didn't quite fit in but I will definitely get to when I visit ERIN AND CAM in San Diego after their cross-country move! 

7 Bridges Run

The fact that we were locked out of our Airbnb until 6 a.m. meant that I wasn't about to attempt a run bright and early. But when I'm back, I would love to do this route that brings you over 7 different bridges around San Diego.

Giant Dipper at Belmont Park

Cabrillo National Monument

Liberty Public Market

I had my eye on the Yam Bam! from Fully Loaded Juice - a drink made with almond milk, beets, yams, carrots, honey and dates with cardamom and cinnamon! Thrillist has an entire article dedicated to Liberty Public Market. 

Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens 

Barrel Republic

This place seems AWESOME! Self-serve taps that track how much you've had with a bracelet that dictates how much you pay when you're done. High-tech beer tasting. 

Leave your LA --> SD recommendations in the comments!

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4 Cheap DTLA Fitness Classes For First Timers

I hopped of a plane at LAX and...headed straight to a workout class. 

True story. Not only was I excited for some acai and poke bowls during my recent trip to LA, but I was excited for some new fitness classes on the West Coast! 

I was lucky enough to check out 4 different studios during the 12 days I was in town and have to agree with my friend Rebecca on which was the best - but keep reading to find out which it was! 

Rise Nation

The class that I attended straight off of my flight was Rise Nation, a crazy-hard cardio class that left me absolutely DEAD. 

Rise Nation might only be a 30 minute class, but using "The Climber" delivers total-body toning. 

I was nervous after Rebecca told me that this was the roughest 30 minutes of her life - and arrived with some time to spare for the instructor to give me a quick run through on how to use the vertical climbing machine. 

It wasn't as much like climbing a ladder as I thought - it was a much smoother movement that required core strength, length strength and arm strength. It was much like spinning because it helped if you found the rhythm of the music and there were also intervals where you had to speed up your movements for a certain amount of time. 

The machine tracks the distance between your steps - so when the music is faster, you work on quick, short steps. At other points, you focus on longer climbing motions - which really work your arms and core as you stretch your body further. 

Your whole body is involved, and it takes a lot of effort to keep up with the pace of the class - especially if you're new! I found my hands cramping and my forearms burning as I struggled to hold on to the handles. I was absolutely sucking wind and it was definitely the longest 30 minutes of my life. 

Luckily, there were moments where I was able to get into the beat of the song and zone out for a few minutes at a time - usually this happened when the step distances were varied - for instance, short short long, short short long. 

It's a very hard class to try to explain, so I apologize if this makes absolutely no sense. 

At the end of the class, I was dripping in sweat and my chest was BURNING like I had just sprinted a mile. Sometimes after a really intense workout, my mouth tastes like blood. Whenever I say this, people look at me funny so I finally decided to Google it: 

Some studies also show that intense exercise can increase pressure on the lungs, which allows red blood cells to leak into air sacs, possibly causing that metallic taste.

Class at Rise Nation gave me that metallic taste and left me feeling weak and shaky. I asked the instructor what a typical distance climber was for a beginner, and I am happy to report that I crushed that number ;) 

The studio was nice and clean, the instructor was upbeat and helpful, and the only thing I found a little annoying was the lack of a shower considering how gross I was by the end of 30 minutes. I was beyond ready to eat all the things at Cafe Gratitude!

The best part? Your first class at Rise Nation is FREE. 

Speedplay

The second class came highly recommended by my friend Rebecca, who has tried quite a few LA classes. 

It was another small, shower-less studio but it was a great cardio and strength HIIT class with an instructor that I really liked. 

I took Speedplay 60, described on their website as "a perfect balance of running , rowing and floor. The class was broken down into 4 main sections which we all rotated through as a group. It was a very small class of about 6-8 people which was great. 

We started on the rowing machine, which I hadn't used in a good long while. It was rough getting the hang of it again, and I felt like I was going in slow motion through the ladder: 

Station One

500 M Row
6 Dumbbell Press
400 M Row
6 Dumbbell Press
300 M Row
6 Dumbbell Press
200 M Row
6 Dumbbell Press
100 M Row
6 Dumbbell Press 

Station Two 

Station two was a strength based circuit using a barbell. We rotated through a set number of repetitions of the following exercises:

• Straight Overhead Barbell Press 
• Lunge 
• Deadlift
• Row 

Station Three 

For this station we went to the treadmill - they have the Curve, self-powered treadmills that can tell how quickly you're going and adjust the speed accordingly. They always take me some getting used to, but it's really awesome technology and supposedly has a lot of benefits (encouraging better form, mainly). 

Here, we did short intervals: 
.1 Run
.05 Walk
.05 Spring

After each sprint we used the resistance bands that were wrapped around our treadmills to do 10 rows. I loved the fact that each station incorporated strength moves along with the cardio. 

Station Four

Back to the floor to finish up with strength and core with this circuit using a plate: 

• Jump Lunges 
• Front Plate Raise 
• Glute Bridge with Overhead Oblique Pull 
• Sit Up (holding plate overhead)  

This class was by far my favorite - and one I would take over and over again if I lived in LA. It was a great mix of cardio, strength and core and it absolutely FLEW by. The class was small, the instructor was great, and you got to use a ton of different equipment throughout the class. 

Your first class is only $15, a steal! 

Club Pilates DTLA

I was looking for a low impact class one morning and since I can be stubborn about taking yoga classes, I figured I would give pilates a shot. The last real pilates reformer class I took was at SLT and it absolutely KICKED MY ASS so I wasn't expecting an easy class, per se, but knew I wouldn't be jumping around and irritating my shins. 

Stephanie (who made it announcement during class that she was now the OWNER, congrats!) was absolutely AMAZING at giving me help along the way. It was super obvious that I was not well-versed in pilates and had no idea what I was doing when it came to using the reformer. 

I bought my pair of grippy socks (required for the class) but a pilates-pro they did not make me. 

Some of the moves I really felt working - like the section where we did obliques! It always amazes me how many different things you can do with the reformer, and even though I felt like a fish out of water, I certainly felt the burn. 

Pilates definitely isn't my favorite type of class - but it's a challenge, it's low impact, and it works a ton of small muscles that I normally don't pay attention to. I probably won't become a regular at pilates classes, just like you won't catch me frequenting barre classes, but I understand why some people are so in love with them and certainly think those folks should check out Club Pilates! 

Worth noting that at this point, I accepted shower in fitness studios in LA should not be expected! 

YAS Spin Class 

No joke, there is a fitness center chain in LA called YAS Fitness. 

You can imagine how many times I screamed, "YAAAAAASSSSSS" during my trip to this spin class. 

This was the only studio I went to that had a locker room and showers, which was much appreciated for a girl who showers at the gym and fitness studios more often than her own apartment. 

Also appreciated was the fact that the class was a straight-up OG spin class. No weighted songs, no crunches, no push-ups on the handlebars - just spinning. 

We got clip in shoes for $2 and a free water bottle for checking-in on Facebook. The instructor, Mike, was extremely friendly and upbeat, the playlist was passable, and while I missed the metrics of a class like Flywheel or SWERVE, I felt like I got in a solid spin workout at the end of 40 minutes. 

While I was at YAS, I ran into someone I used to run with at JackRabbit in NYC back in 2012/2013 when I FIRST started running. It was so crazy!

Anyway,YAS also offers yoga classes and weighted yoga classes, and your first class is just $13! 

DIY Workout 

The last great workout of my trip to LA was the most scenic DIY everrrrrr as I walked around La Jolla Cove. Check it out here! 

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San Diego With a Side of Doughnuts

My trip to Los Angeles and San Diego obviously included two stops to epic doughnut detours. 

Sidecar Doughnuts

Legend has it that my friend Rebecca cried when eating a chocolate doughnut from Sidecar Doughnuts. 

Needless to say, I was excited for my trip here in January. 

It was our first stop on our journey from Irvine to San Diego and by the time we arrived there was already a line and the sweet smell of sugar wafting out of the storefront. 

Sidecar was beautiful inside, with a small amount of seating and additional tables and chairs out on the sidewalk. 

I wasn't sure where to start with my order, so I just started pointing when I stepped up to the counter - making my way down the line until I was satisfied with 4 doughnuts and a doughnut hole. 2 Girls, 4.5 Doughnuts - sounds about right. 

Butter + Salt 

To be honest, this doughnut was a little too much for me. So, so rich that I could only stomach a bite of it. 

Rosemary and Honey 

This glaze was very good and full of rosemary and honey flavor, but it was atop a yeast doughnut, which is not usually my favorite. 

Chocolate Budino 

This monstrosity was A chocolate doughnut with a chocolate budino filling, whipped creme fraiche, house made caramel, chocolate sable crumbs and jacobsen sea salt. 

We didn't love this - it was a little bland, and again, a little "much." 

Glazed Doughnut Hole 

Very, very good. The outside was crispy and the inside was moist. The best. 

Huckleberry 

This doughnut single-handedly put Sidecar Donuts back on my good side. And this doughnut landed itself a spot on my top 5 doughnuts EVER (joined by the Tres Leches from Doughnut Plant, London Fog from Glory Hole Doughnuts, Gooey Butter Cake Doughnut from Strange Doughnuts, and the Everything Doughnut from The Doughnut Project).

This was definitely on the FRIED side - which is what gave it it's crispy exterior and deliciously rich, moist-yet-cakey inside. It was like a gloriously warm blueberry muffin encapsulated in sugary muffin-top textured glaze. 

I couldn't stop saying "OMG" as I ate it. 

Sidecar's huckleberries are foraged in Oregon and express shipped to the bakery overnight. I'm not sure if that's what gave this doughnut it's extra special amazingness - but it was absolutely incredible. 

Donut Bar

A place that serves donuts and craft beer? Yeah, I feel you San Diego. 

The doughnuts at this spot are over the top for sure. For one, they're GIANT. Certifiably MASSIVE. Elephantiasis-level doughnuts. and Emily and I chose perhaps the two craziest on the menu. 

Homer's Donut 

An XL pink glazed beauty with sprinkles. The most perfectly-picture ready doughnut you'll ever find. A though simple, it was pretty damn tasty! 

Big Poppa-Tart Donut 

Alright, get ready to judge the HELL out of me - but yes, I did order this donut that is STUFFED with a FULL-SIZED POPTART. A S'more pop-tar to be precise. 

It was worth it for the chance to say I tried it - but honestly, it was underwhelming. The best part of a pop-tart is when the edges are crispy-burnt and the filling is melty and warm. The pop-tart being inside a doughnut meant that it was mostly soggy and sad. 

Blueberry with Myer Lemon 

After our experience with the Huckleberry doughnut at Sidecar, I couldn't pass up a chance to try another berry-based baked good! Plus, this was one of the only cake doughnuts that Donut Bar offered. It was good, but forgettable - nowhere near the doughnut perfection achieved by Sidecar. 

THIS IS THE BIG POPPA TART DONUT CUT IN HALF!!!!

Overall, Donut Bar disappointed. But it had a lot of fun doughnut-decor and was a cool spot to check out! 

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Where to Eat in DTLA

Some cities are more accommodating than others to visitors that are trying to eat healthy on the road. Whether you’re traveling for work or pleasure, Los Angeles is a city with endless dining choices – many of which focus on fresh, light, nutritious dishes. 

I was happy to travel to the west coast for 12 days in the middle of winter – determined to eat my way through the land of acai and poke bowls. Here are 9 spots I enjoyed on my trip.

Café Gratitude

This all-veggie all-organic hot spot has been on the top of my foodie bucket list for quite some time now, and it was the first place I went after arriving in California (after a quick sweat-session at Rise Nation…) Café Gratitude first popped onto my radar via Instagram – it’s a favorite among bloggers like @shutthekaleup.

We happened to go during Dine LA, the Los Angeles version of New York City’s “Restaurant Week.” We opted for the Dine LA menu, which allowed us to choose 2 dishes for $20 each. We only ate about 50% of the four dishes we ordered – not because we weren’t hungry or didn’t like it – but because it was an extremely generous amount of food for $20!

Brussels Sprouts

These were maple miso glazed and while they were perfectly fine, they were nothing super special. I’m always a fan of Brussels, but I still think the best I’ve ever had were at Bareburger. This could also be due to the fact that I ate them after having previously biked 30 miles and cried because I was so hungry and didn’t want to walk to the restaurant (true story).

Chili Bowl

Wow. Wowowow. This was so hearty and flavorful and the crumbled jalapeno biscuit was killer. This is the kind of dish you can make your meat-eating friends try and then say, “SEE! Eating vegan doesn’t mean giving up on filling, delicious meals!”

The chili was loaded with red beans, tempeh, sweet potato, avocado, and more.

The only thing we were a little unsure about was the dollop of what looked like whipped butter on top. It was actually a cashew sour cream, and though I tried to get on board with it, it just wasn’t my thing.

Pad Thai Kelp Noodles

This was a lighter dish than the chili and I loved the texture of the kelp noodles. If you’re in the mood for a cold dish but don’t want to go the salad route, I recommend ordering this.

Kelp noodles are smothered in a delicious Thai almond sauce with carrots, red bell pepper, kale, teriyaki almonds and sunflower sprouts.

Mole Abuelita Enchilades

I think this was my favorite of the 4 dishes. If I hadn’t known, I never would have guessed that these enchiladas had no meat or cheese in them. I was again blown away at how satisfying these were – with real authentic Mexican flavor to boot.

The dish is comprised of black beans, grilled Portobello mushrooms, braised butternut squash, avocado, Mexican coleslaw, esabeche and an amazing cashew queso fresco. I love cashew “cheese.”

When our waiter delivered our food, he gave us the “Question of the Day” which was “What inspired you?” My first reaction was, “This is a little too hippy-dippy for me, let me eat my food in peace” but, when in LA…

Emily and I actually discussed the question when the waiter walked away and I’m glad we did – it was an interesting topic. I first said that nature inspires me – watching sunsets is my favorite thing in the world – but I also loved Emily’s answers of traveling and seeing people we care about achieve their goals.

Another feel-good aspect of Café Gratitude, other than the name itself, is the fact that the menu items are all inspirational words like Ecstatic! Dazzling! and Humble! When the waiters bring you you’re food, they deliver it and say, “You are Dazzling,” “You are Lucky.” Thanks, hot hipster waiter, I know I’m Smokin’ ;) 

Next time I’m at Café Gratitude, I definitely want to try some of their refreshing sounding juices and elixirs like the pineapple, pear and ginger juice or the heavenly sounding smoothie with coconut cashew ice cream, almond milk, cacao nibs, almond butter and vanilla bean. KK.

Baco Mercat

I read about Baco Mercat on The Infatuation and was intrigued by their signature item, the “Baco” – part taco, part sandwich, part flatbread and 100% created by chef and owner Josef Centeno.

I also loved the rest of the menu – with a focus on small plates great for sharing and inspired by cuisines from across the globe.

This was the second restaurant in LA to tell me and my friends that we were ordering too much food – but the three of us did a solid job eating the following dishes:

Ricotta Fritters
honey, lemon zest, dill

None of us were impressed with these, sadly.

The Toron Baco
Oxtail hash, cheddar tater, horseradish-yogurt

The original Baco contained crispy pork belly and beef carnitas with caraway pepper sauce and salbitxada according to Baco Mercat’s website – but the Toron Baco is now the most talked about and for good reason! This was DELICIOUS and though I don’t really know exactly what oxtail hash is, I would gladly eat it again and again.

Double Mushroom Coca (Crispy or Chewy Flatbread)
Shitake, Crimini, Fontina, Chili Flakes

We opted for the crispy flatbread, and this was mushroomy masterpiece.

Caramelized Cauliflower
Pine Nuts, Mint, Garlic, Sumac Lebni, Chili

I always love cauliflower, and while this wasn’t over the top amazing, it was delicious as cauliflower always is – especially when paired with pine nuts!

Blistered Okra
Tomato, Fenugreek, basil, lebni, sesame

We were shocked at how much we loved this! There were a lot of different flavors in it, and after some research, I found out the Fenugreek is full of health benefits like reducing inflammation, improves exercise performance, and promotes milk flow in breastfeeding women! It’s also a key ingredient in many Indian curries. 

Caesar Brussels Sprouts
Pecorino, anchovy, garlic, croutons

This was served as a shredded Brussels Sprout salad and tasted exactly like a Caesar Salad!

Hamachi Crudo
Abkhazian spice, avocado, hash brown, crème fraiche

We all agreed that this was probably our favorite dish of the night – so light yet so flavorful! The Hamachi melted in your mouth!

Mainland Poke

My secret weapon when I’m traveling for work is ordering delivery to my hotel room using Postmates. Room service usually takes forever, is super expensive, and doesn’t have a ton of options (especially healthy ones).

Postmates, on the other hand, will deliver directly to your hotel room door (at most hotels) and there are SO MANY OPTIONS. Even restaurants that don’t offer their own delivery allow Postmates drivers to pick up food for delivery. 

When in California, I knew I needed to eat some poke – a raw fish salad originally from Hawaii. From Mainland Poke I ordered a 3 scoop bowl with baby greens, kelp noodles, Ahi tuna, salmon, octopus, avocado yuzu ponzu, cucumber, edamame, mango, seaweed, sweet onion, tobiko, black sesame and red sea salt. Basically, everything you could possibly put in a poke bowl – I ordered!

It was delicious and light while still incredibly filling. Everything tasted fresh and it was great as delivery because it didn’t need to be kept warm! 

Mas Malo 

We headed here for a big group dinner knowing that it was a favorite among some of our staff. 

Four Salsa Flight With Chips 

The four flavors were burnt habanero cream, fresh tomatillo, warm chocolate mole and fresh pico de gallo. It was a great spread, but little did we know, we missed the opportunity to order Mas Malo's famous off-menu "chewy chips" that my coworker had been raving about! 

After devouring multiple baskets of chips, we realized that our counterparts at another table were chowing down on chewy chips. once bite and we were hooked and had to order a round for our table too! These half-baked tortilla chips are seriously crack and you can't go to Mas Malo without ordering them! 

Guacamole 

Solid - with pomegranate seeds for a fruity punch! 

Sauteed Cactus and Onions
White Wine, Butter, Cilantro

We didn't know what to expect eating cactus, but it just tasted like a green vegetable - and what doesn't taste good smothered in white wine and butter? 

Roasted Squash
Squash, Dry Chili, Piloncillo

What's piloncillo? It's unrefined cane sugar - so this side dish was essentially dessert. YUM.

Carnitas "Al Pastor" 

For my entree I opted for the NorCal pork shoulder with achiote paste, pineapple juice, guacamole, and sour cream. I'm a sucker for fruit with my meat, especially when it comes to Mexican food. This was very tender and flavorful, though not that best Al Pastor I've ever had. I was so full of chips at this point, that I enjoyed the pork with the side salad instead of making tacos with the tortillas they served me. 

Tres Leches Cake 

This was wildly underwhelming - the only good part was the lower portion of the cake that had been soaking in the cream. Otherwise, it just looked pretty. 

Churros 

These were alright but they were mainly a vehicle for the decadent chocolate dipping sauce. 

Rawberri 

This was another Postmates order on a night I wanted to stay in - it's no shock that I was craving avocado toast and an acai bowl, and thankfully, Rawberri was able to deliver exactly that! 

Wild Bowl 

I went for the medium, and it was a perfect size. I was also shocked that when it came, it wasn't a soupy mess. It wasn't super thick, but there was granola, bee pollen, blueberries, strawberries and bananas so I was very happy! 

Avocado Toast

When it came to the avocado toast, it wasn't great because the toast was a little soggy, but at least it came on Ezekial toast! It also had quite a bit of kick to it with the chili flakes! 

Hoke Poke

Another day, while laying by the pool, I was simply too lazy to get up and get food. So again, it was time to call on Postmates to provide me with a poolside poke bowl. This time, from Hoke Poke. I opted for a small bowl with citrus kale, cilantro, cucumber, edamame, mango, Ahu Tuna, avocado, wasabi peas and a side of the Citrus Thai Basil Sauce.

I barely even needed the side of sauce because everything was so flavorful. My favorite part were definitely the wasabi peas!

This bowl was delivered with chopsticks only, so I struggled a bit to eat it, but felt very authentic ;)

True Food Kitchen

One night we took a bit of a drive to Santa Monica for another healthy-chain I’d heard a lot about. True Food Kitchen is a healthy, seasonal restaurant with a menu that’s constantly changing based on what is in season and fresh.

When the three of us looked at the menu, it was heaven. There was truly not one thing on there that we weren’t intrigued by.

We started with a round of drinks. I opted for the Ginger Margarita. Though I’m not usually a fan of tons of ginger, I’ve been drinking it more in my homemade smoothies and couldn’t turn down a margarita with honey and elderflower liqueur! It was delicious and refreshing with a definite ginger bite to it.

Our waitress informed us that many of the dishes we were planning on ordering were sold out for the day – but it didn’t stop us from ordering am incredible line-up of things to share!

Grilled Fish Tacos
Avocado, Greek Yogurt, Cilantro, Pickled Onion, Anasazi Bean, Cotija Cheese

These were such a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting such a great taco from this place, but they were spicy and delicious.

Butternut Squash Flatbread
Butternut Squash, Smoked Onion, Organic Kale, Vegan Almond Ricotta, Dried Cranberry

That vegan almond ricotta was KILLER and I never would have guessed it wasn't actually cheese! Something about squash and cranberries is just THE BEST. 

Chioggia Beet Bruschetta
Vegan almond ricotta, amaranth, arugula, pomegranate molasses

More vegan almond ricotta, more happy taste buds. This was one of my favorites! The toast was a crunchy, crumbly texture that I really liked and I was a big fan of the amaranth sprinkled on top. 

Spicy Panang Curry
Organic potato, long bean, bok choy, carrot, thai basil, coconut shrimp broth

This certainly had some spice to it! We got the chicken version, but there were still lots of veggies too which I liked! I'm not a huge chicken fan - most of the time it's boring and dry to me - but this wasn't dry at all and was drowning in flavorful curry.  

Charred Cauliflower
Harissa tahini, medjool date, dill, mint, pistachio

Is there anything in this dish that isn't something I love? NOPE. Who knew that witha little bit of Mediterranean flavor and a hint of African, you've got yourself a delicious cauliflower dish!?

Herb Hummus
Greek salad, feta, grilled pita bread

Unlike most of the other dishes at True Food Kitchen, which were GREAT - this hummus was just very middle of the road. 

Lemonade 

Lemonade is by far the best airport restaurant in the entire universe. There, I said it. It's only competition is the World Bean in JFK that served avocado toast AND peanut butter banana toast. 

But I digress. Lemonade is a health food chain with different locations throughout California. They are a quick-service, health-food restaurant offering build your own meal options including seasonal sides, salads, proteins and delicious lemonades! The stars of Lemonade are definitely their vegetable sides which rotate based on what's fresh and in season. 

Every time I go to LA I'm PUMPED to build my own plate of delicious salads like Roasted Broccoli with ricotta cheese and Champagne Vinaigrette, curry cauliflower and lentils with pomegranate seeds and sweet potatoes! Don't forget the protein - citrus poached salmon fillet with whole grain mustard sauce. 

We decided a lemonade with vodka was necessary pre-flight, and I went with the sugar-free rosemary something or other with vodka - I honestly didn't really love it - probably because it was lacking sugar! They looked pretty though! 

Broken Spanish 

One of my best friends from NYC happened to be in LA for a work trip at the same time I was, and we go to grab dinner together at a popular restaurant in the downtown area where we were both staying. 

I first read about Broken Spanish on The Infatuation - which is one of my most trusted restaurant review websites. They made the claim that, "Broken Spanish in DTLA is not fixing Mexican food. It's putting it on a level we never knew existed." With that GLOWING review - I added Broken Spanish to my list of "must-trys" before leaving LA. 

Broken Spanish was very nice inside and the wait staff were great. I appreciated that Erin trusted me and gave me full reins to order what I pleased.  Though the waiter warned us that it was going to be a lot of food, I went full steam ahead with the following plates:

Seasonal Tostada
Habas, Pea Salsa Verde, “Little Lamb,” Carrot Escabeche

This had a very vinegary taste to it, but was light and refreshing despite sitting atop a fried tortilla. I was a big fan of the carrot escabeche ad pea salsa verde in particular! This was definitely the "healthiest" tasting dish of the night. 

Chile Relleno
Poblano, Potato, Kale, Lemon, Soubise  

YUMMO. Erin and I both really enjoyed this - what is there to dislike about a pepper bursting with cheesy potatoes? 

Tamale
Lamb Neck, King Oyster Mushroom, Queso Oaxaca

The waiter was raving about how amazing their tamales are - so it seemed like a no brainer to order one loaded with mushroom and lamb, two of my favorite things. Unfortunately, we were really underwhelmed by this. The tamale itself was very dry, and though the lamb on top was tender and saucy, there wasn't enough to make up for the blandness of the tamale. 

Camote
Sweet Potato, Pig Tail, Trompa, Chile de Arbol, Verjus

Sign me up for any and all things sweet potato! This was probably the least sweet-potato-y sweet potato dish I've ever had. I can't quite put my finger on why, but I really didn't enjoy it very much despite being a little sweet and a little savory. Apparently, this dish was named one of the bet dishes of 2015 in LA. While I'm all for sweet potatoes having their moment, I just didn't really get this dish. And it wasn't particularly appealing looking either. Not to mention the fact that i ate pig tail...

Carnitas
Lamb Shoulder, Kabocha Squash Escabeche, Pomegranate Salsa

This meat was very tender, but not my favorite - something about the texture and consistency. I also didn't love the cold, vinegary squash escabeche. 

I left Broken Spanish pretty underwhelmed. I had been expecting an EPIC meal and it was just a good meal. 

Travel Guide: Portland, Maine in 72 Hours

Portland, Maine. 

When you first think of this small northeastern coastal city, you may conjure up images of summer beach days and sleepy nights on a porch swing under the stars. And that's totally valid. Maine is full of gorgeous beaches and cozy cottages with wrap-around porches. 

But the East Coast Portland can claim some other stellar accolades like being named one of GQ's Coolest Small Cities in America.

And though the jury is out on whether or not Portland actually has the most restaurants per capita than any city in the U.S., it has earned a reputation as one of the foodie-destinations in America - being named Bon Appetit Magazine's "America's Foodiest Small Town" in 2009 and being named one of the top twenty on The Huffington Post's list of "Americas Best Food Cities" in 2014. 

And HELLO, Matador Network named Portland, Maine the best craft beer city in the WORLD. The WORLD! 

Picturesque foliage, small-town vibes, cute shops, restaurants galore, craft breweries and a strong coffee culture - Portland, Maine was the absolute PERFECT place to spend a Halloween Weekend out of crazy NYC. 

3 days in Portland was the perfect mini-getaway and the long weekend was packed with SO MUCH FOOD and fall happiness. Keep on reading for tips on making the most of your 48-72 hours in this perfect little place! 

FRIDAY LATE NIGHT EATS

Boda | very thai kitchen and bar 
671 Congress

Upon arrival in Portland we immediately set out from our Airbnb for a quick walk up the block to Boda, a restaurant on Congress St. with a late night menu. 

Despite it being 10:30 p.m., there were tons of folks eating in the mood-lit, rustic space with an open kitchen. 

We grabbed a seat at the bar next to a very Maine-looking-lumber-man who was very friendly. Many people at Boda seemed like regulars, which is always a good sign. 

The price was certainly right for Boda's late night menu, with plates ranging in price from just $4-$10! Abby, I don't think we're in Manhattan anymore!

COCKTAILS

We each tried one of Boda's creative cocktails. I wish I could remember which I ordered, but my memory is failing me. I do remember that Abby got the Thai Basil Tom Collins, because it was super basil-y! And what I also know is that the bartender at Boda really did "craft" our cocktail. There was zesting happening. 

HOMEMADE CHIPS

The special "chips" of the night were pumpkin flavored, instead of their usual lobster chips. However, Abby and I were a little confused by them. They were satisfyingly crispy and crunchy, but the flavor was certainly not pumpkiny. I didn't like the taste much at all, though I kept finding myself reaching for more anyway.

KANOM-KROK QUAIL EGGS 

Kanon-Krok are a traditional Thai dessert - essentially coconut-rice pancakes. They're made in a specific indented frying pan called a khanom krok pan- which is where the name comes from for this Quail Eggs dish. Each individual egg comes served in one of the pan's indented sections. 

These eggs were DELICIOUS though the concept of eating an entire egg in one swift bite took some getting used to. 

The whites were perfectly crispy and the yolk was just the right amount of creamy-drippy. Paired with scallions and soy sauce, these Quail Eggs had the perfect Thai flair to taste far from "just eggs."

BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Fried and seasoned, these were delectable. However, a lot of places do a similar serving of sprouts.

SHRIMP SKEWERS

Our unanimous decision was that these shrimp skewers, served with a spicy garlic lime dipping sauce, were the most flavorful dish of the bunch. I could have easily eaten 10 more skewers.

DESSERT

The last part of our Late Night Eats on Night #1 was a trip to the nearby gas station for a pint of Talenti . This was a fabulous decision despite needing to interact with some extremely inebriated locals. 

SATURDAY MORNING LONG RUN

We headed out early for an 8 mile run and despite a few wrong turns at the start, ended up looping the scenic Back Cove.

At the end of our run we took a little break to check out an adorable farmer's market before a pretty brutal uphill climb to our Airbnb. We were short a few tenths of a mile, which, as Type A runners, meant looping the block a couple of times until we hit a nice even 8!

SATURDAY MORNING BRUNCH

Silly's  
40 washington ave.

With my appetite worked up (let's be real, I wake up with an appetite fully worked up regardless) we headed toward Silly's Restaurant for a good old fashioned brunch.

This place was an absolute hit with the group - the food was just greasy/diner-y enough to prepare for a day of brewery and bar-hopping but not too over-the-top for a group of girls who try to remain somewhat healthy.

The eclectic decorations perfectly toed the line between kitschy, cute and odd - hello Gingerbread man and woman salt and pepper shakers!

Though we passed on imbibing at Silly's they had killer Bloody Mary and Mimosa options. The weather was crummy, but on nice days they have an adorable outside seating area too. 

DEMI BACON BOWL 

We considered the "bowl of bacon" but the "serious commitment" menu description discouraged us. The smaller portion was still plenty and it was SO crispy without being burnt. 

BERRY ME IN IT 

This was a breakfast flat bread smothered in Peanut Butter and topped with sliced bananas, warm berries and pumpkin pie spiced granola. I don't think I need to say more. 

As a group, we agreed on the impossibility of deciding between sweet & savory at breakfast time - so this dish served as satisfaction for our sweet teeth!

THE EGGANATOR SCRAMBLE 

3 eggs scrambled with Silly's apple wood smoked pork, cheddar cheese, fresh tomato, bbq sauce, jalapenos and bacon with home fries. 

The best move of the brunch, in my humble opinion, was ordering a side of honey mustard for the home fries, which were more like beautifully crisped potato wedges. I pretty much drank an entire cup of honey mustard by the end of the meal. 

THE VEGANATOR SCRAMBLE 

The vegan version of scrambled eggs, this scrambled tofu was loaded with veggies like onions, peppers, mushrooms and broccoli along with more home fries, salsa and vegan spicy sauce. 

SATURDAY MORNING STROLL 

We walked around a little to work off our brunch, stopping into some cute stores and bakeries as we we ambled around. Shoutout to Lori's Natural Market Place, for indulging these city-dwelling health food freaks who went up and down the aisles talking about different products without actually purchasing anything. 

Two Fat Cats Bakery
47 India Street 

We stopped in this shop that specializes in pies pies pies and ate with our eyes. 

Standard Baking Co. 
75 Commercial Street 

This was an impressive bakery - they had TONS of different breads, pastries, cookies, etc. and it was packed with people. The best part? Free samples! 

SATURDAY AFTERNOON BREWERY-CRAWL

As I mentioned before, Portland is PACKED with breweries both big and small. There were a few that we managed to check out on Saturday - and while we could have spent dayssss brewery crawling, I think the amount that we fit into our schedule was perfection! 

Foundation Brewing Company
1 Industrial Way #5

Foundation was my type of brewery! Flights, tons of IPAs and picnic tables - we happily posted up here for awhile and played a few card games while enjoying our brews. 

My favorite part was that to order your flight, everyone gets a cute little dry erase board and then your flight is filled in that order, so you always know which you're sampling!

Naturally, I chose 4 IPAs - the Epiphany, Venture, Afterglow and Wanderlust. It was interesting to see if I could tell the difference between a Maine IPA, American IPA and a "Hoppy Farmhouse." 

While I would have liked Foundation to have some board games, had the weather been nicer, it looked like they had a fun outdoor area with a food truck and corn hole. 

Foundation Brewing Company is open to the public Wednesday - Saturday from 12:00PM - 7:00PM, Sunday from 12:00PM-5:00PM and Monday from 12:00PM-7:00PM. They offer tastes ($2/4 oz sample and $4/10 oz sample), flights ($8/4x4oz flight), tours and growler fills. 

Allagash Brewing Company
50 Industrial Way

Allagash Brewing Company is one of the largest brewing companies in Maine and specializes in wheat beers. Unlike the tasting room at Foundation, Allagash offers the full-on tour experience - for FREE! (They recommend reserving a tour ahead of time, which you can do on their website). 

Tours tend to fill up, so be sure to book yours in advance on their website. 

I really enjoyed this tour (although that could have had something to do with the fact that I had already enjoyed an entire flight of IPAs). 

Since it was Halloween weekend, there were candy buckets along the tour route along with a free sample of their top selling beer - Allagash White. 

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the Belgian-style wheat beer, which usually isn't my preference. 

The one thing that really excited me during the tour was our guides explanation of an experimental beer using CARROT SUGAR. I was a few beers deep, and audibly gasped while using my outdoor voice to announce, "I LOVE CARROTS!" I interpreted everyone's look of confusion as, "They must not have heard me," and again exclaimed, "Sorry, I just really love carrots!" 

Sadly, there was no carrot-sugar beer on the tour, and I spent the remaining half hour drafting a note in my phone with all of the beer-related puns I could come up with for future Instagram captions. I was absolutely cracking myself up with gems like

Sitting on the dock of the IPA 

Sippin' on Belgian and juice 

Yeast Mode 

Hoppy Campers

At the end of the tour we found ourselves in a room FILLED with barrels of beer. We got to try another 5 or so - but just a heads up - if you go on the tour, you won't be able to buy beer in the tasting room afterwards. Some law about how much they're allowed to serve you. 

The samples were delicious, though very rushed. 

On our way out, we noticed some signs saying  "Hot Chocolate" and "Donuts" - pointing the way to a creepy door. We naturally followed them, snuck into the door, and found ourselves in a haunted house-esque scenario. But despite the creepy mannequins and people dressed up like zombies, the promised donuts and hot chocolate were provided. 

We stocked up and made our way to the tasting room/entrance and the fact that we weren't allowed to purchase any more beer was A-OK with us considering we had a feast of donuts to enjoy. 

(Also, I couldn't figure out how exactly the bartenders in the tasting room would know we had been on the tour - I think you would be fine to buy a beer post-tour!) 

Shipyard Brewing Company
86 Newbury Road

We entered the Shipyard Brewing Company via the store and were immediately sucked in to their many glasses, stickers, koozies, bottle openers, etc. I ended up getting a glass that I absolutely love! 

Next we hit up the tasting room where I enjoyed a flight of fun-flavored beers with some fruity notes along with a super barrel-aged boozy beer. My favorite was the Little Horror of Hops. The place was hoppin', but I was sad that there were no board games! Luckily, I had come prepared with my own deck of cards.

If you're in town mid-week, Shipyard offers full brewery tours fo FREE and they include a flight and 10 oz beer. You should reserve ahead of time on their website.

Urban Farm Fermentory
200 Anderson Street 

When we'd had our share of beer, the tasting tour didn't have to come to an end because Portland is also home to a tasting room for kombucha, cider, mead and gruit (a beer style using little to no hops). 

The space was super cute, with couches that we got nice and cozy on. 

I absolutely LOVE kombucha, so it was fun to get to try inventive flavors. It was also my first time trying mead, which I didn't love. I did like some of the ciders, though! 

SATURDAY AFTERNOON SNACKS & DINNER 

Eventide Oyster Co. 
86 Middle Street

This is one of the most popular spots in Portland, and from my research, I knew to expect a wait no matter when we tried to get in. 

We opted for a very late lunch in the hopes that wait times would be lower, and it was somewhat successful. We waited around 25-30 minutes for a seat at the counter by the bar.

The reason I had insisted on waiting to eat here was for a taste of their famous lobster roll - a unique brown butter version served on a pillowy, buttery bao bun that melts in your mouth. 

I sort of expected to be disappointed by the hype, but was blown away by the flavor. Luckily, we had only ordered 2 to split among the four of us, otherwise I would have been tempted to eat 5. 

We also sampled the fried oysters with thai apple slaw, mint and tumeric but the lobster rolls were definitely the stars! 

I would say it was worth the wait, and recommend going during non-peak hours.

Union Restaurant
390 Congress Street

The great thing about being in Portland, was that we could afford a ~fancier~ dinner experience without breaking the bank. 

We were in love with Union Portland from the first time we saw their food on Instagram - and from the second Abby read about their sweet potato based dessert. 

Housed in the Press Hotel, Union Restaurant offers innovative American dishes using fresh local ingredients. 

Shaved Butternut Squash Salad 

Chopped Kale | Frisee | Pumpkin Seed Sorghum | Smoked Maple

Tasted just like fall! 

Crispy Brussels Sprouts 

Walnut Aioli | Charred Lemon | Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I've had better, but these were pretty flavorful.

Cast Iron Spoon Bread 

Pork Rillette | End of Season Tomato Jam Thyme

This was my first time trying spoon bread, and I was a big fan! Not really shocking considering the fact that I love cornbread! 

The rillette I was a little more iffy about. I don't particularly like my meat in paste form. 

Pork Loin Chop 

Cider Brine | Celery Root Fondue Brussels Sprouts | Chestnut Honey

Though we loaded up on appetizers and sides, we did split one of the entrees. We chose the pork because it didn't include any ingredients that people were opposed to. 

BOK CHOY 

Bok Choy | BlackVinegar | Soy Caramel

This was a little strange to us. 

SWEET POTATO ICE CREAM 

Molasses Cremeux | Brown Butter Powder Pate Brisee | Burnt Marshmallow

Abby, the sweet potato queen, was more than excited to find this on the menu. It didn't taste overwhelmingly of sweet potato, but it was deliciously sweet! 

CHOCOLATE AND ESPRESSO BAVARIAN 

Orange Fritter | Hazelnut Mexican Hot Chocolate Sauce Orange Powder

Chocolate overload in the best way possible! 

Another positive thing about Union was their cocktail menu! Delicious sounding drinks using some of my favorite flavor combinations like tequila, lime and ginger. 

The food at Union was solid and fresh and the atmosphere was nice. I will say that we were definitely the youngest clientele in the restaurant. 

Bonus? Before our reservation we got to watch a pretty crazy fire show outside city hall! 

SATURDAY NIGHT CAP 

The Snug 
223 Congress Street

Each booth at this perfectly-homey-divey-feeling bar creates a private little nook which was a perfect way to end the night. This isn't a fancy place, but its a great place to low-key chill. 

And the beer list got a thumbs up from me - love Long Trail! 

SUNDAY MORNINGS = COFFEE & DONUTS (AND SMOOTHIE BOWLS...) 

Bard Coffee
185 Middle Street

Portland is packed with coffee destinations, and while it's not my specialty, I appreciated the tasty Americano and the vibe inside of Bard Coffee. It was bustling on a Sunday morning, the staff was friendly, and their espresso machines were just the right amount of intimidating to give them some serious coffee cred. 

Blake Orchard Juicery
19 Exchange Street

What better way to tell your body, "Sorry for all the beer" than a fresh smoothie bowl? None. 

We were so excited to find this spot and when we walked down the stairs into the somewhat hidden shop, we were greeted by an impossibly delicious sounding menu. How does one choose between so many options? 

There are tons of add-ins including housemade peanut butter, shredded coconut, bee pollen, grain-free-granola, hemp seeds, etc. 

The space was small but cute, with tons of little Polaroids and a couch to sit on while we waited for our smoothies. 

It took quite awhile to make the smoothie bowls, but when they were finally ready all was forgiven because they were beautiful and delicious. They were just the right consistency, filled with goodness like homemade almond milk and fresh fruit, and beautiful to boot. 

I also have an obsession with letter boards like the ones from Letterfolk that I included on my Holiday Gift Guide and thoroughly enjoyed using the one at Blake Orchard for a quick little smoothie bowl photo shoot. 

The Holy Donut
7 Exchange street, 194 park avenue 

It's no surprise that I needed to make a stop at The Holy Donut to try their potato-based donuts. 

The line was out the door on a Sunday morning and the smell was heavenly. There were tons of choices, and luckily most flavors were still available by the time we arrived around 10:30 a.m. 

We tried a variety of flavors, including the one made with sweet potatoes! The sweet potato ginger glazed was unique but for the most part, you couldn't tell that the batter for these doughnuts used Maine potatoes! 

I thought they were delicious - not to mention really photogenic! We snagged a space along the counter and dug in! 

I was surprised at how delicious the dark chocolate Maine Potato cake tasted - especially topped with coconut! The Holy Cannoli filled doughnut was a sugar bomb in the best way, but the Chai was disappointingly bland. 

Overall, this donut shop impressed me- I would definitely make a return trip! 

SHOP TILL YA DROP 

You've had your caffeine, you've gotten some nutrients, and you've had your fair share of sugar - what's next? SHOPPING in the stupid-cute shops on Exchange and Market streets. Below are just a few that we stopped in - but you could spend hours wandering the shops! 

CHRISTMAS NOEL
57 EXCHANGE STREET

I got the world's prettiest avocado ornament here. I think Christmas ornaments are a great thing to collect on your travels. When you decorate your tree every winter, you can reminisce about all the places you've been. 

I might have failed at buying a Maine-related ornament, but I will certainly love my glittery avocado ornament for years to come! 

PAPER PATCH
21 Exchange Street

Pretty paper, pretty cards, pretty journals. 

ZANE
41 Exchange Street

Some cute women's clothes and accessories for decent prices. 

COASTAL MAINE POPCORN CO. 
43 Exchange street

SO MANY FLAVORS! And free samples, too! Of course, I had to buy myself a bag! I fell in love with the rosemary & thyme! 

CITY GIRLS GET OUTSIDE 

Portland Head Light and Fort Williams Park
1000 Shore road 

I remember this being a particularly pleasant Uber ride - though everyone we encountered in Maine was super friendly. 

We were like kids in a candy shop as we oohed and ahhed at the fall foliage. When we pulled up to Fort Williams Park and the Porland Head Light, we were beyond excited to get out and explore. We walked around the cliff, took tons of pictures, and eventually settled onto picnic tables where we were completely content to sit and stare out at the water - agreeing that all of our favorite places were near the water. For me, watching a sunset at Cedar Beach will always be my happy place. But looking out at Portland Harbor on a brisk but sunny fall day with friends was pretty high up on the contentment scale. 

bite into maine 
Various locations 

The satisfaction only grew when we stopped by the Bite Into Maine food truck - which we happened to catch on their last day of the season. Their lobster rolls are highly regarded one of the best in Maine, and we decided that even though we were full - we could manage to split one, New England Style of course. 

It was well worth the somewhat steep price for a few bites each because it was brimming with lobster and not overly doused in mayonnaise. 

Definitely the cherry on top of our trip to Cape Elizabeth. 

SUNDAY NIGHT DINNER 

Lolita
90 Congress street

Our last group dinner was spent at a cozy little Mediterranean restaurant called Lolita, featuring a wood-fired grill that gives the entire space a warm, comfortable feeling. 

The menu was great for sharing and we got to taste a ton of different items. The lighting wasn't ideal for pictures, but was great for enjoying good food and good wine. 

Lolita takes pride on where they source their food from as well as simple preparation - letting the food speak for itself - my favorite part about the Mediterranean cuisine. 

TOASTS AND POTS 

We went for the 3 for $10 option on this portion of the menu, and I really enjoyed both the Tunisian Carrot Puree and the Roasted Eggplant. 

SMALL PLATES 

The Moroccan Lentil Soup with turmeric and cilantro impressed the group while the much anticipated Ricotta Gnocchi with poached carrots failed to live up to expectations. We also ate the Mezze Platter and I went HAM on the labneh. 

LARGE PLATES 

We also split the Grilled Game Hen served with Brussels Sprouts, sweet potatoes and chorizo and it was absolutely delicious! 

DESSERT

This group of girls are never one to say no to dessert - and we ordered both the warm milk + house baked cookies and coconut pudding with pistachio which was, in my opinion, KILLER. 

To think, I used to hate coconut. 

SPEAKEASY SUNDAYS

BRAMHALL PUB
769 CONGRESS ST. 

Bramhall is just hidden enough to constitute as a speakeasy - though it's not too difficult to find. On our way there, we had a phenomenal Uber karaoke session before descending into this dimly lit space specializing in creative craft cocktails. 

While it took awhile for us to attract the attention of a custom-clad waitress (it was Halloween weekend, remember), the cocktails were flavorful and unique. I opted for the Satan's Lawn Chair - made with Tequila Blanco, Honeydew Melon, Genepy Des Alpes, Lava Tincture, Lime and Mint Garnish. 

Perhaps more impressive than the drinks are the daily homemade Rice Krispie Treat specials. They must have known I was coming, because the flavor of the night was peanut butter! We demolished this and I absolutely loved it - it was so light and somehow not overly sweet - while really tasting like peanut butter. 

MONDAY MORNING MILES

REVE Cycling Studio 
559 Forest Ave. 

From our Airbnb, I was able to run to REVE Cycling and enjoy a class in this beautiful, airy and sunny studio. 

While the bikes weren't the newest things I've seen, the rest of the amenities were wonderful, the staff were friendly, and the class was refreshing return to spinning without all the bells and whistles of studios like Flywheel, Swerve, etc. Just cycling - plain and simple, which I can appreciate every now and then. 

After class, I ran around since it's the best way to explore a new place! I stopped at a bunch of stores as I went, including CHART Metalworks, also featured in my Holiday Gift Guide. 

I had such a nice morning slowing meandering my way around the east end and eventually back to my Airbnb - taking pictures and enjoying the sights and stores along the way. 

ONE LAST MEAL 

MI SEN NOODLE BAR
630 CONGRESS ST. 

I was on my own to explore on Monday, and after spinning and running around site seeing I had worked up quite an appetite. 

Not normally one for Thai food, I had a strange craving for noodles and made my way to Mi Sen on a whim. I ended up absolutely LOVING the Beef Khao Soi special that I ordered - a noodle bowl with the most tender meat I've ever had! [Slow-cooked beef in a rich and creamy curry served with egg noodle, garnished with crispy noodle, red onion, scallion, cilantro, lime and a side of pickled lettuce]. I ate every last bite along with the deep fried taro rolls which were delicious as well. 

Since eating at Mi Sen, I've had Thai about 6 or 7 times which is more Thai than I had ever previously eaten in my life. I definitely recommend a visit to Mi Sen, especially if you're in Maine during the colder months. It was so satisfying. 

LAST FEW SHOPS 

Before heading out, I wandered the shops on Congress Street and actually liked them more than the popular Exchange/Market Street area. 

There were fun second-hand clothing stores, a store full of socks, and a used bookstore that I could have wandered around in for hours. The area seemed young and hip, and I was glad that I stumbled upon it before heading home! 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect weekend getaway from the city. There was great food, great drink and the great outdoors! 

I would definitely come back for another trip to this perfectly-sized city. 

What do I need to do next time I'm in town?? Leave your recommendations in the comments and let me know if you end up using any of my suggestions on your trip to Portland!

 

 

 

The Perfect Gym Bag for Working Women Exists!

Months ago, I wrote a blog post about the best gym bags to take working women from their apartments, to the office, to the gym, to happy hour and beyond. It seemed like the perfect bag might not exist, but one thing was certain – this wasn’t a problem I was facing alone.

Each month, my post about gym bags is consistently my most viewed page on Peanut Butter Is My Boyfriend.

I thought it was time to talk about the bag that I ended up purchasing 6 months ago – to shout from the rooftops that the Lo & Sons OG bag is near perfection, and has been my every-day bag every day since I bought it.

To recap, the Lo & Sons OG Overnight Bag met many of my requirements. There’s a shoe compartment, a laptop sleeve, it’s perfect for travel since it slides onto suitcase handles, and it has the look of a professional bag instead of a gym bag.

The OG Overnight Bag is full of compartments to keep things organized. There really is a spot for everything. By far my favorite part is the zippered section for my shoes. They slide in easily and stay completely separated from my clothes. Plus, if there’s ever a day I don’t have a pair of shoes in my bag, the pouch rolls up inside the bag to create even more space.

There’s a padded laptop holder for the days I head to a coffee shop to blog, pen compartments, zippers galore, and even a built in key chain.

Did I mention the little feet on the bottom so I can place it on the floor of the subway or train and it doesn't get dirty? 

Here’s what I fit in it on a daily basis.

Apartment to Gym to Work

Most mornings I wake up and go to the gym. To give myself some extra time to sleep, after my work out, I shower and get ready at the gym instead of going back to my apartment before heading to work.

On those days, I fit everything I need to get ready for the day in my OG bag.

• Outfit – Bottoms, top and shoes for the day!
• Makeup – The red pouch contains all my makeup that I use daily.
• Toiletries – The little black zippered pouch has things like floss, toothpaste, band aids, tweezers, etc.
• Brush
• Deodorant
• Food – A Tupperware, snacks, gum, etc.
• Water bottle
• Headphones
• Resistance Bands
• Lock
• Wallet
• Planner

Apartment to Work to Gym

On the days I head to the gym after work I have even more space in my bag since I don’t need my makeup and toiletries. I just throw my sneakers in the shoe compartment, add some makeup remover pads and head out the door.

Apartment to Airport 

When I travel for work, the OG bag is the PERFECT carry on. The back of the bag unzips and allows me to slide the bag over the handle of my suitcase so I don’t even need to carry it on my shoulder. And it fits perfectly under my seat.

The padded laptop sleeve and other section perfectly hold notebooks, folders, and other work things that can't get crinkled. 

I also love that the OG keeps it shape even when it’s empty.

Bottom Line

When I originally wrote my blog post about finding the perfect gym bag, I shied away from the OG because of the price tag. But now that I’m the proud owner of one, I cannot say enough how worth it it was!

Plus, if you have some patience and check their website frequently, Lo & Sons does have quite a few sales. You can sometimes find the OG bag for up to 40% off!

The ONE thing the OG doesn’t have that some gym-goers may miss is a dedicated water bottle sleeve. But I never have trouble standing mine up inside – the bag is plenty tall!

So there you have it – what I think really might be the perfect gym bag for the working woman! And no, Lo & Sons didn’t pay me to say nice things about them! It’s really just a product that I think deserves the praise! And I think YOU deserve a bag that fits all the shiiiiit we ladies carry around on a daily basis! 

Photos from Lo & Sons

My 10 Favorite Healthy Snacks Perfect For Your Carry-On

When I travel, the precious space in my carry-on is at least 50% dedicated to snacks. Is there a fear of being without snacks? I have that. 

Packing healthy snacks is the biggest way to avoid ordering fries from McDonald's or a sub-par doughnut from DD with your morning coffee. Planning and preparation are the biggest keys to making healthy choices! 

The following snacks are one that I often find in airports and frequently purchase during my travels. They've all been taste-tested and approved by ME. Obviously, packing vegetables and fruits is another great snacking option, but for now, we're going to focus on those pre-packaged products that are easy to shove in your overstuffed carry on. 

Happy, healthy-ish travels!

1.) Epic Bars

High In Protein
Low In Sugar
130-200 Calories
Keeps You Full
Sweet & Savory

I have a serious obsession with Epic bars. Ever since I discovered them at the Bear Mountain North Face Endurance Challenge my bags have been constantly stocked. Whenever I see them on sale at Whole Foods, I scoop them up by the handful. 

In fact, they've almost entirely replaced granola bars for me! A lot of granola bars on the market today are very high in calories, carbs and sugar and even though brands like KIND are made with real ingredients and healthy fats, their nutritional make-up isn't always what I'm after. 

Epic bars on the other hand are full of protein while staying low in carbs, sugars and calories. My favorite Epic bars are the ones that incorporate dried fruits so that you're getting the perfect balance of sweet and savory! 

Though portable meat snacks (which my roommate and I lovingly refer to as "meat bars") might sound strange at first, I promise they're a great well-balanced snack. Some Epic bars have up to 15 grams of protein which will help keep you full for longer than a lot of the carby-crunchy granola bars. 

2.) Wilde Snacks

100 Calories
Low in Sugar
High in Protein
Keeps You Full
Unique Flavors

If you can't find Epic bars, these are my second choice for next-level meat-snacking. Like Epic Bars, these aren't exactly jerky, but they're - well - meat protein bars! It doesn't sound appetizing, I know. But with flavors like Sweet Thai Basil, Turkey Cranberry and Peach BBQ, you can't tell me you aren't at least a little intrigued. Wilde Snacks feature beef, bison, turkey and chicken. 

All of Wilde Snacks' bars are 100 calories with between 10-11 grams of protein, 5 or less grams of sugar and less saturated fat than most of Epic's bars! They're a little smaller than an Epic bar, but still completely satisfying - especially because each bar has ingredients like quinoa, flax and chia seeds to keep you feeling full! 

A plus? I really like their packaging. 

3.) Rhythm Superfoods Kale Chips

Satisfies Your Chip Craving
High in Vitamin A
Protein & Fiber To Keep You Full

I've talked about these bad boys before on the blog, but they remain one of my favorite flying treats. And did you know they're now available at Starbucks?! So easy to find these days, which is great considering how delicious they are. You'll never be tempted to go for the Doritos again (unless it's Superbowl Sunday - then you must eat lots and lots of Doritos, it's a fact). 

Their Cool Ranch flavor is probably my favorite, but all of their kale chips are flavored using all natural ingredients like tahini, lemon juice, dill, etc. 

One thing to keep in mind is that they aren't the best option for shoving in a bag seeing as they're pretty delicate. Once kale chips get all crunched up, they're not as satisfying. Kale powder << Kale chips. 

4.) Biena & The Good Bean Roasted Chickpeas

Crunchy
Sweet & Savory Options
Fiber & Protein To Fill You Up
Low In Sugar
Low in Calories  

Don't make me choose between these two brands please, because both are doing an amazing job bringing roasted chickpeas to the masses! For years I've been roasting chickpeas and coating them in cinnamon and other fun spice combinations but no more - I let Biena and The Good Bean do the work for me because I'm lazy and they do a better job anyway. 

Roasted chickpeas are one of my all-time favorite snacks because you can go sweet or savory, they're crunchy, healthy and super filling. 

I love sprinkling The Good Bean sea salt roasted chickpeas on top of my salads (croutons are so 2000) and eating the Biena honey roasted chickpeas by the handful could honestly satisfy my sweet tooth as a dessert. 

My one tip is to buy the smaller, pre-portioned packages otherwise you might end up at your destination realizing you've polished off an entire 5 serving package (not that I'm speaking from experience...) 

5.) Dang and Prana Coconut Chips

Delicious
Satisfies Your Sweet Tooth

I first fell in love with coconut chips when I tried Prana's unique flavors at the vegetarian food festival in Toronto. Unfortunately, they aren't (yet) in the US. 

However - I was hooked on the sweet, unique texture of coconut chips and needed to find a way to get my fix! Enter Dang. 

These are more on the indulgent side of the snacking scales. Since they aren't particularly high in protein or fiber, they won't keep you full and satisfied like some of the previous options. But they are certainly a better option than other sweet treats you'll find at the airport. 

Just be aware that they are sugary and high in saturated fat - although coconuts are known for their lauric acid content which is a healthier saturated fat that could potentially help with weight loss. 

6.) Purely Elizabeth Granola

Sweet
Crunchy
Lower In Sugar

Most of the time, granola is code for "sugar." But I love buying Purely Elizabeth's pre-packaged double portion granola because I don't risk way over-eating and it adds a sweet, crunchy boost to my yogurt! 

Yogurt is my go-to breakfast food and adding Purely Elizabeth granola is a guilt-free way to make it feel indulgent. 

The pumpkin fig flavor only has 6 grams of sugar in 1/3 of a cup which is unheard of for granola! 

7.) Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP and SkinnyPop Popcorn 

High In Fiber to Keep You Full
Sweet & Salty
Crunchy
Low Calorie
Low Fat

I will take a bag of either brand anyyyyy day for one of my most favorite healthy snacks on the go (and on my couch). 

Popcorn is high in fiber which means that it keeps you full and it's low in calories, sugar and fat! 

I will admit - I have a tendency to go for the kettle corn varieties which are higher in sugar and calories - but it's stopping me from buying a Snickers bar so I'm fine with it! 

Each brand has a ton of different flavor options including sea salt, kettle corn, white cheddar and even dusted dark chocolate! 

8.) Justin's Peanut and Almond Butter Single Serve Packets

Healthy Fats
Protein
Delicious
Keeps You Full
Satisfies Your Sweet Tooth

I have a confession to make. I still eat Skippy peanut butter and I'm not crazy about all natural PB. I'm not obsessed with Justin's - even though the entire healthy food blogosphere is gaga for their products. But I know it's healthier, and I'm trying to get on board!

All-Natural or not, I am obviously never found without peanut butter close by. You might be surprised to learn that I do not, in fact, travel with an entire jar of peanut butter. In lieu of a tub of PB, I opt for the single serving packets of Justin's when I'm traveling. These can be added to oatmeal or lathered on toast, rice cakes or bananas. It can be used as the dip for carrots, apple slices and celery.

But all the cool kids are just eating it straight from the packet. 

9.) Quest Bars 

Flavors Like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Low in Sugar
High in Protein
Low in Carbs
Keep You Full
CHOCOLATEY

Try as I might to move on from Quest bars, I keep coming back to them. I don't even love the flavor - but there is something familiar and satisfying about them and therefore, I usually bring a few on each trip. 

If you've somehow survived the past 5 years without hearing about Quest bars, they're protein-packed bars with dessert-like flavors that are low in sugar and carbs. 

But I have to be upfront - more and more I'm reading that Quest bars aren't as great as they appear based on their nutrition facts. You need to read the ingredient list to find the fake fiber, artificial sweeteners and processed protein sources. 

10.) Superseedz

High in Protein
High in Iron
High in Zinc

Gourmet pumpkin seeds? Yes. 

These are a wonderful bit of crunch to add to your salad, yogurt or oatmeal. Or again, go ahead and eat them straight out of the package. 

For such tiny little seeds - they pack a powerful flavor punch with all natural seasonings like maple sugar & sea salt, tomato Italiano, super spicy and even curry. 

Superseedz are packed with more than flavor though - they've also got a ton of protein (up to 9 grams per serving) and zinc. Zinc is huge for your immune system, and when you're flying and traveling and getting run down your immune system can use all the help it can get! 

So there you have it. 10 go-to snacks for healthy traveling and happy taste buds. Just wanted to throw it out there that none of these companies paid me to say nice things about them - I genuinely enjoy all of these products! 

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How To Eat Healthy-ish and Happy On The Road

New cities, famous restaurants, experimental dishes, adventurous cuisines and an extremely generous dining budget are what every culinary connoisseur’s dreams are made of. Such is life when you travel for work.

You’re in Philadelphia so you need to try a cheesesteak.

You’re in Chicago and you must have a slice of deep dish.

When in Buffalo, wings are a necessity.

Calories consumed in Vegas stay in Vegas, right?

You get my point. Everywhere you travel, whether it be for work, or for pleasure, will present you with tasty temptations that you know aren’t exactly the healthiest. But it’s not healthy to deny yourself completely either. So how do you find that middle ground? What is this elusive balance that everyone talks about?

I wish I could tell you I had all the answers. But like everyone else out there, I constantly struggle on the road when it comes to feeling a little guilty about my choices. It’s especially hard after weeks on end eating out at restaurants, getting drinks with coworkers, and feeling like I could just eat lettuce for the rest of my life!

But here’s the thing. There is no need to feel any guilt as long as you are consciously making decisions throughout the trip that are both indulgent and intelligent. 

INDULGENT 

Yes, it’s important to treat your body right and to fuel it properly. I’m assuming it’s not your custom to guzzle down deep dish pizza for breakfast lunch and dinner. But indulging in a slice (or 3) while you’re on your first trip to Chicago is an indulgence that you have every right to take! 

PLAN AHEAD 

This is where some preemptive food-research (the best kind of research there is) can come into play. Before your head out on your trip, figure out what the favorite local foods are and decide what you definitely need to chow down on during your trip.

I always factor in at least one donut shop, duh. In Toronto it might be poutine while a trip to Nashville calls for some fried hot chicken. Knowing before you go means that you have consciously made the decision to indulge – it’s an experience, and an enjoyable one at that – and there is absolutely no place for guilt!

It also means you can read up and find the best spot to get the dish you’re looking for. Nothing is worse than a disappointing meal when you’ve planned for it!

SPACE THEM OUT

You probably don’t want to have an entire day of indulgences because then you’ll have a stomach ache at night and nothing left to look forward to! 

BE FLEXIBLE 

You’re out at dinner and the waiter launches into a long spiel about their world-famous something or other that’s been written about by Anthony Bourdain and is an absolute must order. You hadn’t planned on eating deep fried bacon with a cheddar cheese dipping sauce but hey – it’s a must order. Sometimes, there are things ya just gotta go for!

*This is an entirely fabricated scenario, though deep fried bacon in a cheese dipping sauce couldn’t ever be bad, could it? 

INTELLIGENT 

Now that we’ve covered the indulging part, let’s talk about the being intelligent part. It’s not as fun, but I promise it will help keep you feeling balanced during your travels.

ACCEPT THE LOSS OF CONTROL 

This first piece of this puzzle means that acknowledging that your eating habits on a trip are not going to be the same as they are at home. You won’t have your kitchen or farmers market or your favorite chopped salad spot for grab and go lunches full of nutrients. Sometimes, the best option might be a Caesar salad with croutons AND parmesan cheese (gasp!) But once you relinquish that control (and you don’t really have a choice) all that’s left to do is make the most intelligent choices that you can (and want) to make. 

THE NEXT BEST CHOICE 

I’ll be honest – a lot of times you won’t feel like making the intelligent choice. You’ll be at a restaurant where everything on the menu sounds phenomenal and a salad just sounds sad and boring. Don’t order the sad and boring salad because then you’ll be sad and boring too. Order “the next best thing” and try to find that sweet spot between making your taste buds happy and giving your body something that is at least somewhat good for your insides.

When you’re eating a catered lunch with only a few options or you’re out with your department at a pre-determined restaurant, there’s often not much you can do to make it a “healthy” meal. To be a little harsh – you need to deal with it. It’s really not the end of the world.

Here are a few instances where I’ve found intelligent, healthy choices to be the most possible while traveling for work. 

AIRPORT SNACKS 

You could easily eat McDonald's and other fast food while you're flying - it's convenient, easy to grab, and it's there - tempting you with it's shiny neon signs and scents of freshly fried fries.

OR you could come prepared with snacks that you're able to carry-on with you you. A bag of cut up veggies, healthy popcorn, granola bars, fruits, sandwiches, salads - you can get through security with all of it! (Just don't pack a yogurt - I've had many a Chobani confiscated at security!) 

If you show up to the airport empty handed, have no fear! Many airport shops are now stocked with tons of healthy snacks. Plus it's a work trip, so you can splurge on some healthier options even if they aren't exactly cheap. KIND bars, Justin's Peanut Butter, Biena chickpeas - load up on healthy snacks so you're not tempted to grab the M&Ms, Cracker Jacks or Big Macs. 

OFFICE SNACKS 

When I'm on the road, we're usually working out of trailers or other untypical office spaces. People are running around all day and work up quite an appetite. One thing that we always have is a snack table. 

And that snack table sits there and tempts you alllllll day. With Snickers and trail mix and granola bars and Goldfish and popcorn and Doritos and every snack you could imagine. 

I once took a Munchkin, cut it in half, and made it into a Peanut Butter Banana sandwich. The snack table clearly won that day. 

To combat the temptation to grab a handful of Brookside chocolate covered blueberries every 10 minutes (THEY ARE TOO ADDICTING) - I have two tips. 

1) Give yourself set snack times throughout the day. Yes, like you're in Kindergarten again. Try to get into a consistent schedule. For example, if you eat breakfast at 9, have a snack at 11 and lunch at 1 (followed by a bite of something sweet if you have a sweet tooth) and another snack before dinner. Knowing you can eat a snack at a certain time means you'll be less likely to pick and graze throughout the day. (I said less likely, not that it won't happen!) 

2) Keep the snack healthy. Just because it's "snack time" doesn't mean it's time to eat a sleeve of Oreos disassembled and made into peanut butter sandwiches (something else that I've done). If the snack table has nuts or trail mix, go for that instead of the candy bar. If there's popcorn, choose that over the bag of chips. 

Ideally, each trip I make a stop at a grocery store and stock up on my own healthy snacks that I squirrel away and keep separate from the snack table. I always try to have some type of bar (my favorites are Epic Bars and Quest Bars), rice cakes and peanut butter, baby carrots if there's a refrigerator in our office space, and something sweet like coconut or banana chips. 

Make the snack count. You want it to actually nourish you and keep you satisfied! 

GET CREATIVE 

View fullsize

Recently, my coworkers and I stopped at a deli on the way to the office and ordered bagels. I ordered a bagel with hummus, tomatoes, cucumbers and sprouts. I had also taken a hard boiled egg from the free hotel breakfast. 

I wasn't really looking forward to a crappy bagel from Michigan so when I got to the office I created this master-piece: A rice cake with the hummus, tomato, cucumber and sprouts from the bagel along with a hard boiled egg. A lot healthier than eating the entire bagel, and still entirely delicious!  

CHOOSE RESTAURANTS WISELY

There are certain types of restaurants that are going to be a lot easier to make healthy choices at. Mediterranean, for example. Or a seafood spot. Big pasta dinners and Southern style restaurants might not be as good of an option unless you're OK with making lots of special requests or ordering the lone salad item on the menu. 

When I'm traveling for work there are a few key terms that I use alllll the time while I'm Googling the shit out of restaurants in the area. They are:

1) Vegetarian/Vegan Restaurants 

Whether you're vegan, vegetarian, or a meat-lover - I always try to scope out restaurants that are at least friendly towards these dietary restrictions. I've found that it usually means a menu focused on healthier ingredients, fresh vegetables, and creative menu items. 

2) Fast Casual Restaurants 

No, I'm not suggesting that Chipotle every day is a good way to stay healthy on the road. But there are quite a few health-food spots of the fast casual variety. In New York, I know all those spots - Dig Inn, Hu Kitchen, Sweetgreen, Cava Grill, etc. But it's always my mission to find their counterparts in other cities. 

In Toronto it was Kupfert and Kim, in Chicago it's LYFE Kitchen, in Boston it's B.Good, in LA it's Lemonade. 

These places are my  jam not only because they make eating healthy a breeze and are delicious - but they don't require a full meal service after a long day! 

3) Farm to Table 

This is probably my most frequently searched term. This is the best of balance, in my opinion. Farm to table restaurants aren't necessarily 100% healthy in their menu options, but you never feel guilty about eating food that is made using organic, fresh, locally-sourced, real ingredients. At least I sure don't!

Finding a farm to table restaurant near your next work trip is the go-to move, I'm tellin' you! 

DON'T BE AFRAID TO EAT ALONE 

If everyone is going out for a big Mexican fiesta and you want to check out the all-organic locally-sourced cafe down the road - don't be afraid to eat out alone and do your own thing! Bring your cell phone and a book and you're good to go. Sometimes, especially on work trips, the time alone is much-needed. Eating out alone isn't awkward. I promise, just try it. 

DELIVERY IS YOUR FRIEND 

If you're constantly strapped for time while you're on the road, most cities have delivery services like Seamless, Grub Hub, Uber Eats and Postmates that can bring the good stuff right to your hotel room door! It's like having an endless room-service menu and I do it all.the.time. I've even had things delivered to me before I leave in the morning so I can start my day with an acai bowl (#HighMaintenance). 

A lot of the healthier places may be out of the way from where you're staying but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy them. Thanks, technology! 

DRINK A LOT OF WATER 

And tea! These will help keep you full and flush out all the salt and toxins you aren't used to consuming as frequently at home. Plus, being hydrated is key to staying healthy while you're on planes, in hotels, and sharing cramped office spaces with coworkers in the middle of the winter. 

I don't typically drink a lot of water, but when I'm traveling, I drink at least double my normal water amount. And I have 1-2 Emergen-C's EVERY day. 

KEEP YOUR COFFEE COFFEE! 

Coffee every morning on a work trip becomes a nice routine, a comforting start to the day, and ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to make it through the long hours. But don't fall into the trap of ordering dessert for your drink just because work is footing the bill. Keep your coffee order, well, coffee! 

None of this Frappuccino, Mocha Choca latta ya ya (heh) nonsense. 

My go-to order is a grande Americano with an extra shot and some coconut milk (I told you, coffee is absolutely necessary). 

PREEMPTIVELY SATISFY YOUR SWEET TOOTH 

Keep a few options in your hotel room for a sweet treat before bed, if that's your style (it's definitely mine). This helps me to pass on dessert when I'm out for dinner because I know when I get back I can have a piece of dark chocolate or a handful of kettle corn before calling it a night. 

ALCOHOL 

This is a big one. It would be easy to have a glass of wine out with dinner every night on the road. You feel like you need it, you deserve it, you want it. But I try to save the drinks for times when I'm out with a group or the nights that the drinking might carry on to after dinner. 

To me, it's not worth it to have a glass of wine by myself at the restaurant or to have one at dinner if I know everyone is immediately going back to the hotel to crash into bed after the meal. 

HEALTHY-ISH 

Healthy-ish is the name of the game when you're on the road. Sometimes, food can just make us feel better when we're stressed and a little homesick and if that means eating a Pop-Tart (or vowing to sample every new flavor with a co-worker, true story) then so be it. 

You're never going to eat 100% healthy when you're on the road. It's impossible given the fact that you're not cooking for yourself. 

But if you mentally allow yourself to enjoy the indulgences while still making intelligent decisions whenever possible throughout you're trip, you'll find that healthy-ish balance and feel a lot better when you return home. 

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Canadian Culinary Adventures: Where To Eat in Toronto

Oh Canada, my home and native...

Sorry, I keep forgetting that I'm not actually Canadian as I recently went on my longest work trip to date - spending a solid three weeks in Toronto, Ontario. 

I must say - it's a beautiful city. I didn't have a ton of time to explore, as I was working out of a trailer in a parking lot, but the times that I did get out for runs along the water, November Project workouts, and delicious dinners - I was all about it! 

Here's the run down on the spots I enjoyed while in Toronto, eh? 

Veg Food Fest

My first night as an 18-day resident of Toronto, I was thrilled to discover that there was a vegan food festival happening a few blocks from my hotel.

I spent the night stuffing myself with vegan food samples – vegan cheese, milk, sausage – you name it, they had a vegan version!

Some of my favorite finds from the night were:

Earth Island Vegan Cheese

They were giving out free blocks of their Provolone cheese and even though it was completely vegan, I was OBSESSED! They served it cold and it was so hard not to eat the entire block of cheese. On my way home to New York, I even bought one of these in the airport as a snack!

Prana Coconut Chips

These things were FREAKING AMAZING. I could have stood eating the samples all night long. I liked every flavor equally. It's interesting to eat a savory flavored coconut chip because no matter what, it still has the sweetness of the coconut to it. The texture was what made them great. 

They also sell 100% hazelnut and almond butter and I cannot explain to you how incredible the taste was. It ain’t cheap - $43 for 35 ounces but it was the purest tasting stuff in the world.

I bought a bag of these for us to snack on in our trailer throughout the week. 

Upbeet Foods

This new food delivery service was challenging people to a blind taste test – guess three ingredients and you got a 50% off coupon! I chose the savory and correctly identified onion, pepper, couscous and black beans! It was really tasty.

The Green Zebra

Though I was stuffed after all of the free sampling, I decided to buy something for a somewhat real “dinner.”

I ordered the Thai Salad think d from Green Zebra Kitchen (a healthy meal delivery system) which came with zoodles, grains, cilantro, veggies and a delicious almond butter dressing. It was light and full of flavor and the perfect way to end the night on my walk “home” along the water. 

St. Lawrence Market

My second morning in Toronto was a Saturday and I didn’t need to get such an early start. I woke up, worked out at the gym, and ran the quick .8 miles over to the St. Lawrence Market. I of course had a great time looking around at all the stalls and though I was tempted to get a Montreal bagel, I held off until my sit down brunch. The St. Lawrence Market was rated #1 in the world by National Geographic! I was a little skeptical of that claim after my visit, but there was certainly tons of fresh food to look at.

The St. Lawrence Market is closed on Sundays, so keep that in mind on your visit! 

Impact Kitchen

A quick shower after the St. Lawrence Market and I was off to brunch at Impact Kitchen, whose healthy eating guidelines are:

Ingredients Matter.
Don’t Count Calories Count Quality.
Eat Minimally Processed Food.
Plant Power.
All Proteins are Not Created Equal.
Embrace Healthy Fats.
Hydrate With Purpose.

The place is open and spacious with a weekend breakfast menu that includes paleo waffles, a frittata, breakfast bowls, smoothie bowls and avocado toast. It covers alllll the bases – plus offers juices, smoothies and coffee.

My friend and I each ordered a Power Breakfast Bowl – spinach, chorizo sausage, scrambled eggs, salsa fresca, sweet potato, squash mash, avocado and green onion. It was very fresh and filling.

We also split the Superfood Bread (gluten free chia flax bread) with “avocado smash” but the avocado to put on the toast was the same as the avocado that came with our bowl and the bread wasn’t that flavorful.

Our Americano Mistos with Almond Milk were good, but not great.

Though this is my favorite type of place – it wasn’t my all-time favorite. They have many lunch bowls and salads as well, and I’d love to give their smoothies a try.

Plus – free WiFi and we were able to snag an outlet to get some work done.

We also went to Impact Kitchen for dinner one night and I appreciated the fact that they had kombucha. I ordered the Maverick Bowl with vegetable mash, avocado smash, broccoli, salsa fresca, sprouts, hemp seeds, almonds and pesto. I was very underwhelmed, as everything was pretty bland, but the best part was definitely the blackened trout I had added on top!

We also split a Vanilla Berry Chia Seed pudding for dessert that wasn’t thrilling.

Impact Kitchen is one of those places that serves very fresh food with very little preparation – it’s definitely healthy, but it isn’t the most delicious thing in the world. it’s the reason some people think healthy food is a little boring.

The Beet Cafe

Dinner on Saturday night before our 10K was a bit further out of the way than we thought, but ended up being worth it in the end.

The Beet Café wasn’t fancy by any means, but I got one of the best sandwiches in my entire life. I ordered “The Verde” sandwich which was loaded with avocado, tamari ginger tofu, cheddar, spicy mango chutney, fresh herb aioli, pickled red onions, cucumber and sprouts. Paired with a bomb side salad and a side of sweet potato fries for the table, I was in heaven and ate every scrap of food.

Like I said – the ambience was a little lacking, but the food more than made up for it. They also have an impressively large smoothie menu!

Kupfert & Kim

For a post-race brunch we headed to a vegetarian restaurant called Kupfert & Kim and I had an incredible quinoa bowl that was very reminiscent of our favorite dish at Galeria in NYC – the Cauliflower Tahini bowl from Kupfert & Kim was packed with quinoa, hummus (some of the best hummus ever at that), roasted cauliflower, za’atar salsa, carrots, cabbage, beets, mint, pomegranate (key), greens, watermelon radish (the prettiest), sesame seeds and a lemon tahini dressing that tasted like heaven. It also came served with a delicious seeded flatbread.

Kupfert and Kim was casual and cute inside with KOMBUCHA ON TAP, WiFi, coffee and club-like music. We were perfectly content to do some work as we listened to “We Found Love” and “Turn Up The Music.” Also – they serve alcohol here – something to keep in mind if you want a healthy brunch with a side of booze (which is the best kind, IMO). 

Tabule

For awhile, I didn’t have a go-to meal before a race, but in the last few months I’ve gotten it down to a pretty standard dinner and that dinner is one of my favorite cuisines – Mediterranean and Greek!

This wasn’t the night before a race, but I was still happy to eat a delicious, somewhat healthy, completely satisfying meal at Tabule.

They have two locations in Toronto, and though we weren’t able to get a table outside, the ambiance at the Queen Street location was great.

We had a FEAST of appetizers and their sample platter (pick any 3 cold appetizers) was an extremely generous portion of hummus, babaganuj (eggplant dip) and labni (a homemade Lebanese yogurt cheese mixed with spices). I think the labni might have been my favorite – it was like a really thick, creamy, rich, savory yogurt.

The pita was thick, soft and warm – aka perfect pillows of pita-y goodness.

We also ordered some vegetarian grape leaves which were a tad on the disappointing side as were the kubbe (whole wheat shell stuffed with ground meat, onions and pine nuts).

The cauliflower appetizer - flash fried cauliflower finished with a touch of tahini – was addictive.

Since we went all in on the appetizers, my friend and I split an entrée – the lamb skewers entrée – two lamb skewers served with rice and vegetables. We should have paid the upcharge for a double serving of veggies as we could have done without the rice after all of our pita!

The lamb we OK, but nothing to write home about. It was a little on the dry side, though slathering it in tzatziki certainly helped.

I’m sure that Toronto has better Greek food, but the atmosphere and apps made Tabule worthwhile and I would recommend it to folks looking to enjoy cocktails and shareable appetizers. Especially if you can get a seat outside! Their cocktails sounded and looked great – though I can’t speak for them from experience. 

Fresh Restaurants

One restaurant that kept coming up in my “healthy dinner” Google searches was Fresh – serving vegan and vegetarian food with four locations in Toronto.

I had read that their quinoa-crusted onion rings were to die for – and though we didn’t end up ordering them, I saw them at a few tables and they were impressive looking.

We were exhausted when we arrived at Fresh after work one night and immediately ordered some “Green Poutine.”

Leave it to us to find a healthy version of the gravy and cheese-laden French fry dish that Canada is famous for. Our sweet potato fries came smothered in roasted mushroom gravy, steamed baby bok choy, kale & swiss chard, green onions and sunflower seeds. With a side of vegan cheese sauce for good luck. We inhaled it. The roasted mushroom gravy was like CRACK.

The Fresh menu has a large variety of choices – salads, tacos, burgers, and bowls with either rice or soba noodles. There are so many options, as each dish can be customized in a variety of ways. I was a little overwhelmed – but one thing spoke to me – the soup, salad and cornbread combo. Because I LOVE CORNBREAD.

This cornbread was pretty dry, but you could tell that it was a “clean” cornbread made with actual corn. I loved dipping it in my split pea and sweet potato soup (it had a hint of curry to it which was delicious!) The salad that came with it was the superfood salad – edamame, napa cabbage, cucumber, assorted sprouts and microgreens, parsley, cilantro and “fresh salad topper.” Mine was dressed with the “house” dressing – a vinaigrette with flax oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, tamari and mustard that was quite delicious and not too overpowering.

I loved Fresh because while it was, well, fresh, and healthy – it was far from bland and boring.

The service and ambiance weren’t great, but the place was packed and the food was great. 

El Catrin

Three things I really love are family-style small plates, margaritas and guacamole.

El Catrin is one of the few Mexican tapas restaurants I’ve been too and each time I look at the menu I am impressed by its depth and creativity.

Not to mention their larger than life bar and restaurant interior which reminds me of the Mexican Tao – you feel like going there for a meal is an event. You feel like a somebody the second you walk through the door.

We sat at the bar because it was bumpin’ – there was even a long line of people waiting to get onto the patio seating. I ordered the Reposado margarita because if I know one thing, it’s that a phenomenal margarita’s secret ingredient is Grand Marnier.

Guess who sat down next to us? Robby from the Bachelorette. No big deal!

We thought I went a little overboard on the ordering, but the serving sizes are pretty small, so it ended up being a pretty good amount of food.  Here’s what we ordered (for 2):

Guacamole – Regular size
This is the real deal, made in front of you with a heavy duty mortar and pestle that must be an arm workout for the servers to carry. Served with clearly handmade tortilla chips, it was quality guac.

Loteria Salad – Red beets, carrots, daikon and golden beet fideos, requeson cheese, cilantro and cucumber spicy vinaigrette, roast pumpkin seeds.

This dish was a beaut – it was also tasty, but not mind blowingly so. Who knew that fideos is a noodle in Mexican? And who knew that beets and daikon made good veggie noodles?

Ensalada De Kiko – Quinoa, tomato, cucumber, avocado, quest fresco, cilantro, smoked corn aioli

The smoked corn aioli was magical.

Callo de Hacha Monte Alban – Spicy pan roasted scallops, grilled corn, peanut and arbol chili

Scallops always do it for me. These didn't disappoint. 

Pipian Poblano - slow cooked chicken supreme in mole verde risotto, seared sweet potato

This was our favorite and you should definitely order it!

Mini Vegetariano Burrito - Plantain, asparagus, bell peppers, lime juice, chili oil, tomatillo, spinach flour tortilla

Pretty yum - even though I'm morally opposed to flour tortillas. Definitely a bit of kick to it!

Glory Hole Doughnuts

Of course, no food guide to a city would be complete without a doughnut recommendation - and this is my first international doughnut review! Toronto's most recommended doughnut shop was Glory Hole Doughnuts. 

I sampled quite a few of their yeast doughnuts, including 2 filled, though none of their cake variety. The dough itself was pretty standard yeast-doughnut dough, but I was IN LOVE with their London Fog doughnut - a doughnut with an amazing Vanilla Early Grey filling. It was so tasty - not overly sweet, but the perfect creamy, pudding-y consistency. 

Glory Hole is best known for their "Toast and Butter" doughnut - a yeast raised doughnut topped with brown butter frosting, sweet breadcrumbs and cinnamon. Though the topping was certainly sweet and delicious, there wasn't enough of it to make me feel that the doughnut was exciting or unique. 

The on in the bunch I didn't sample was the Sprinkfield - a yeast doughnut with pink glaze and rainbow sprinkles. 

The Coconut Lime was refreshing and light while the chocolate coffee filled was decadent with a rich chocolate flavor. They weren't exceptional, but they were solid. The Pumpkin Spice stood out from the pack, especially because it was topped with actual pumpkin seeds. 

By far the standout was the London Fog – which I didn’t anticipate liking at all! I would put it on a top 5 doughnut list, in fact! 

Woods Restaurants

For a girls night out, we made reservations at the farm to table spot called Woods Restaurant. 

Want to know my biggest tip for finding restaurants in different cities? Search farm to table - find a place with a constantly changing, seasonal menu, and you're sure to get fresh dishes! 

Woods Restaurant uses local, seasonable and sustainable ingredients - even growing their lettuce and sprouts right in the restaurant's main dining room!

Woods was really chic inside and the menu had tons of things I was intrigued by. We ended up ordering: 

WILD DIGBY SCALLOPS

Roasted Corn, Tomato, Cilantro, Salsa Verde 

Scallops are always a good choice, in my opinion, and these didn't disappoint. We got 2 orders because we were a group of scallop lovers. 

ARTISANAL CHARCUTERIE 

House Made Mustards and Pickles, Crostini, Duck Ham 

Though we were expecting a cheese plate - must of this got eaten, aside from the pate. The crostini were delicious, though I wouldn't order this again in the future. 

WATERMELON SALAD 

Compressed Watermelon, Mixed Lettuces, Cherry Tomato, Sheep Milk Feta, Pistachio, Vincotto 

Give me watermellon and feta and I am a happy camper. This was served with big squares of watermelon each with it's own piece of feta. 

ONTARIO LAMB 

Lamb Rack, Quinoa Tabbouleh, Cucumber Yogurt, Charred Dandelion Green, Jus 

Ok, this might have been the sole reason I suggested this restaurant. This is one of those dishes that I read and think, "Yahtzee!" It's like it was made for me - so many of my favorite things! I didn't even care that this was the second night in a row I ate lamb for dinner. After all, I always say I could easily give up beef and chicken - but lamb, not so much! 

The lamb was cooked pretty well, but not fall off the bone like some other places I've had it. the yogurt was thick and creamy and the rest of the accouterments were the perfect combination. 

But perhaps the best part of the meal was when we were presented with the check - and a complimentary dessert! 

Homemade marshmallows charred to perfection and sprinkled with graham cracker crumbles. We were all in heaven and wanted to ask for  a to go container filled with them! 

Byblos 

I was most excited for dinner out with my parents at one of Toronto's top restaurants - Byblos. This Eastern Mediterranean restaurant has received high praise for its shareable small plates. 

It was a small restaurant and our server was fabulous. We showed up an hour early for our reservation because I was an absolute crank and we were miraculously seated in a corner booth without having to wait!

I started with a cocktail to celebrate my parents being in town. I ordered a gin drink with pistachio and egg white - it was very interesting and overall I enjoyed it! 

LAMB RIBS 

I'm about to drop a serious accolade here. The lamb ribs at Byblos was the best lamb dish I've ever had - even though it was only three bites. The lamb was incredibly tender and falling off the bone. The dukka spices paired with the sweet carob molasses and buttermilk sauce was an absolute dream and I actually said, "THIS IS LIKE A LAMB LOLLIPOP!" 

ROASTED RED BEETS 

Again, labneh coming in HOT. This was flavored with honey and olive oil and paired wonderfully with the earthy beets. The Barbari bread that came served on the side, topped with more Dukka spice, was a vehicle for pretty much everything during my meal. I couldn't stop eating it! Barbari bread is a Persian flatbread that's actually quite thick.

CREAMED SPINACH WOOD FIRED PIDE 

Pide is another name for pita, and describes an Arabic, Lebanese or Syrian bread. Byblos serves a variety of pides - filled with things like goat cheese and mushrooms, black truffle and halloumi, and feta and za'atar. The creamed spinach pide had feta, toum (garlic sauce) and dukkah (I CANNOT GET ENOUGH DUKKAH! It's a blend of various nuts, herbs and spices and its my new favorite thing). 

I was a little disappointed with this dish - it didn't have any real "wow" component. But it looked pretty! 

SPANISH OCTOPUS 

Each piece of perfectly cooked octopus was served atop a piece of fingerling potato. I loved this dish, since it's so hard to mess up octopus. But when you have a good piece of octopus, it's incredible! This had a great, simple flavor. 

TURKISH MANTI DUMPLINGS 

These were interesting - I couldn't really tell that they were filled with eggplant but the yogurt sauce with molasses was very different. My mom wasn't a huge fan, but I thought it was flavorful, though I couldn't put my finger on what exactly it was. 

HAND ROLLED CAULIFLOWER 

This cauliflower was cooked in DUCK FAT and it was INCREDIBLE! I think I ate the majority of it, sorry Mom & Dad!

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