Category: Trips

Chicago 2019

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A couple weeks ago we decided to take a little impromptu trip. There were three reasons:

  1. We both needed a couple of days away from work (though this ended up being much more the case for me than for Lindsay)
  2. Lindsay had never been to Chicago and had mentioned a desire to visit
  3. I needed to book one more flight to maintain my Porter status for 2020

And so, after some last-minute (for me; I usually plan trips months in advance) bookings we were off to the midwest.

This was Lindsay’s first trip post-fracture, but she and her ankle came through it like a champ. Porter flies into Midway, not O’Hare, which I thought would mean less walking, but all the construction had us wandering all over god’s green acre. Anyway, we escaped, and the taxi ride downtown was short, but hair-raising.

We’d booked at the Chicago Athletic Association hotel, an old private club restored in recent years to be the same type of destination hotel we found in The Line DC. It’s a gorgeous old Gothic building from 1893, still full of knickknacks and curios. We had a big spacious room overlooking Millennium Park (albeit only from the 3rd floor) and, given the late hour, we didn’t have much in us that night except a quick drink and snack in the room and then sleep.

On Friday morning we ate breakfast downstairs in one of the hotel’s restaurants, the Cherry Circle Room. I had braised pork belly & polenta w/ Brussels sprouts, carrot, hazelnut, and vadouvan. Lindsay had grilled lamb Merguez sausage w/ tomato ragout, poached eggs, pickled onion, and Manchego.

We did both have work to do so we retired to the drawing room — essentially a great cozy hall just off reception — and set up shop next to a fireplace. Eventually, once the hour was respectable, we supplemented our work with a Negroni and an Old Fashioned. Or two.

After working away for a several hours we needed lunch, so we popped next door to Acanto, a casual-looking Italian wine bar. What was supposed to be a simple, light lunch (we had a testing menu booked at a Michelin-starred restaurant that evening) turned into a bit of an affair.

  • Soppressata
  • Robiola Langhe 3 milk cheese
  • Salad special w/ salmon
  • Lobster Spaghetti w/ Maine lobster, Calabrian chili, fennel
    • A bottle of I Custodi ‘Aetneus’ 2010 Etna Rosso

It was all pretty damn good, but that bottle of wine was special. And we had such a good time chatting with our server that he brought us some polenta cake (better than it sounds, trust me) on the house.

Back in the room it was basically nap time. Like, nap so hard time. As I said, we had a late, fancy dinner booked. Not that 8:30 is that late, but given the time zone difference and the recent daylight savings change, it felt like 10:30 to us and, well…I’m old. Anyway, I stayed conked out until the end, but Lindsay at least took advantage of the big soaker tub.

Dinner was at Smyth, a two Michelin starred restaurant in an old warehouse. Gorgeous decor. Precise but unstuffy service. Fully open kitchen, so you get a show with dinner. And the food lived up to the Micheliny hype. They kindly printed off the entire menu with wine pairings; I stupidly forgot it at the table. [UPDATE: they mailed the menus to me! Corrected/updated version shown below as of 11 Dec 2019.] However, the online version seemed to match it exactly; I’ve provided what I can remember about the wine, but didn’t capture the producer, nor the vintage.

  • Maine uni glazed in egg yolk
    • Ruinart NV brut rosé Champagne
  • Squash with quince & chestnut
  • Shima Aji, barley & frozen turnip
    • 2015 J.B. Adam “Kaefferkopf” Vielles Vignes Alsace Grand Cru Riesling
  • Lobster with leek & gooseberry kombucha
  • Trout, kelp & autumn greens
    • 2014 Domaine Dublere Chablis Bougros Grand Cru
  • New potatoes, rosehip & white asparagus
    • 2012 Bruno Clair “Les Champs Perdrix” Bourgogne Pinot Noir, Vosne Romanée
  • Aged lamb with “The Farm” Lima beans and fermented black truffle brioche doughnut
    • 2007 Le Macioche Brunello di Montalcino
  • A bar of milk chocolate, raspberry preserves, and shiitake mushrooms
  • Egg yolk soaked in salted licorice with frozen yogurt meringue
    • 1979 Chateau Riveyrac “La Cuvee des Aigles” Banyuls Vin Doux from Rivesaltes, Languedoc
  • Koji caramel apple
    • NV Billecarte-Salmon demi-sec Champagne
  • Earl Grey tea

Saturday we had breakfast brought to our room, largely because we couldn’t move. Lindsay had more work to do so I went out and wandered around Millennium Park a bit and got a coffee from Fairgrounds.

That’s our hotel in the middle

Our plan that afternoon was to get a Chicago deep dish pizza, drink some beer, and visit the Museum of Contemporary Art. Through a combination of misadventures we accomplished very little of that — the Gino’s East we landed at was not the brewpub but rather a family restaurant. Lindsay didn’t think to bring her ID, but they ID’d her, so she couldn’t drink what few decent beers they had. The pizza was…fine. And we were so thrown from the whole thing that we opted to not even go around the corner to the MCA. We needed to recover this afternoon.

After a bit of an arduous walk we put the recovery plan into action at Pops For Champagne. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a Champagne bar. Our (extremely sweet, extremely attractive, extremely Kiwi) server guided us through the options, and I think we did a good job. She told us we were her favourite table, and I’m sure she never says that to anyone else.

  • Glasses of Egly Ouriet Blanc de Noirs
  • Oysters
  • A bottle of Vilmart & Cie Grand Celier D’Or 2013
  • Fries
  • Glasses of Moussé L’Or d’Eugene Blanc de Noirs (Lindsay) and Pierre Moncuit Blanc de Blancs (Dan)

The afternoon thus salvaged, we went back to our room for yet another afternoon nap (only on vacation!) before yet another monster dinner, this time back downstairs at the Cherry Circle Room.

  • Cocktails (Lindsay had a Nice New Outfit; I had an Improved Whiskey Cocktail with Westward single malt whiskey from Portland, along with something else so strong it took me the whole dinner to drink 3/4 of it)
  • Oysters on the half shell w/ fresh horseradish, japaleno mignonette
  • Yellowtail w/ aquachile, pickled rhubarb, grapefruit
    • glasses of Ingrid Groiss Gruner Veltliner (Lindsay) and Bellevue Muscadet (Dan)
  • 10oz Wagyu strip steak from Snake River Farms
  • Dry aged Rohan duck breast w/ roasted strawberry, mustard greens, Ras el Hanout
  • Brussels sprout slaw
    • Bottle of 2013 Elio Grasso Barolo Gavarini Chiniera
  • Ice cream: concord grape & peanut butter swirl / spicy Mexican hot chocolate
    • Disznoko “5 Puttonyos” Tokaji-Aszu 2010

We thought hard about one more cocktail at the Milk Room on our way out, but it was full and about to close, and as it turns out, it probably would have seemed like a very bad idea the next morning. So.

Our flight left at 5:30pm on Sunday, so we had time for a bit of a leisurely last day. Lindsay had more work to do, and did it. I relaxed and read and got more coffee from Fairgrounds. We Uber’d over to the Museum of Contemporary Art again; even though we only had an hour or so we did see the main exhibition we were interested in, and another quick one, before heading back to the hotel for check-out.

We still had a few hours to kill; luckily we’d managed a reservation at Cindy’s, their (extremely popular) rooftop restaurant + bar. Looooooooooots of selfies happening there. But the food was pretty good too: we had oysters (for some reason we were loving the oysters in Chicago!) and chilaquiles and cocktails and Lambrusco and beer and coffee, and we left absolutely stuffed. Like, in pain.

Our trip back to Toronto was unremarkable, except that our cabbie at the Toronto airport almost got in a fight with another cabbie. Moral of the story: take Ubers.

So yeah, we didn’t do very much of Chicago except eat its food and admire its architecture, but doing wasn’t the point of the trip. We ate and relaxed like champs, and Lindsay’s ankle held up pretty well, and I had Monday off, so…great trip.

The Torch Bearer

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At the base of the pylons is the Torch Bearer standing near a statue of a young dying soldier. The Torch Bearer has taken the torch from the figure of the Spirit of Sacrifice. He then takes up the fight, and strains up to the highest points on the twin white pylons toward the eight figures representing The Chorus [ed: Justice, Peace, Faith, Honour, Hope, Charity, Knowledge, and Truth]. This is a reference to one of the most famous poems of the First World War, ‘In Flanders Fields,’ by the Canadian Army Medical Corps officer, Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae.

From the Vimy Memorial site

.:.

Cover photo from Veterans Affairs

Thursday at The Wednesday

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Today I got back from a quick 36-hour work trip to Calgary, with a little side trip to Banff.

I flew in late Wednesday night, crashed at the Calgary airport Marriott, then early Thursday morning drove out to Banff to speak at a partner’s event. It was my first time out to the mountains in a lot of years, and the mountains made me feel as calm and peaceful as ever, even if I was only there for a couple of hours. This was the view from the Rimrock, where the event was held:

Later that day, after another work event back in Calgary, I had dinner at The Wednesday Room. The upstairs had a Shining theme; the downstairs was like eating in a 1970s basement rumpus room. The food & drink was pretty solid though:

  • cocktail: Fall Fashioned (pecan-infused bourbon blend, corn syrup, orange twist, 5 spice bitter)
  • starter: tuna tartare (albacore tuna, avocado, plantain, ancho aioli, sesame, tajin toasted nori)
    • Trimbach Pinot Blanc, Alsace
  • main: grilled ribeye (14oz cold smoked all-natural Alberta beef, jus gras, fried onions, stewed tomato, spanish olive oil)
  • side: jerk broccoli (w/ refried beans, puffed rice, chillies)
    • Chateau de Ferrand St. Emilion Grand Cru, Bordeaux
  • dessert: 20 year old Port

Hot and Solid Meal

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I was in Montreal ever-so-briefly yesterday & today for work. Whilst there, however briefly, I managed to get to a restaurant I’d wanted to visit for ages: Le Club Chasse et Pêche. On top of being an absolutely stellar meal it was a good bit of fun with new work(ish) colleagues. I’ll happily go back again, but I might not eat lunch beforehand this time. Anyway, here’s what I had:

  • Braised piglet risotto w/ foie gras shavings (with a glass of Côtes de Beaune)
  • Duck magret w/ chanterelles, spelt, sea buckthorn, and hazelnuts (with a Montepulciano/Sangiovese blend)
  • A glass of Sauternes for dessert

I really thought “shavings” meant I’d have a bit of foie gras on the side. In fact, the whole dish was covered in it. It was so rich that at one point I said this:

I survived, though, and this morning ducked out of the hotel (Hotel Nelligan, again) to a second location of Tommy, one of my favourite Montreal coffee shops, just down the street.

This weekend really made me realize how much I miss visiting Montreal though. I’m glad I’ll be back again in October.

BC 2019

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

We’re fresh off a hybrid work/fun trip to BC — Tofino and Vancouver, specifically — and have yet to come to grips with the fact that we can’t smell salt air. That aside, here’s how it went:

SAT 15

We had a fairly early flight, but timed it perfectly so that we walked right on to the plane with no waiting. After some screen issues I watched Captain Marvel (imdb | rotten tomatoes) and did some work while Lindsay fended off a brutally entitled family who crawled everywhere and kept their seats in her face the entire flight, poor thing.

We landed in Vancouver and had a few hours to kill before our transfer. We did the apparently very traditional BC thing of visiting White Spot for burgers, a milkshake, and some local wine. After that, we shuttled over to the south terminal and took a very tiny Pacific Coastal flight (the plane held 16 people, maybe?) to our destination for the next few days: Tofino.

I’d heard about Tofino — all rugged beauty and beaches and ocean surf and trees leaning into coastline — but I’d never been. Nor had Lindsay. Anyway, a few minutes out of the airport we saw what all the fuss was about.

A few more km down the road we pulled into our temporary home, the Wickaninnish Inn. After a brief orientation we settled into our room, and were immediately greeted with a jaw-dropping view.

We didn’t do much for the rest of the afternoon except enjoy that view and the smell of the sea, and wait for dinner at the in-house restaurant: The Pointe. Turns out the restaurant is pretty g-d spectacular.

  • Apps
    • charred albacore tuna w/ daikon, pickled kelp, oyster tonnato, apple dashi
    • elk tartare w/ pickled mushrooms, wild onion, spruce, black garlic bread
    • Blue Mountain sparkling wine
  • Mains
    • roasted ‘Yarrow Meadows’ duck w/ sunchoke pavé, swiss chard, cranberry, port jus (Dan)
    • pan seared scallops w/ miso leek & radish, grand fir, crab velouté (Lindsay)
    • Domain Michael Gros Bourgogne Rouge
  • Cheese
    • Thombury semi firm raw cow cheese (from Duncan BC)
  • Dessert
    • churro w/ preserved plum, roasted strawberry, buttermilk ice cream

SUN 16

We willed ourselves out of the perfect bed to get breakfast (smoked salmon rosti; fresh fruit crepes) and enjoy the view from the dining room now that it was light out. (If a little foggy.)

We were determined to do as little as possible that day, so we went for a stroll on that very beach (which is called Chesterman Beach, FYI), chilled back in the room for a bit re-watching Fargo, then took a bit of work down to the bar & lounge.

We had some lunch (west coast clam chowder; fish & chips) in the bar, ogled their new wine cellar, and did…nothing, basically? Like, aggressively did nothing. Not until dinner, when we drove in to Tofino for dinner at Wolf in the Fog.

It was a cool space — we were sat right next to a wolf sculpture made out of driftwood, which is the most Tofino thing ever — and the food was as good as we’d heard. Here’s what we consumed:

  • Cocktails
    • Dan: The Sun Has Reached The Yard Arm (Nicaraguan rum, apricot, allspice, ginger, honey, lime, sparkling wine, black walnut bitters)
    • Lindsay: Nocino Negroni (Wayward Distillation House ‘Unruly’ gin, Odd Society bittersweet vermouth, Ampersand green walnut nocino)
  • Apps
    • potato crusted oyster w/ leek, truffle
    • seafood gemelli w/ pacific shrimp (special)
  • Main
    • baked Tofino halibut (for two) w/ clams, white beans, fennel sausage, spring onions
    • Checkmate ‘Knights Challenge’ 2014 Chardonnay (Oliver, BC)
  • Dessert
    • Bergamot curd w/ yellow chartreuse mousse, thyme waffle, chamomile sorbet, honey
    • Espresso

MON 17

After having some breakfast in bed sent up, we got ourselves ready for our one and only activity (other than eating) whilst in Tofino: whale watching. We drove into town and geared up at Jamie’s Whaling, completely swaddling ourselves in orange flotation suits.

The trip, though very foggy, was even better than we’d hoped. We saw:

  • grey whales — lots of them, including a young whale named Lasso who swam right by our boat;
  • sea lions, including a giant male who our guide said was the biggest he’d ever seen;
  • sea otters, all floating on their backs wrapped up in kelp, including a few babies with pups on their chests, all of which made me completely melt (I’m obsessed with otters);
  • harbour porpoises, which appeared to us only as fins swooping in and out of the water.

Then, as if Tofino was just showing off, on our way to lunch we saw a bald eagle just hanging out on a telephone pole. WHERE WERE WE?

I mean.

Anyway, we grabbed a surprisingly excellent lunch of burgers (chicken; tuna) and beer at The Shed before driving home, stopping along the way for some beer courtesy of Tofino Brewing. After all that adventure, food, and drink, we had a hard nap in the room right up until the very last minute to get to the very last reservation at The Pointe. Our server assured us it wasn’t too late to order the tasting menu, and we trusted him. Thank goodness we did; it was one of the culinary highlights of the trip.

  • Lamb tartare w/ yogurt, mint, pita (Sage Hills Gewurztraminer, 2016)
  • Morel mushrooms w/ foie gras, maple blossom, truffle butter (Roche ‘Tradition’ Pinot Gris, 2016)
  • Poached salmon w/ sake lees, clam beignets, tomato dashi (Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir, 2015)
  • Beef ribeye w/ baked potato pave, grilled zucchini, black garlic jus (Domaine de Cause ‘La Lande Cavagnac’, 2014)
  • Nectarine mousse w/ salted almond caramel, croquante, citur sponge, ginger (Quail’s Gate Optima, 2015)

It was all superb, but the salmon w/ clam beignets was phenomenal, and the ribeye w/ black garlic jus will 100% be on the list of the best things I ate in 2019.

TUE 18

The weather was kind enough to clear for our last morning in Tofino, so we enjoyed one last coffee on the patio.

We went for one last long walk on the beach, which is just a spectacular place, full of sea life and surfers and romping dogs and digging kids. It’s as beautiful place as exists in Canada, which is saying something.

Finally, we got one last breakfast in at The Pointe (Rosti again for Lindsay; shrimp n’ eggs for Dan) before packing and heading back to the airport. Our flight back was a little more picturesque (and slightly less nerve-wracking for Lindsay) than on the flight out, and our cab ride into downtown Vancouver was uneventful. We arrived at the Sheraton Wall Centre to find NHL Draft posters everywhere. Apparently this was the home hotel for the NHL draft prospects, their families, and to some degree the NHL teams interested in them.

Anyway, while our room felt very old-Sheraton, the view was pretty solid: we could see all the way from False Creek to the mountains.

We didn’t hang around long though — the weather was too beautiful. We jumped in a cab and got ourselves to The Alibi Room. I hadn’t been in years, and it was Lindsay’s first time, but worthwhile given it’s the best beer joint in Vancouver (as far as my limited knowledge goes, anyway). We sat next to their open windows, sampled BC beer we’ve never tried, and ate charcuterie.

We’d decided to get dinner at St. Lawrence, like a mashup of Vancouver and our old Montreal adventures. It was tiny and bustling, and very delicious.

  • App
    • Beef tartare, chèvre noire cheese & potato chips
  • Mains
    • Braised lamb shoulder, Parisian gnocchi & summer vegetables
    • Salmon and scallop pie, leeks, potatoes & Bercy sauce
    • Bernard Defaix Bourgogne 2017

We didn’t have much left in us after that, except to take a cab back to the hotel and crash.

WED 19

My two days of meetings started Wednesday, so we grabbed an early breakfast around the corner at The Twisted Fork, where we found portions so big as to be terrifying.

  • Poached eggs and ratatouille served with honey lager pork sausage, green salad, sourdough toast and house made jam (Dan)
  • Croque Monsieur with brioche, smoked gouda, cheddar and ham served with fresh greens and house tomato sauce (Lindsay)

After we walked that off, the rest of my day was taken up with meetings and a work dinner at Ancora overlooking False Creek. Lindsay met up with a friend and then, weirdly, got rather ill for about 24 hours.

THU 20

After another long day of meetings I grabbed a drink at the hotel bar, surrounded by hockey families and NHL personnel (example: Barry Trotz ordered a Stella Artois next to me at the bar), before Lindsay — now mostly on the mend — and I walked down to Sunset Beach and then back to the hotel for a few local beers in the room. Later that night we met up with friends at Hawksworth, one of my all-time Vancity favs. Here’s what we got:

  • Various cocktails and sparkling drinks
    • I don’t remember what everyone got, but I do know that five years after having a Dalhousie #2 here, I ordered a Dalhousie #3: Lot 40 rye, pineapple, Montenegro, Ginger of the Indies)
  • Apps
    • charcoal BBQ octopus w/ kohlrabi, mole, mezcal, burnt avocado
    • pacific halibut crudo w/ tomatillo, orange, espelette, crispy fish skin
    • foie gras parfait w/ pineapple, ginger, red pepper
    • Roche Pinot Gris 2016 from the Okanagan valley
  • Mains
    • Yarrow Meadows duck breast w/ rhubarb jam, fava bean, orange gel (Dan)
    • salmon w/ cucumber, potato, mussel, dill (Lindsay)
    • smoked cod ravioli + aged beef sirloin (friends)
    • (wines were by the glass; no bottle would satisfy all those needs)
  • Dessert
    • Glasses of Sauternes, Cortados

Afterward we went for a drink at UVA, which had somehow shown up on my list of places to try, even though it turned to be really fucking weird. Weird decor, hinky service, long-but-strangely-empty cocktail list, etc. We had one and left.

FRI 21

We liked Twisted Fork so much we went back for breakfast again, and left equally stuffed.

  • Well done house-smoked Gouda baked eggs w/ sourdough toast, bacon, tomato, rösti and baked beans (Dan)
  • Eggs Benny with toasted brioche, poached eggs, hollandaise, roasted tomato, and avocado salsa w/ sautéed spinach, rösti and baked beans (Lindsay)

We did some work in the room for a while before decamping for Gastown, finding Six Acres a good place to sit and drink craft beer and watch the neighbourhood pass by while getting some shit done.

After leaving there and walking a ways (and taxiing the rest) we got back to the room to do more work and get ready for dinner, while killing a bottle of Blue Mountain sparkling Lindsay’d bought the day before.

Dinner was at Black + Blue, since we were looking for a simple (simple as in easy choices, not simple as in not-nice) dinner, and were tapped out on seafood. So, steak it was. And what a steak!

  • App
    • Caesar salad for two w/ crisp romaine, lemon & anchovy dressing, Parmigiano-Reggiano
    • Two glasses of Chardonnay (the exact one escapes me now)
  • Mains
    • 16oz Canadian Prime ribeye
    • 6oz A5 Wagyu New York Strip
    • Gnocchi w/ Atlantic lobster, tarragon, cream
    • Brussels sprouts w/ lemon, capers, parmesan, chilies
    • Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

Let it be known that the Wagyu was fucking unreal. Every bite was like butter. Maybe the best Wagyu I’ve ever had, and I’ve had lots. Another entry on the ‘best things I ate this year’ list come December, I’ll bet.

SAT 22

And that was it. BC. Tofino, Vancouver. All done. One last breakfast in the room and all that was left to do was pack up, head to the airport, fly home — no annoying families or busted screens this time; I watched They Shall Not Grow Old (imdb | rotten tomatoes) — coo at Kramer, and unpack.

Epilogue

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: BC is the prettiest province. Now that I’ve seen Tofino, I know that’s even more true.

“It does not stay the way it is”: Copenhagen, The Hague, and Amsterdam

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Earlier this week we got back from 10ish days in Europe, with a couple of fun city visits wrapped around a work thing.

THURSDAY / Toronto

We were off to Copenhagen, and had a pretty good flight except when Lindsay’s chair rocketed backward and knocked wine all over the lady sitting behind her. Eep.

FRIDAY / Copenhagen

We landed in Copenhagen early Friday morning, had maybe the easiest customs entry ever, took a short (but expensive! no Uber here) cab ride downtown, and lurked around the bar at the Hotel Danmark until we could get into our AirBnB.

We grabbed a quick lunch at the Brewpub Copenhagen, where we became familiar with the ubiquity of smørrebrød (food piled on a single piece of bread). We had smoked salmon, potato & fried Norwegian lobster, and seasoned lamb. Oh, and their beers which were mostly named after musicians like Van Morrison, Cole Porter (get it?), and Jaco Pastorius.

After a quick nap back at the flat, Tess arrived from Gothenburg. We hung out for a bit, looked up decent places to eat, and settled on Aamanns 1921. We chose well, too, as that might have been the best meal of the whole trip: a tasting menu consisting of a beautiful raw salmon amuse bouche, hake (paired with a local Danish Solaris-based wine), an exquisite steak tartare, pork, lamb, and a lemon dessert. It was all of it fantastic.

SATURDAY / Copenhagen

We decided to go a bit further afield Saturday, catching a train out of town to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. It’s in a beautiful green seaside spot, and building is as beautiful as the ground. Their collection was very good, but their special exhibitions were great, especially Liu Xiaodong’s Uummannaq. Only the Pipilotti Rist exhibit disappointed.

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Giacometti, Danish splendor

After returning to Copenhagen we grabbed snacks and waited for our next meal. This time they indulged me and let me lead us to Øl & Brød, Mikkeller’s food outpost. We each got the tasting menu once again:

  • a plate of cured meats, celeriac, and some cured duck (paired with a double dry hopped IPA)
  • danish potatoes with parsley & cavolo nero (paired with a witbier)
  • bread
  • braised pork shank, hispi cabbage, wild mushrooms & lingonberries (paired with a brown ale)
  • chocolate mousse, raspberry sorbet & burned chocolate (paired with stouts for Lindsay and I, and a wild ale named William for Tess)
  • a special bottle of sour

The pork shanks were Flintstone-esque in size, so we slowly walked home, groaning.

SUNDAY / Copenhagen

We scrounged up some breakfast at a nearby place, then went for a (cold, windy) walk around the city. We sat in the quiet park near the royal library (which was closed, sadly) and walked up the river to the colourful Nyhavn.

img_20190331_103340

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We crossed the river, grabbed coffee at The Corner, and sat by the Strandgade watching people and dogs. Especially dogs.

We had lunch booked at Barr, which ended up being a real find. They take their beer very seriously there, and the decor (and view) were gorgeous. We ran through most of their food menu:

  • lumpfish roe w/ grilled belgian waffle and soured cream
  • hot smoked herring w/pickled plums, salted rhubarb and wild roses
  • beef tartare w/ ramson and pickles
  • danish pork meatball w/ lard, nutmeg and lingonberry compote
  • free-range pork schnitzel w/ horseradish and anchovies

The stars of the show, though, were the beers. Bokkeryeder is a cult figure in the beer world, and Barr is one of the few places that seems to carry his creations. We split a bottle of 2017 “Vlierbloesem” Lambic w/ elderflower, and it was sublime. We finished our meal with a Brekeriet “fruit salad” Berliner weisse.

One hurried walk back to the AirBnB later and Tess left us, bound for home. We spent a lazy afternoon there, recovering from one meal and thinking about the next. We were booked at Bæst, an Italian place in Nørrebro. We started with Negroni and sparkling, then went with the Bæst Experience Menu which came with pickles, the freshest mozzarella I’ve ever eaten, stracciatella with mushrooms, salads, five kinds of charcuterie, and two slices of pizza each. We paired it all with a killer bottle of Sangiovese. After, we ordered some gelato; my hazelnut was tasty, but Lindsay’s fior de latte gelato seemed to achieve the level of religious experience.

img_20190331_222317

MONDAY / Copenhagen -> The Hague

We had to get up early and roll out of the AirBnB, just as the weather was turning nice. A quick ride back to the airport and a bad lunch (we could not find the Mikkeller bar in CPH) later we walked straight onto our flight to Amsterdam.

The flight was short and easy, and we had a cushy ride from the airport to The Hague, where we checked into the Marriott. We hung out there for a bit, grabbing a drink and quick bite in the bar, before eventually heading into the town for dinner at Oogst. The vibe there was a little weird (it was a quiet Monday, I guess?) but the food made up for it.

  • Champagne
  • duck dumplings
  • Zeeland flat oysters w/ ginger & black pepper
  • Lamb’s lettuce w/ ‘Rotselaar’ goat cheese, anchovy & guindilla (Dan) / finely chopped beef w/ quail egg yolk (Lindsay)
  • Ketan rice w/ sesame & Provencal herbs (Dan) / ‘Aigo Bolido’ garlic soup from Aubrac w/ black pudding (Lindsay)
  • candied and fried ‘Miéral’ duck w/ kimchi, rillette & beurre blanc
  • a great bottle of Rioja that I forgot to write down
  • five (!) cheeses each for dessert, and glasses of port
  • some kind of weird peppermint-y sugar thing

All in all, a pretty good start to our brief stay in The Hague.

TUESDAY / The Hague

After some breakfast in the room and an early meeting for me, we departed the hotel to see a bit more of The Hague. We walked this time, stopped at a random Italian place for lunch (good food; crap service), down to the Binnehof, and eventually to the Maritshuis where we took in the stunning building and a lovely collection of paintings, including a couple of rooms of Rembrandts. We also had to fend off crowds of people only there to take a selfie with Vermeer‘s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Which is lovely, don’t get me wrong, but for the love of god people, at least look at it before you Instagram it.

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After that we traveled to another museum, this one just behind our hotel: the Gemeentemuseum. They have a huge collection of De Stijl works, some remarkable modern pieces (including a few by Louise Bourgeois like this beautiful spider couple), and had on a photography exhibition by Erwin Olaf which started strong but tailed off a bit. Still, a more-than-worthwhile visit.

That evening I had a work thing in a fancy alien greenhouse. Lindsay ordered room service. She won.

WEDNESDAY / The Hague

My conference took up most of the day, and my introversion demanded a quite dinner with Lindsay versus a fancy work event, so we made our way to Bouzy. We’d spotted it on our way to Oogst earlier in the week, and liked the look of it. It wasn’t our best meal, but it was what I needed.

  • bruschetta tomato, burrata
  • risotto, pumpkin, pea
  • gamba, aioli, crémolata
  • gravad lax, blinis, crème fraiche
  • insanely good homemade fries (seriously, that’s what they’re called on the menu)

THURSDAY / The Hague -> Amsterdam

I finished my conference shortly after noon, then Linds and I grabbed lunch at Brasserie Berlage behind the hotel before piling into a car for Amsterdam. We had elected to spend our first night in Amsterdam at the Conservatorium Hotel, where we stayed last fall. It remains in an entirely separate class of hotels in our mind, less a hotel than another world where everything is beautiful and just the right level of service — impeccable without being overbearing. We ordered a bottle of Rioja and unwound in the room.

After a while we roused our lazy selves and walked down the street for dinner at Rijks, the Michelin-starred restaurant attached to the Rijksmuseum. The vibe was a little weird, right from the outset. We couldn’t explain it; everything just felt off. It didn’t help that our server would disappear for great tracts of time. Anyway, we tried to rally.

The amuse (apart from the four small pieces of summer sausage sitting on the table) was a slice of pear dusted with pistachio. We had that, and the first course (scallop w/ radish, codium, and seaweed vinaigrette; cabbage points salad) with glasses of Champagne. The food so far was good, not great.

But then, the next two dishes — a millefeuille of beetroot w/ Tomasu 24-month beurre blanc & parsley oil, and a tartelette Rendang made w/ goat, sprouts, and granny smith apple — were both among the best things I’ve eaten all year. We finished with 400g of dry-aged Simmentaler ribeye, aged 4 weeks, and a bottle of Tuscan red.

I think there might have been dessert, but I don’t quite remember so it must not have been remarkable. So: not quite the experience we were hoping for, but I still dream about those two middle dishes.

FRIDAY / Amsterdam

We had another lie-in, determined to make the most out of our time in the room. Eventually we rolled downstairs to the brasserie in the lobby for their brunch. It’s stupidly expensive, but wow what quality. Superb food, but several awful other customers. Entitled finger-snappers, whiny Russians in luxe tracksuits, demanding table-snatchers…maybe the high price is to pay the staff to put up with it. Anyhoo.

We checked out, left our bags, and made our way to the Rijksmuseum. But then, on the way, we saw the lineup for tickets. Then we started doing some research, and realized that the access to the Rembrandt collection (all on display for the first time, apparently) was sold out for weeks. We decided it wasn’t worth it, and instead visited the Stedelik just down the museumplein, which was very worth it. It was filled with modern art, much of which Lindsay knew, and we spent a grand total of five or six hours (!) there across multiple floors, which a yummy lunch just ’round the corner at Blushing in between.

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We grabbed our bags from the hotel and (very painfully) acquired an Uber to drive us a little ways across town to our next hotel: The Hoxton. This one had a beautiful view of the Herengracht.

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We didn’t have much time to enjoy it though, as we were off to dinner at Envy. I’ve had my eye on this place since my first visit to Amsterdam 7 years ago, and finally booked it. I’m glad we did too: it beat the pants off the Michelin-starred restaurant the night before in both food and atmosphere, even with the awkward couples on either side of us. We got the six-course tasting menu:

  • an amuse of liquid beetroot inside white chocolate, which was phenomenal
  • sausage & bread (not part of the menu; just something we wanted)
  • spicy beef tartare
  • mussels w/ bacon, dill
  • cod w/ chanterelles, pumpkin
  • lamb shoulder w/ parsnip, parsley
  • yogurt w/ caramel, blueberry
  • bread pudding

The walk home, in the warm weather we’ve been missing for months, was almost as good as that meal.

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SATURDAY / Amsterdam

Again, we were slow getting out of bed, but you know…vacation. We had some breakfast downstairs at Lotti’s, then set out to see more of the city. After a stop at a coffee shop we started with Dan’s agenda: hitting beer places I’d never been to before. We hit Café Brecht, which started out incredibly well because of the delightfully ramshackle decor, but quickly got insanely busy, so we escaped after a piadina and a brezel and some beers.

Next up was Café de Spuyt where drank some excellent beers, chatted with the bartender, and listened to some excellent music. After some time there we walked on to Beer Loves Food, which is owned by the same people as past-visit-favs Beertemple and Craft & Draft. Again, we hit it just before it got really busy, and managed to have some interesting and challenging beers, plus some crazy petatje rendang (fries covered in spicy beef) to fill our soggy bellies.

We walked home the long way, seeing just enough of the Centraal / De Wallen area for Lindsay to know she wanted to get away from the crowds, and home we went. We’d had quite a day so we just went to the room, did some packing, ordered room service burgers and champagne, and called it a night. We were done in.

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SUNDAY / Amsterdam -> Toronto

Blah same blah: pack, airport, flight (I watched Widows and then worked for five hours), and then: home. We were gone less than 10 days, but it felt like three weeks.

DC

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Last weekend we flew to Washington, DC. Lindsay was speaking at a conference. I tagged along.

THURSDAY

We got an early Porter flight out, arrived at Dulles airport, and Uber’d through a severe rainstorm to the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, MD. That town is just down the Potomac River from DC and seemed like some kind of weird manufactured resort town. Literally within sight of downtown. Anyway.

 We desperately needed lunch, and walked around the corner to Succotash for some…well, maybe not southern, but southern-inspired food. We had cocktails (Lindsay: mint julep; me: Succotash / Maker’s Mark private select bourbon), oysters, crispy fried okra, hush puppies, a dirty chicken Cobb salad (her), and fried chicken sandwich (me). I also found a tasty Troegs Brewing “Javahead” stout on the bottle list.

Thus sated, we walked back to the hotel, watched some March Madness, and did a bunch of work. With some napping added in.

Eventually we needed dinner, and walked downstairs to Old Hickory, the steakhouse in the resort. We weren’t expecting much, but we were pretty pleasantly surprised. We had some champagne, followed by Lindsay’s lobster bisque w/ sherry reduction, citrus crème, crostini and my butternut squash soup w/ cinnamon & black pepper meringue, paired with a couple of California chards. Our mains came out much more quickly than we expected, so we didn’t quite have room for the 7oz waygu center cut sirloin and 22oz (!) cowboy ribeye we ordered (along with french fries and asparagus), and the bottle of 2015 Trefethen Family cab sauv we ordered barely had time to breathe. Aside: I met the Trefethen family nearly six years ago, while on safari in Botswana. Was never able to try their wine until now.

FRIDAY

Mostly work, day two was, within Linds prepping for or at her conference talk, and I working or calling into meetings. As soon as we were done we left that weird little village and took an Uber into DC proper, driving through a crazy rain/sleet storm along the way. Eventually we arrived at our home for the next two nights: The Line DC.

Hotels don’t often blow me away, but this one did. It’s built in a century-old church (which resembled a temple, to my eyes), has style coming out its eaves, and attracted huge crowds of diners and hangers-out. They broadcast/podcast content from their lobby. Their rooms are gorgeous. Their dining options are all superhotspots. Even their coffee shop was killer.

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After checking in we had snacks (french fries w/ yuzu aioli, nori; burrata w/ shishito peppers, persimmons) and some cocktails at Brothers & Sisters in the lobby while we waited for Lindsay’s friend Shannon to arrive. Once she got there we had drinks in our room and caught up until it was time for dinner (downstairs, again) at their main restaurant, A Rake’s Progress.

We ate potato gnocchi w/ braised rabbit, glazed roots, shiitake, and winter herbs; lobster tagliatelle w/ shiitake and lobster butter; kilt greens w/ crisped ham, spelt crumb, egg, and hot bacon mustard dressing; an enormous pork blade steak (chopped up) w/ steamed buns and pickled ingredients…basically a bunch of bao ingredients; and a bottle of 2016 Lioco “Estero” Chardonnay from the Russian River valley.

Our server, by the way, was a phenomenon. She guided our choices, she was an utter delight in terms of fun and demeanor, and it actually felt like she took such care of/with us. The three of us told her that our dinner felt like therapy. Anyway, I’m gutted that I can’t remember her name, because she was a goddamn treasure. 

From there, Shannon stumbled into an Uber, and we stumbled upstairs to bed.

SATURDAY

We had pre-ordered room service, and it was the best hotel breakfast we’ve had since Champagne. That fit nicely with our leisurely morning, just enjoying the room, until we eventually scooted downtown. We decided to see what was on at the Hirshhorn. Lots of good stuff, as it turned out, including the latest in Rafael Lozano-Hemmer‘s Pulse series. Much of that was lovely, but the experience was ruined for us when two huge families had a get-together followed by a fucking proposal. This they did while whooping and hollering and illuminating the scene with their phones, all in a room where the very exhibit calls for quiet and darkness. What utter trash. Pull it together, morons.

Anyway.

After that (and the rest of the museum, which was all pretty impressive) we grabbed a late lunch at The Partisan, the only nearby place which my beer research had flagged. It’s attached to a butcher shop, so all the meat we had was spot-on. I had a chicken that had been brined, rotisseried, and then deep fried in beef fat; Lindsay had an Italian sandwich the size of her head. We each sampled deeply from their excellent beer list.

Luckily, the National Portrait Gallery is right around the corner, so we had enough energy left to do that. We saw some good work there, like a statue of Gertrude Stein or a brain-breakingly photo-realistic painting of Maya Angelou. We also saw so many more morons…the kind of people who wait in line to take a picture of themselves in front of the presidential portrait of Barack Obama, without ever actually looking at it. Or, more egregiously, the Instagram couple who kept striking poses in front of Nam June Paik‘s Electronic Superhighway (link) to the point where you couldn’t even get close to Florida or Georgia. Picture this type of pose, but much much cheesier and worse:

Sigh.

Back to the hotel, then. Shannon joined us for dinner again, this time meeting us at a used bookstore around the corner, and we decided to try our restaurant — Tail Up Goat — early in case they could seat us. 

On the walk there we passed Malcolm Gladwell and a friend. I pointed that out to Shannon and Lindsay, and we proceeded to shit-talk his writing methods. I mean, he’s entertaining, and I love his podcasts, but the way he extrapolates trends out of anecdotes drives me nuts. Lindsay and Shannon had other criticisms. Anyway, we walk around the corner and into the restaurant. I held the door for the people who’d been walking behind us and realize…it’s Malcolm Gladwell. They’d been looking for the same restaurant, and walked behind us for the last hundred feet or so. And, presumably, heard all our comments. Cool. Cool. Ugh.

Sadly, or luckily, they did not have our table ready. Michelin-starred restaurants don’t have much vacancy; who knew? We walked back to our room, drank a little wine, and eventually returned to find our table waiting. And about ten feet from our fellow Canadian. We shook it off, and focused on dinner.

Which. Was. AWESOME, by the way. We started with cocktails (I don’t know what my companions got, but mine was called the Alright Alright Alright and I must have said it twelve times. Anyhoo. Here’s what we ate & drank:

  • berbere sausage w/ apple mostarda, puffed flax seed
  • focaccia w/ meatballs, stracciatella, almond pesto trapanese, aronia berry vinegar, basil
  • yellowfin tuna crudo w/ pomelo, pine nut syrup, basil, fennel pollen chicharrones
  • casarecce pasta w/ ramp sausage, pea shoots, pecorino, carrot + chili honey, aleppo breadcrumbs
  • seared halibut w/ acqua pazza, fermented + pickled fennel, salsa verde, calabrian chilies
  • a bottle of Chablis; I don’t remember exactly which, but we bugged the sommelier for some time before arriving on it, and I tried to change her mind about Gewurztraminer by telling her about the Klipfel Clos Zisser Grand Cru.
  • for dessert Shannon had tea, Lindsay had Madeira, and I had something I’d never tried before: a glass of Keo St. John Commandaria from Cyprus

We closed the joint down. Mercifully, Gladwell was already gone. We stumbled home and tried to watch a bedtime Jeopardy but I was asleep before Johnny had finished welcoming Alex.

SUNDAY

After another stellar breakfast we packed up. Lindsay headed to Shannon’s place to hang out; I decided to see some of Washington. I saw the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr Memorial, WWII Memorial, National Monument, and a bit of the National Gallery. It was sunny and 20° so I stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a while looking at the reflecting pool, and walked the whole way along the mall. What a day.

Afterward I was thirsty, so I went back to The Partisan.

I killed more of their beer list until it was time to Uber back to The Line, grab our luggage, get one last coffee at The Cup We All Race 4 in the lobby, call another Uber, pick up Lindsay, and head to the airport. We had a bite and some wine at the Vino Volo there (the first I’d ever seen), found our gate, endured the short-but-felt-long flight home, and crashed into bed.

In short: we like DC. Not National Harbor so much, but definitely DC. Adams-Morgan (where our hotel was) was a strange beast of a neighbourhood, but the city has a lot of green space and great restaurants and sights to see. And a good friend.

Little rest in store for us weary travelers though — we’ll be over the Atlantic by midnight Thursday.

.:.

Cover photo taken inside Rafael Lozano-Hemmer‘s Pulse exhibit at the Hirshhorn. And no, I did not use flash.

“It’s pronounced colonel. It’s the highest rank in the military.”

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x32t465

This past weekend we drove down to Ithaca, NY. In part to check out Cornell, in part to check out the town itself, and a little bit to check out the drive there and back. Just in case it becomes a regular thing.

We took the scenic (read: non-toll) route there, which led us through some scary country. More than one Trump sign. Ugh. Not a good start.

Finally we pulled into Ithaca, checked in to the Marriott on the Commons, and set out to find some lunch. And, more importantly: beer. We hit the Ithaca Alehouse, ate some great burgers, drank some good beers, and had a long conversation with a local guy named Mike. Turns out he’s a musician / actor / comedian / etc. named Mike Brindisi. He calmed our fears about the town, confirming what we thought, that it’s not unlike the Austin of New York State. So we felt a bit better.

Mike told us about a good restaurant — Gola — to try that night, and we made a reservation. A few hours later, though, Lindsay felt sick. Then sicker. Then pukey. Then…post-pukey. Maybe the burgers weren’t so great after all? So we didn’t go out to dinner at all, just had them send up some plain food (and a few local microbrews for me) and got some rest.

The next day, after a big breakfast at Monk’s and some shopping at Home Green Home and a quick stroll around the rest of the commons, we had lunch at Coltivare. Or, brunch, rather. It was a cute place with a jazz band playing, but the service was off and all the menu items were creative to the point of being misleading. Like, the chicken and biscuits I almost ordered were actually just biscuits covered in gravy. And Lindsay’s gravlox & carrot wasn’t salmon, it was carrot shaved and smoked and sliced to look like salmon. So…yeah. Anyway, it wasn’t bad, but it felt like a bit of a (pricey) miss.

On the way home we bought some used books at Autumn Leaves and bought coffee at Ten Forward (definitely the only Star Trek-themed vegan cafe I’ve visited), dropped everything at the hotel, and drove up to the Cornell campus to visit the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. After that we crossed the street to see the waterfalls, which are We stuck our head into the Uris library too, which is gorgeous.

That night Lindsay had a dinner at Simeon’s so I posted up at the bar at Monk’s, ate dinner, plowed through their (very good) beer list, met a Cape Bretoner (!) at the bar next to me, listened to music (it was St. Paddy’s), and waited for Lindsay to get back. The night ended with more drinks and long heartfelt talks with the Caper’s wife. Anyway. Happy St. Paddy’s?

Monday we (somehow) got up early, had more breakfast, and drove back up to Cornell for more appointments. While Lindsay had her meetings I walked back to said gorgeous library, set myself down on a couch at the window, and worked for a couple of hours. Not a bad venue!

With that done we said goodbye to Ithaca in hardcore-American style — burgers and shakes at Five Guys — and drove home. We took toll roads this time, which took us up and along the shore of Cayuga Lake, which was far more picturesque than the drive down. Apart from a whiteout along the way, it was a pretty solid return trip.

Fun trip, if kinda tiring. Whatever happens next, at least we’ve seen Ithaca. And the colonel.