Friends, Family and Food Adventures, USA
Hello Everyone! Apologies for the looooooong gap since my last post but I am back to prove the cynics wrong and VegDelights is back online. 🙂 During this break a lot has happened both in the kitchen and beyond: my husband and I went back to US to visit family and friends, I fell ill, my mother-in-law visited :), we took advantage of the many London festivals (Wine and Cheese and Restaurant Week) and hosted/attended many Diwali events/dinners. I did enjoy taking some time off cooking; but of course a girl’s got to eat and I really enjoyed eating food made by others. 🙂
Back in the summer month of September, my husband and I took our first trip back to the States since we got married last year and the plan was to see and do as much as we could in the time that we had. We started our trip in Chicago and just an hour after landing, we started our food journey, which lasted until the time we were on our way back to London. First meal was of course the famous Chicago Stuffed Pizza. Nothing like the Italian pizza, it was nonetheless heavenly for me as I prefer the extra layer of dough on the top! Not one to stop there, just a few hours later that evening we went to dinner at Le Colonial, a French-Vietnamese vegetarian-friendly restaurant. The decor gave an exotic classy ambiance and food was nothing short of spectacular. Everything was perfect including the company. After dinner, as the last diners in the restaurant, we moved upstairs for that ‘last’ drink to their cozy bar/lounge area. Le Colonial was tastefully decorated with sofas, mini palm trees and had wooden floors and walls; it was like being whisked away on a tropical holiday. A big heartful thanks to our family in Chicago for such a fantastic evening.
The next day we went on the stunning architecture boat tour and went to The Signature Lounge at the 96th for late afternoon drinks and dessert! 🙂 It’s located in the 96th floor of the John Hancock Center and is one of the most spectacular views around the city of Chicago. It was an ideal place to chit-chat and hang around with its casual atmosphere.
Signature Lounge at the 96th
As much as we I was sad to leave Chicago, I was equally excited to reach Atlanta, our next stop! I was in tears to see my cute little angels (niece and nephew) who had come with my sister and brother to the fetch me at the airport! The nine days in Atlanta were eventful to say the least, as I tried to check off all the restaurants that I wanted to eat at and maximize the time spent with family and friends. I had to take my husband to all the places that for the past year I had been going on and on and on about. Some of these restaurants were Cafe Bombay (Indian – Paneer Mughlai, Bullet Naan), Little Bangkok (Thai – Fried Rice), RuSans (sushi), Poblanos (Mexican), California Pizza Kitchen (Tostada Pizza), Chipotle, Taco Bell and many more. Sadly, I did not get to dine at every establishment on my list 😦 On the flip side it was wonderful to have some home-cooked meals made by mom! 🙂
My Angels
Our next stop was California; my first ever time! We started out by spending couple days in Napa Valley. It was the most relaxing and most scenic part of our trip. Thanks to our wonderful family, we were able to explore the Sonoma and Napa Valley in their convertible and admire the beauty of the vineyards so openly and soak in every ray of sun before our return to the UK! A convertible was the best way to do it; although I still can’t figure out how I lost a slipper sitting in the car! We indulged in countless tastings – wine, champagne, cheese, olive oil, vinegar, mmm…mmm…mmm! One of the nights we dined at Ubuntu, a Michelin starred vegetarian restaurant……..i know VEGETARIAN, I was psyched! Our dining experience was phenomenal. We ordered the entire menu, no joke! Each course was inventive, inspiring, and amazingly flavorful with its remarkable combination of ingredients. The dishes were impeccably and artistically presented. Their menu rotates seasonally and the ingredients comes from their own homegrown biodynamic gardens. All organic and healthy! For a small corkage charge, you can bring your own bottle of wine to most of the restaurants in Napa. I found a Chardonnay that I liked from all my tastings and enjoyed it on our perfect evening at Ubuntu. Conclusively, every minute was heavenly in Napa Valley!
Champagne Tasting in Napa Valley
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Next, we had a day trip to Monterey and Carmel area including the 17-mile scenic drive. Stunning houses and golf courses! We ate a local gourmet sandwich cafe near a golf course and finished our night at a vegetarian Vietnamese hole in the wall dining place in San Jose called ToFoo Com Chay. It was great to try some Vietnamese food as have never found a Vietnamese vegetarian friendly restaurant. Again another great hit!
Carmel Beach
Vegetarian Pho at ToFoo Com Chay
Next, we explored few days in San Francisco/San Jose area. Three of my favourites to highlight: Eiks Place in San Francisco, Kara’s Cupcakes in Ghirardelli Square, the Google Tour! Eiks is a sandwich place that serves meat/mock-meat sandwiches. We were told about this place, just showed up and got lucky with the lunchtime queue. Apparently it is known to have queues of half hour to an hour; so much so that locals now have started ordering online/phone to avoid waiting. They have the most unusual sandwich combinations I have ever seen and interesting names to match. I even wanted to grab one on our way to the airport the day we left! It’s a must try if you ever find yourself in the Bay area. If only this could be replicated in the UK…..
Unlike my cheese desires, I am not much of a cupcake monster as quite often the frosting is too sweet, thick and sickly! However Kara’s Cupcakes in Ghirardelli Square were surprisingly hypnotizing. I was stunned at how soft and smooth the frosting was for the range of cupcakes we sampled that afternoon (it was a big group!). Since then I have been trying different recipes for the smoothest frosting but have not yet succeeded. When I find my perfect balance, I will be sure to post about it!
Lastly, a tour of Google in Mountain View. A family member works at Google and was kind enough to give us a lavish tour of the Google campus. I had heard many things about GooglePlex and it was great to see (taste and experience) it firsthand. As Google is dedicated to providing free, largely healthful and artisan-produced meals three times a day to its employees, it was great to sample some of the dishes in one of their multi-cuisine cafes followed by burning off some calories on dance dance revolution in their arcade center.
Just a few hours before leaving to come back to London, we spent some time at the San Francisco Saturday Farmers’ market. It was inspiring to see so many varieties of fresh produce and try bits and bobs of everything I could get my hands on! With loads of catering stations, I just couldn’t resist buying a tub of herbed goat’s cheese spread and then find the best bread to match it, before devouring it in minutes!
San Francisco Saturday Farmer's Market
While the trip was for friends and family, it was an unforgettable food journey! I cannot wait until next year to do it all over again, but as yet the location is to be determined! 🙂
I am glad to be back blogging and will be sure to post regularly with the vegetarian meals, recipes and restaurants that I fill my stomach and desires each and every day. Thanksgiving is only around the corner…….. 🙂
VegDelights 