The Spotted Pig - New York City, NY

One of the best parts of attending Aubrae and Joel's wedding was the food. Aubrae was trained at the Culinary Institute of America, so when she chose The Spotted Pig for the rehersal dinner I knew I was in for a real treat. The Spotted Pig in the West Village serves seasonal British and Italian cuisine, using local ingrediants whenever possible. It is one of the most famous restaurants in New York, tucked away on a hidden corner with no sign and just a literal spotted pig hanging above the door. Because of its fame and notoriety, I am hardly the first blog to write about the restaurant. You can actually read other blogs about the restaurant, many of them food-based blogs with much more knowledge of the gastronomy arts than I can hope to offer here. (Click here to read them.)

We took the room on the third floor for the evening, complete with a bar and a chef preparing our indescribably delicious small plates. On the tables were marinated olives and roasted almonds for us to taste in between the plates of appetizers and salads.

This joins other food blog articles posted in Wanderfood Wednesdays on Wanderlust and Lipstick. Check them out!

Gazala's - New York City, NY

Gazala's serves authentic Druze food on the Upper West Side. The Druze, also known as the "Sons of Grace", is a a small religious sect largely of Arab descent but they also have Iranian, Kurdish, and European heritage. By tradition, the Druze mainly depend on olives and fruits for food, but because of their wide range of ethnic and regional influences, Druze cuisine also includes Turkish bourekas and salads, Lebanese vine leaves, zaatar and olive oil, and Israeli falafel.

I stopped by Gazala's before my trip to the Strand, craving something refreshing and affordable. I ordered the Gazala salad - lettuce, tomato, cucumber, scallion in a dressing of olive oil and lemon juice. It was a huge portion when it arrived and smelled amazing, the lettuce, tomato, and onion were all incredibly fresh and the citric scent of lemon was strong and refreshing. But unfortunately, it didn't taste as refreshing as it smelled. The dressing was completely overwhelming and had drenched the entire salad, to the point that there was a two inch broth of lemon and olive juice at the bottom of the bowl. Every bite tasted like an oily lemon, completely masking the lettuce and tomato and only letting the occasional bite of raw scallion through. It was inedible.

I spent about a half hour struggling to eat the salad while reading Virginia Woolf's "The Waves" at my table. But each bite was overwhelming and required at least a couple minutes of mental preparation for the intense rush of the dressing. After a while, I just gave up. I probably should have sent it back but I was far too shy for something like that in New York. In Lawrence, where I know the restaurants and often a lot of people who work there, I would have felt much more comfortable asking for a salad with about a gallon less dressing. But there I was too shy about it and so just let the majority of my salad sit there uneaten.

Eventually, I paid and went to the door to leave. Unfortunately, I was confronted by a heavy rain storm outside. I hadn't even packed an umbrella, let alone brought one with me and so I decided to stay and wait for a break in the weather. While I was waiting, I opted to order one of my favorite desserts in the world - baklava. The baklava was baked in a round and sliced into medallions of phyllo pastry filled with chopped pistachio nuts and honey-lemon syrup.

It was incredible. The filling had an incredible fresh and sweet crunch and the phyllo was flakey and crunchy. It also avoided one of the most troublesome aspects of baklava when the baking and the syrup make the bottom layers of the baklava impossible to cut. But by serving it in rounds instead of thick triangles, each medallion was no more than a bite or two big and avoiding some of the perils of eating baklava.

I had to leave my delicious dessert quickly when I saw a break in the rain through the window. So I ate my last bite quickly, savoring the sweet nuttiness of the filling, left my money on the table and dashed out to try and catch the train before the rain started again (but, of course, I've already told you how miserably that turned out).

This joins other food blog articles posted in Wanderfood Wednesdays on Wanderlust and Lipstick. Check them out!

Fette Sau BBQ - Brooklyn, NY

After the American Museum of Natural History, I went to my hotel to shower and change for the subway ride to Brooklyn. But first I have to say, I was not supposed to take the subway to Brooklyn. Before I left, my mother told me "Do not even think the word subway!" She was especially horrified at the concept of me going to Brooklyn at night. But it was Joel's fault. For him, I was riding the subway in the evening to Brooklyn for barbecue. It was Joel and Aubrae's joint hen and stag party, which I wouldn't miss for the world. And I wanted to see just how Brooklyn does barbecue.

I almost missed the restaurant walking by. It looks like just another garage or lot of autoparts on a street that seems full of similar locations. But then I saw a pink neon sign with a line of people stretching beyond the chain link fence interest. The restaurant appeared to be in a garage with long picnic tables for family-style eating. At first glance, the whole thing seems a little sketchy. But the food is as good as it comes. All the meat - beef, pork, cornish hen - are raised on organic and/or family farmed heritage breed animals. This is not the meat you buy frozen at the grocery store. And it is prepared with the same loving dedication that it is raised. It is smoked on locally sourced word and dry rubbed to perfection. Because it was prepared dry-rubbed, I opted not to try any of their sauces with my meat (although I heard they were delicious) just because I think dry-rubbed meat should be eaten dry.

The menu changes constantly based on what the farms are able to supple, which is both the blessing and curse of using small farms. Your product will be some of the best, but you may not always be able to get it consistently. Luckily, they had the one thing I will always order when I get barbecue - ribs. Specifically, they had Berkshire St Louis Style Pork Ribs. It was a little difficult to order because they don't offer them by number of ribs but by pound. I had never actually considered how much an order of ribs weighs before. I discovered it weighs 1/2 lb., which was something for me to think about as I tore the meat off the bone with my teeth. It was wonderful. Now I live in the land of Kansas City barbecue and I'm not going to pretend that Brooklyn barbecue comes anywhere near to taking our crown. But it was great barbecue, and not just for Brooklyn, it was just plain great.

However, the sides weren't so much. I ordered the coleslaw. Like sauerkraut on my hot dog, I always have coleslaw with my barbecue. Good rich and smokey barbecue needs the crunch and vinegary acidity of coleslaw, I think it is the perfect combination of flavors. But at Fette Sau, I just had slices of cabbage is some kind of oil. There was no flavor, none of that sour and vinegary tang that bounces off the earthy richness of the barbecue. It was just cabbage.

But overall, it was an amazing meal. So amazing that I ate way too much of it and had to run to the grocer next door for some antacids if I was going to make it through the rest of the night.

This joins other food blog articles posted in Wanderfood Wednesdays on Wanderlust and Lipstick. Check them out!

Shake Shack - New York City, NY

I had about three hours to kill in Upper West Side Manhattan before I could check into my hotel on my first day in New York City. The first order of business was to get lunch, since I had been up since 4:00am and hadn't actually eaten all day. Fortunately, I was on Columbus street, which was lined with great restaurants. Unfortunately, I spent almost every penny I had on airfare and a hotel room so I couldn't actually afford to eat at most of them. I had done a bit of research on cheap meals before I left and opted to walk to the Shake Shack.

The Shake Shack is a modern-day "roadside" burger stand, offering the American roadside classics of burgers, hot dogs, fries and shakes. It was an instant hit when it first opended in Madison Square, with both local and tourist patrons willing to line up and wait. Even with additional locations, there is still usually a wait and often the line goes out the door. The Shake Shack is a chain restaurant, something I usually avoid on trips, but it got its start in New York City so it seemed an acceptable choice in spite of that. It has locations in New York City, Saratoga Springs, Miami, Westport, Washington D.C., and surprisingly the Middle East. (That one confuses me. They'll take their delicious burgers across the ocean to the Middle East but not to Middle America where I wait with bated stomach?).

One my first of two trips to the Shake Shack, I got the traditional cheeseburger and fries. At first, I didn't get what the big deal was. I mean, it's a burger! In New York. How on earth did they expect to compete with my burger palate that had been trained by decades of eating beef that was raised just down the road? Well, it was good. Really, really good. I don't think it was exactly the best burger I ever had but it was definitely worth the wait. The meat patty is hand formed by a butcher, which gave it that fresh rather than machine process taste that you get at most fast food burger joints. The potato bun was also grilled, which gave it a great burger-to-bun ratio but also gave it something fresh and wonderful to soak up the meaty juices.

On my second trip, I opted for the New York Dog, a hotdog with saurkraut. (For the record, hot dogs should always be served with saurkraut. Always. Anyone who says otherwise has no taste buds.) The steamed potato bun was perfect and definitely an improvement over the soggy, white, processed buns you get from roadside hotdog stands in the city. The hot dog itself was also great. I ate a hot dog later from a stand during my trip and found myself wondering what exactly I was eating. Because it really didn't taste like a hot dog is supposed to. At the Shake Shack, there was no questioning - it is premium Vienna all-beef hot dog. And the saurkraut was great, the cabbage was crunchy instead of soggy and it had the most wonderful sour, acidic flavor that perfectly complimented the grilled flavor of the hot dog.

So I learned my lesson. Don't eat a hot dog in New York City from one of the sidewalk stands. Do it right and get it from the Shake Shack, because that's how a New York Dog is supposed to taste.

This joins other food blog articles posted in Wanderfood Wednesdays on Wanderlust and Lipstick. Check them out!

Road Trip Philosophy - Why I Love Diners

No matter where I travel, I always look for the same place to eat - the All-American Diner. It is something so quintessentially perfect for a road trip. You pull off the road when you see the sign, usually a name and followed by apostrophe s, like Mikey's or Linda's (I always wonder if the name is a real person, or just a persona created for the atmosphere). The menus are always laminated but still slightly stained by customers who have come before. At least one item of the menu is always designated as world-famous, some claim to fame to entice diners although they never say how that acclaim was achieved.

The diner coffee is always good. (My friends and I had a theory it was because the coffee pots were always old.) Coffee is diners is not just a road trip staple, it is also something uniquely American. When the country was first beginning to rebel against England, drinking coffee became an act of American independence. When the English began taxing tea in America...well, you know the story of the Boston Tea Party and so on. Suffice it to say that as Americans began to reject tea as English, many of the country's first patriots began to prefer coffee. (Coffee has always been a bit of a rabblerouser. In the 17th century, Ottoman Sultan Murad IV banned coffee because he believed drinking it led people to question his rule. Supposedly, he roamed the streets with an executioner and beheaded anyone he saw drinking coffee.)

It's not just me who has a passion for diners. Movies, music, and television shows featuring road trips inevitably focus on the old, dusty diner where weary travelers can stop for a bite to eat and a strong cup of coffee. There's Katz's Deli where Rob Reiner's mother ordered what Sally was having in When Harry Met Sally. There's Olive ordering her waffles a la mode, because even pageant girls eat ice cream, in Little Miss Sunshine. Or the intricate discussion of tipping during the opening scene of Reservoir Dogs. Actually, I think Quentin Tarentino's films have particularly latched on to the mystique of the diner. Most of his films feature diners as prominent locations for important scenes. Pulp Fiction had the 50's themed diner with a $5 milkshake and a dance contest as well as the Hawthorne Grill where Honey-Bunny and Pumpkin tried to hold-up customers. Whenever someone makes a movie or writes a song about a road trip, there always is some mention of that diner in the middle of nowhere for wayward wanderers to stop.

It's not just about the coffee or the mystique of diners - it's also about the food. I love diner food. There is nothing better than a good plate of runny eggs with bacon and hash browns (as I've said before and will say again). Although everyone has a preferred diner meal. For some its french toast or maybe pancakes. Others might steer away from breakfast food (although I have no idea why) and go for the other diner classics like a burger and fries or chicken fried steak. But there's a sense of comfort to the traveler when she stops at a diner in a place she has never been and is able to find something on the menu that feels comfortable and homey.

Perhaps that is the best thing about diners - no matter where we are, they always provide sense of home through a familiar meal.

Throughout my travels, I've been to plenty of diners. Some have been great and some have been awful. One in Chicago gave me food poisoning. Twice. But no matter where you travel in this country, there will always be a great roadside diner with a cup of coffee, some world famous dish to offer, and a laminated menu with decade-old ketchup stains.

This joins other food blog articles posted in Wanderfood Wednesdays on Wanderlust and Lipstick. Check them out!

Village Inn - Tulsa, OK

Nothing makes me feel more at home than Village Inn. When I was in high school, I spent countless hours of countless evenings there. Most places in Tulsa close at decent hours. But that never really deters high school students from staying out way later than is reasonable. We would go and sit at Village Inn until all hours of the night. It was open 24 hours a day, had the ideal diner menu, and had great coffee. Plus, there was smoking allowed inside. We weren't the only kids heeding the call of Village Inn. Into the early hours of the morning, the booths and tables were filled with groups of high school and college-aged kids sitting around sipping coffee and smoking cigarettes. It was the place to be.

So when I saw Village Inn, my heart leapt for joy. And not just any Village Inn but my Village Inn, the specific one where I spent the evenings of my wasted youth. I took a booth in the corner and took a look at the menu, although I didn't need to. I already knew exactly what I was going to order. Two eggs over medium, hash browns, bacon, and a biscuit. This is the meal that epitomizes comfort food to me.

At Village Inn, you have to order hash browns. They are the greatest thing in the world. When I moved away from Oklahoma to Chicago - a land of endless food options but no Village Inns near me - I spent years searching for some place that offered decent hash browns. The closest I ever got was Golden Olympic in Evanston, Illinois. But as good as their food was, it was nowhere near the pure hash brown joy of Village Inn. The other great Village Inn fare is the biscuits. (Are we noticing a trend in my love of carbs?) Biscuits are a Southern food art form. There is nothing worse than a heavy, stale, dry biscuit. But at Village Inn, the biscuits are everything they should be. Warm, moist and crumbly.

While Village Inn is a chain, so people may mock my love, it is the one diner where I feel truly at home. Sitting in that Village Inn, I felt connected to my past, to that awkward teenage girl who was quoting everything from Jack Kerouac to Robert Dahl to prove how smart she was. But then I am me. An adult, a law student, a woman who has left home to travel the country and the world. Sitting at Village Inn, I felt truly myself. Connected with my past, content in my present, and happy about my future.

This joins other food blog articles posted in Wanderfood Wednesdays on Wanderlust and Lipstick. Check them out!

Total Time Traveled: 9 hours

Total Distance Traveled: 522 miles

Soundtrack: "Cue the Theme Music" Playlist

C.W. Porubsky’s Deli - Topeka, KS

In the part of Topeka known as "Little Russia" there is a locally famous deli and specialty grocery store called C.W. Porubsky’s Deli and Tavern. Their chili, hot pickles, and cold cuts have been nationally and internationally recognized but in Topeka they are down-right legendary.

Despite several trips, I never seem to be able to make it there in during the few hours the Tavern is open for lunch. But this trip I did manage to make it in time to the Deli. The small space is filled mostly with the sort of items you would find in a gas station convenience store, such as prepackaged foods that can be prepared in the microwave. But just a few steps to the back of the store and you will find an amazing deli that also offers world famous hot pickles.

Personally, I don't tend to eat a lot of pickles (unlike some celebrities, although I don't know why they are famous). But I'm not going to pass up an opportunity to sample an internationally recognized Kansas delicacy.

C.W. Porubsky’s Deli and Tavern is so famous, it is having a documentary made about it. C.W. Porubsky's grandson, Matthew Porubsky, is made a documentary, entitled "Porubsky's: Transcendent Deli", about the deli's history and more than 60 years in service. Click here to learn more about the documentary, which is also available for purchase

This joins other food blog articles posted in Wanderfood Wednesdays on Wanderlust and Lipstick. Check them out!

Total Time Traveled: 1 hour
Total Distance Traveled: 54 miles
Soundtrack: "The Meanest of Times" Dropkick Murphys

Room 39 Restaurant - Leawood, KS

Whenever I am near Leawood, I always try to have at least one meal at Room 39. Room 39 is seasonal American food, which means that the menu is constantly changing to accommodate what ingredients are currently in season.

Chefs and co-owners, Ted Habiger and Andy Sloan, say they "believe the best tasting food comes from local farmers who use sustainable harvesting and growing practices ensuring the land is better off than before." It is a noble mission with some tasty results. A constantly changing menu does have some disadvantages. It means that if you particularly loved a dish in the fall, you won't be able to go back and enjoy it again in the spring. But that is easily outweighed by the fun of a new daily menu. Every day at Room 39 is a new experience.

On a recent trip to visit family in Eastern Kansas, I went to Room 39 for lunch with my mother and friend Mona. All three of us were immediately captivated by one particular item on the menu - the gnocchi. It was house made potato gnocchi with bacon, onions, mushrooms, brussels sprouts, and grana padano. Every thing about it was perfect. The gnocchi were like soft little clouds that melted in your mouth and the flavors were all perfectly combined. The bacon and mushrooms gave the dish a smokey, earthy flavor that really resonated with the perfectly cooked brussels sprouts. And I love brussels sprouts - they were cooked all the way through so they were rich and soft, but not so overdone at to be mushy. And the chef had gotten a perfect sear on the outside of each sprout, something I struggle to do in my own kitchen. Finally, the sweetness of the onions and the cheese created a well-rounded dishes with flavors that complimented each other, but one ingredient never over-powered the other. It was a delicious dish and also well plated - there was just enough to be satisfying but not so much piled in the bowl to be overwhelming. I am always impressed when a restaurant manages to know just the right portion to serve.

But one trip to Room 39 is never enough for me, especially when the menu changes daily. So the next day I went back to Room 39 for lunch with my friend John. I was happy to see not all of the menu had changed in 24 hours. One or two dishes were gone and had been replaced by others and of course the soups had changed, but I was glad to know that overall a daily menu does not mean "blink and you'll miss it." This time, I opted for the quiche and salad. The quiche was everything it should be - fluffy and eggy with crunchy bits of bacon and a flaky crust that can be cut with a fork (I hate when you need a knife to saw through a dried out, overcooked quiche crust). The herb salad was fresh with a nice vinaigrette that gave the salad some acidity. They also added some fresh beet which gave it a slight sweetness, but still refreshing.

But the best part of lunch at Room 39 is the dessert. I always order the Affogato - vanilla ice cream with espresso. The vanilla ice cream is delicious by itself (I suspect it is Vanilla Bean by Haagen Dazs) but the espresso just melts it into that perfect combination of sweet and bitter, hot and cold, and gives the perfect ending to a great meal.

This joins other food blog articles posted in Wanderfood Wednesdays on Wanderlust and Lipstick. Check them out!

Total Time Traveled: 20 minutes
Total Distance Traveled: 6 miles
Soundtrack: "Teenage Dream" Katy Perry (What? My mom got me the album!)

Road Trip Memories - Meeting a President at Carmen's Pizza in Evanston, IL

Tuesday, I mentioned that I have been lucky enough to shake the hands of a former President and two Supreme Court Justices. Because I think it is rather interesting, I thought I should share the story of how I shook the hand of former President Jimmy Carter.

I had just left Oklahoma and moved to Evanston, Illinois. My mother came to town to visit me and offered to take me and my roommate, who was Bess of The Unplanned Misadventures of MirMir and Bess, out to dinner. Choosing where to eat was easy - we were college students and our diet consisted almost entirely of pizza and PopTarts (literally, that is not an exaggeration. If it couldn't be delivered or gotten from a vending machine then we probably didn't eat it that year). So when offered a free meal at a restaurant, we opted to go to Carmen's Pizza. But before you judge our monochromatic tastes, you must understand just how good Carmen's Pizza is. Pizza isn't just a food, it is an art form in Chicago and its suburbs like Evanston. Decades of craftsmanship go into these delicacies so restaurants inspire fanatical devotion in their patrons for the best in Chicago-style pizza.

When I first moved to Chicago, my loyalty went to Carmen's although as I continued to live in Chicago I would eventually spend at least one year of my life living on a steady diet of pizza and wings delivered from Chicago's Pizza. But that particular evening, Bess and I insisted on going to Carmen's Pizza. When we arrived, the restaurant was full of people sampling the thin pizza, stuffed pizza, and traditional pan pizza. Their stuffed pizza is what made them famous. It is stuffed with toppings and topped with their special, secret tomato sauce then baked for a full 35 minutes. It is definitely worth the wait and in the meantime, there is salad to munch on and dessert to anticipate. You can't go to Carmen's and not have the cannoli for dessert. Carmen's cannoli is everything a cannoli should be - crispy shell overflowing with sweet ricotta and chocolate chips and dusted with pistachios. (In my opinion, it's not a real cannoli without the pistachios).

As we were waiting on our order, my mother, Bess, and I began to notice official-looking men with ear pieces and dark suits standing by the door. We made a few jokes about the Secret Service, but didn't realize we were actually right until the entire restaurant stood up and started clapping. Over the patron's heads, we saw President Carter descending the stairs. He exited slowly, taking his time to greet customers and shake hands. Including Bess's and my hands. As my mother and I were in shock, trying to process that our dinner had lead to a chance encounter with a President, Bess asked "Who was that?" (Bess is Canadian, she can't help it).

In addition to being an amazing experience - meeting a Former President and shaking his hand - it also gave Carmen's some clout in the Chicago pizza debate. After all, they can now claim a President prefers Carmen's pizza when he's in town.

This joins other food blog articles posted in Wanderfood Wednesdays on Wanderlust and Lipstick. Check them out!

Yokohama - Lawrence, KS

It happens to all of us. It's 10:00pm and it seems like all the good restaurants are closed. Just as you're about to give up and settle for fast food, you hear about a late night Happy Hour at a great sushi restaurant. That was what happened to my friend Mona and I the other night. Given our strange schedules of work and school, we often don't eat dinner until very late at night. And given our mutual love of good food, a late night happy hour at Lawrence's local sushi restaurant, Yokohama, is just what we needed.

If you're in downtown Lawrence and need a late night sushi fix, you can't do much better than happy hour at Yokohama. From Sunday to Wednesday at 9pm until 10:30pm and Thursday to Saturday at 10:00pm to midnight, you can order cheap and delicious sushi with a $5.00 drink order per person. So Mona and I settled in with wine and saki to explore their cheap and delicious options. The appetizers and rolls range from $2.99 to $4.99. While the options may be limited, they are at least very affordable.

Mona and I opted for the Ika Rings, Sunday Morning roll, and Las Vegas roll. The ika rings are calamari dipped in panko batter and lightly fried. I love calamari, but after enjoying these little delicious bits of fried goodness I don't understand why everyone doesn't use panko in them. The thick pieces of calamari are chewy and delicious, while the panko adds an amazing crunch. Our fried appetizer set the course for our meal - the vast majority of items on the happy hour menu seem to be fried, probably appealing to that desperate need for fried food many people get after a few drinks (or at least I do).

The Sunday Morning roll is aptly named. The roll is smoked salmon, avocado, cream cheese, lightly fried and reminds me of a great Sunday morning brunch (when I tend to order smoked salmon and cream cheese on an everything bagel). It is just a little bit crunchy with a deliciously sweet, savory and soft middle.

The Las Vegas roll is like the Sunday Morning roll, only a little more adventurous. It consists of eel, cream cheese, and avocado all lightly fried. Many people seem to shy away from eel when they are at a sushi restaurant, but I don't understand why. While it doesn't have that lush and smokey flavor of the salmon, it is equally delicious and has a little more of that briney seafood flavor that makes me love sushi in the first place.

If I had one complaint, it is that all the rolls on the Happy Hour menu seem geared towards those who aren't already sushi fans. There is the staple California roll and most of the others seem fried - it doesn't really have a lot of options for die-hard sushi fans like me who love the natural taste of raw fish. But despite my small complaint, you really can't beat the opportunity to enjoy good sushi and a few drinks late at night.

This joins other food blog articles posted in Wanderfood Wednesdays on Wanderlust and Lipstick. Check them out!

Total Time Traveled: 20 minutes

Total Distance Traveled: 6 miles

Soundtrack: "Middle Cyclone" Neko Case

715 Restaurant - Lawrence, KS

When people think of "fine dining" in Kansas, I'm sure a lot of people think we are talking about our local Applebee's. But Lawrence, Kansas is a community of foodies. Foodies who have a taste for the European will love 715 Restaurant, a neighborhood European-style eatery that offers the best in Central Italian cuisine.

On an evening out, my friend Mona and I decided to split a meal at 715 Restaurant. While the food is amazing, it is also a little pricey - at least for me as a rather poor law student and blogger. So using our penny-saving ingenuity, we decided to order one appetizer, one salad, one entree, one dessert, and one bottle of wine to split down the middle. We started with the smoked trout crostini. The trout was perfectly smoked so it was flaky and just melted in your mouth. It was served on a crisp, toasted side of bread with arugula and a lemon caper aioli. While the crunch of the bread added that perfect bit of texture to the bite, the bitterness of the arugula along with the citric and vinegary taste of the aioli gave it a complex flavor profile that made me chew very slowly to savor each and every bite.

Next, we moved on to the roasted root vegetable salad. This was a natural choice for me. I genuinely believe vegetables are best when roasted. That is just how they should be cooked. (Just as roasting is best, boiling is worst. Nothing makes me sadder than a carrot or brussel sprout that has been boiled to death. It is a culinary crime.) The roasted root vegetable salad is just proof of my belief in roasting vegetables. Carrots, parsnips and other root vegetables are julienned, roasted to crispy perfection, then served with arugula in a roasted garlic vinaigrette. It has a deep, rich flavor and I would honestly drink roasted garlic vinaigrette if they would serve it to me in a glass.

For our entree, we ordered the tuna spaghetti. Mona had heard great things about it and I was very curious. I don't usually think about tuna as something to serve with pasta, especially when it is also served with cheese. Fish and cheese have always struck me as a big no-no (For some more about the fish and cheese debate, particularly in Italian cuisine, check out this post at The Kitchn). But luckily, the inspired chefs of 715 restaurant don't think like me. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the sweetness of the Italian tuna, along with the capers and mozzarella proved to be a brilliant combination and has officially convinced me that it is possible for fish and cheese to share the same plate.

Finally, we finished our meal with sticky date cake in toffee sauce with sweet cream gelato. I normally don't order dessert, too often I end up with something so cloyingly sweet that it makes my teeth itch. But while this isn't your grandmother's traditional sticky date cake, it has a delicious and natural sweetness that with the toffee sauce offers a wonderful final note to end the meal. 715 Restaurant offers and incredible experience for foodies and fans of Central Italian cuisine. It's also proof that a trip to Kansas can be a fine dining experience!

This joins other food blog articles posted in Wanderfood Wednesdays on Wanderlust and Lipstick. Check them out!

Total Travel Time: 20 minutes

Total Travel Distance: 6 miles

Soundtrack: "Extraordinary Machine" Fiona Apple

Second Photo Source

Extra Virgin Restaurant - Kansas City, MO

For those familiar with the culinary scene in Kansas City, this post will not come as a surprise. Extra Virgin, owned by the illustrious James Beard award winning Chef Michael Smith, is one of the greatest restaurants in Kansas City. Hands down, there is no debate. Extra Virgin takes tapas to a new level as Chef Smith draws from cultures around the world to create an assortment of dishes that continue to astound and tantalize even the most critical foodies.

About once a year, my family and I go to the Crossroads in Kansas City to sample Chef Smith's delicacies. We go during happy hour, when most of the dishes are half-priced, and each person picks two items off the menu. We order in two rounds, followed by dessert, and share everything with each other so by the end of the evening we have all sampled about ten different dishes. I truly believe this is the only way to eat at Extra Virgin because to limit yourself to only one or two of Chef Smith's masterpieces would be unconscionable.

But my reasons for loving Extra Virgin focus on a very specific part of the menu, a part that tends to horrify some members of my family. One part of the menu is labeled, "Adventurous." And it is certainly that. With fare including pig's ears, duck's gizzards, snails, and tripe, many diners shy away from his more bizarre concoctions. I, on the other hand, dive right in. I love to try strange new foods as often as possible, for no other reason than they sound weird and I haven't eaten them before. So the adventurous side of the menu offers me a unique opportunity to sample odd delicacies prepared by one of the greatest chefs in the country.

I began with the "Crispy Pig Ear Salad." The salad - arugula and radishes - is light and delicate with a slightly sweet dressing that compliments the bitterness of the arugula. The pig ears are sliced into thin strips then fried. Honestly, they were delicious. They had that slightly sweet taste of pork to them and were a little tough, like biting into a piece of jerky. In the salad, they were a dream opening course but I could see myself snacking on this chewy bits of goodness while watching television on a Sunday afternoon. My father and sister refused to try the pig ear, although they did love the salad. But to me, the dish was proof that Chef Smith can take something many people would throw away and turn it into a fine dining delicacy.

In addition to my pig ear, I also ordered the "Braised Snail Ragout." I had never had snails before but can sincerely promise I will eat them again. The braised snails and mushrooms are served in a rich broth I can only describe as liquid smoke or perhaps the essence of everything barbecue wishes it could be with a side of garlic toast to sop it up. If there was a way I could bathe in that broth I probably would. The snails and mushrooms are so tender, smokey, and rich that you'll swear that they are going to melt in your mouth with a puff of smoke more delicate and delightful than the best braised beef you've ever had. I now genuinely wonder why these little mollusks are not on the menu at every great barbecue joint in the country.

If my praise of Extra Virgin and Chef Michael Smith seems excessive, then you have obviously never eaten there. For someone always looking to try new and bizarre foods, the adventurous tapas at Extra Virgin in Kansas City is the best possible destination.

This joins other food blog articles posted in Wanderfood Wednesdays on Wanderlust and Lipstick. Check them out!

Total Travel Time: 45 miles

Total Travel Distance: 1 hour

Soundtrack: None

Photo Source

Esquina - Lawrence, KS

Anyone who reads this blog is probably aware that I love Mexican food. (I've written about my love affair with the beef tamales at La Fonda Del Sol in Scottsdale, Arizona before). But as much as I love my classic Mexican favorites, sometimes I want something a little different. That is when I go to Esquina. This Latin restaurant takes everything you love about Mexican food and twists it around into something new and interesting. Esquina is also in a very historical location. The restaurant is located in the renovated Round Corner Pharmacy building. Before it closed its doors in 2009, the Round Corner Pharmacy was the oldest pharmacy in Lawrence and its original location even survived Quantrill’s raid in 1863.

During finals week, my mother came to visit me so I could remember what it was like to have a conversation that didn't revolve around law school. My mother loves Mexican food as much as I do (we both believe that all holiday dinners should involve tamales) and so I took her to Esquina.

My mom and I both started with the salsa and guacamole. I love guacamole, there is just something magical about that perfect mixture of avocado and spices that makes you grateful you have taste buds. The best guacamole I've ever had was in Mexico (big surprise there), but the guacamole at Esquina is fabulous. It's perfectly creamy and rich with just the right amount of spices to give it a complex flavor profile without overwhelming the decadence of the avocado.

For the entree, we moved on to the chicken tostada, a crispy tortilla with avocado, queso, chipotle sour cream, served with rice and beans. The chipotle sour cream had an amazing spicy bite to it, but we cut with some extra sour cream dolloped on top. Many of Esquina's dishes are topped with pickled red onions. I'm usually not a big fan of red onions, I think they have a very strong taste to them that risks over powering the other flavors. But the pickled red onions at Esquina compliment the spiciness of the chipotle sour cream, so the flavors play off each other without one becoming more prominent than the other.

Esquina is still one of my favorites restaurants in Lawrence because the food is so unique, taking traditional dishes I love like tostadas and putting a new twist on them to create something memorable.

Total Travel Time: 20 minutes

Total Distance Traveled: 5 miles

Soundtrack: Gen X Radio 99.7 FM

This joins other food blog articles posted in Wanderfood Wednesdays on Wanderlust and Lipstick. Check them out!

Massachusetts Street - Lawrence, KS

If you are passing through Lawrence, there is one place you have to go: Massachusetts Street. From 6th Street to 12th Street, Massachusetts Street is the absolute ultimate in downtown Lawrence. Whenever I have friends visiting me, I always make sure to take a few hours to walk them up and down the strip, from the restaurants to the coffee shops to the stores, it is absolutely everything that is wonderful about our small town in Kansas.

Massachusetts Street above all, beautiful. The tree-lined street is scenic and perfect for a slow stroll, with plenty of local art and historic landmarks to see along the way. Built for the pedestrian, traffic is slow but parking is always available. There are crosswalks at every intersection and even in the middle of streets. Traffic always stops for a person crossing, something unique to Lawrence (I've nearly been run over countless times walking in Chicago, even while waiting for the crosswalk light to change).

As you are walking, there are plenty of shops to stop in along the way. If you are the crunchy granola type, there is Third Planet full of hemp clothing and opinionated bumper stickers for the ardent liberal. For the fashionista, there is Envy, affordable clothing for the trend setter. For the foodie (like myself) you have to stop at Au Marche', a specialty store that specializes in European cuisine (I recommend picking up some of their duck liver pate. With a glass of white wine, it will blow your mind).

If you're feeling peckish, Massachusetts Street has unlimited options. There is Teller's, award-winning Italian dining in a renovated bank that has some of the best fine dining in Lawrence. If you want to experience amazing Kansas barbecue, make sure to go to Buffalo Bob's Smokehouse. For a true college hangout, stop by Jefferson's for great burgers and oysters (I suggest the oysters for an appetizer and following it up with one of their big juicy burgers to finish it off). Also be sure to decorate a dollar bill to put on Jefferson's wall.

Like any college town, Massachusetts Street also has its selection of bars. One of my favorites is the Jazzhaus, an upstairs bar where William S. Burroughs was known to have a few drinks. There is also the Replay, voted one of the best college bars in the country. Replay is a little rowdy but with a huge outdoor patio where smokers can enjoy their cigarettes and their drinks, as well as an indoor stage that offers amazing bands, you'll have a memorable night for sure. And then there is Brothers, a bar frequented by college students who enjoy a beer and the sports on the television.

Whether you're eating, drinking, shopping, or just hoping for a nice stroll, you must take a walk down Massachusetts Street when you're in Lawrence, Kansas.

Total Travel Time: 15 minutes

Total Travel Distance: 6 miles

Soundtrack: "Get Born" JET

Photo Source

La Fonda Del Sol - Scottsdale, AZ

If I got to choose my last meal, it would be the beef tamale with rice and beans from La Fonda Del Sol in Scottsdale, Arizona. One afternoon, Anna and I decided to look for a real Mexican restaurant to enjoy an authentic lunch. We hit the jackpot with La Fonda Del Sol.

The chunky mild salsa (with tomatoes, fresh cilantro, onion, and a little bit of lime juice) was delicious with fresh tortilla chips. We went through two orders of the salsa pretty quickly. I then had the beef tamale with red sauce and rice and beans. This tamale has eclipsed all other tamales for me. It was light and fluffy, fresh out out of the corn husk. The shredded beef was so tender it just melted in your mouth. And the red sauce had just the right amount of spice to give it a kick without burning your mouth. Anna's chicken enchilada was equally amazing so we sat silently, eating in awe of just how amazing the food was. I swear, when the waiter asked if everything was okay, we were both about to drop to our knees and praise him for bringing us these bits of heaven.

We finished up the meal with some deep friend ice cream (vanilla icing in a fried corn flake crust). It was good, but not as heart stopping amazing as the main course. Next time (and there will be a next time) I will get the sopapillas or the churro.

If you are in the Phoenix area and you like Mexican food, be sure to stop by the La Fonda Del Sol to enjoy the most amazing food you've ever had!

Free State Brewing Company – Lawrence, KS

The spirit of Free State Brewing Company and perhaps the spirit of Lawrence itself can be captured by the slogan the Free State pint glasses: “Because without beer, things do not seem to go as well.”

On any given night, the Free State Brewing Company bar and restaurant is packed. On a Monday night I went to grab a pint with my friends and celebrate my friend Chris’s birthday, only to find the porch and bar already packed wall to wall with people. People flock to Free State for good food, amazing beer, and local pride.

Free State began as the first legal brewery in Kansas in over 100 years. Strict liquor and alcohol legislation had prevented breweries from operating in the Sunflower state for decades. But in 1987, the Kansas Legislature relaxed the laws and allowed the establishment of "brew-pubs" (which must also serve food) and microbreweries that produce less than five thousand gallons of beer a year. In 1989, Free State became the first licensed brewery in Kansas since 1881. (For an in depth history of breweries in Kansas, check out this article by Cindy Higgins.)

If it’s your first time at Free State, order the Ad Astra Ale because it is the original Free State beer. The name comes from the Kansas state motto, “Ad Astra per Aspera,” which means, "To the Stars through Difficulties". Free State describes this original ale: “We've blended Pale, Caramel, and Munich malts for a rich amber beer. The hops balance this malty sweetness, and we've chosen Northern brewer and Fuggles hops for their flavor.”

I’ll be honest that I’m not an Ad Astra Ale fan. But that is mostly because I drink wheat beers and pilsners, so it is just a little too dark for my light tastes. When I go to Free State, I order Wheat State Golden. It is the lightest beer at Free State, but is also very popular. For those unfamiliar with Kansas agriculture, we are a big wheat producing state. That makes wheat cheap and plentiful around here, so it’s only natural we’d try and find a way to get drunk with one of our greatest resources. That is why you’ll find some great wheat beers around here – especially Free State’s Wheat State Golden and Kansas City Boulevard’s Unfiltered Wheat.

If you want to take some Free State home with you, you can buy it by the keg or the growler (for those who don’t know, a growler is a glass jug that can carry about a half gallon of beer). But soon you may be able to find it in the grocery store. Free State has just started bottling and selling beer in Lawrence. For now, it’s a local treasure. But who knows, in the future people may be sipping Ad Astra Ale around the country.

Total Time Traveled: 10 minutes
Total Distance Traveled: 6 miles
Soundtrack: “Blood on the Tracks” Bob Dylan

Full Moon Cafe - Tulsa, OK

Though I have not been back to Oklahoma in three years, my sister has been happily living and going to school in Tulsa all her life. In my absence, the city has changed immensely and my sister told me repeatedly that when I went back I would not recognize my hometown. She was definitely right.

After we arrive in Tulsa for the Fourth of July, I went with Joel and Aubrae to Cherry Street in search of a restaurant open on a holiday. The street was completely different. I had friends who lived on Cherry Street so I spent a lot of time there. But this street was different. While there were still some of my favorite old haunts – like Kilkenny’s, the best Irish pub in town – there were also plenty of new additions. There were new restaurants, new businesses, even a large new mural on the side of a building. My sister had a point, Tulsa did not look like it used to.

Luckily, one place was still there and was open on the Fourth of July – Full Moon Café. I hadn’t been there in a long time but I could still remember their great burgers and legendary tortilla soup. I ordered the Okie Burger, figuring it would be appropriate for the occasion, while Joel ordered the Veggie Burger and Aubrae ordered the Fish and Chips.

The food was amazing and heart stopping (literally heart stopping, I think it has enough grease to induce a coronary). The Okie Burger is an amazing ground beef patty, grilled to perfection and topped with all the usual fixings like lettuce and tomato. But an Okie Burger also comes with thick slices of hickory smoked bacon and onion straws, which are little strands of onion fried into the most gloriously delicate bits of goodness. One bite into the decadent burger and you know this thing is going to be bad for you, but it tastes too good to care.

The experience wasn’t all perfect though. When we first arrived, we used almost an entire container of sugar packets to get our tables to stop wobbling and spilling our beers. Of course, then we discovered the roof was leaking onto Aubrae and had to move around again. The service was also disappointing. We managed to order and never saw our server again. To get a cup of water or a refill on a beer required the laborious task of finding someone who worked there and then getting her attention. Once you had placed your request, you had to settle in for the ten to twenty minute wait it would actually take to get a glass of water.

I’d go for the burger (or the epic tortilla soup, which I didn’t have on this trip but still can’t recommend enough) but be prepared for the wait.

Total Distance Traveled: 106 miles
Total Time Traveled: 1 hour and 45 minutes
Soundtrack: "Snakehouse" The Cliks

Dempsey’s Irish Pub – Lawrence, KS

Food, for me, has always defined a city. When I write about Chicago, I write about where I eat. When I write about Texas, I writer about where I eat. And so it goes without saying that one of my first posts since rejuvenating The Yellow Brick Road Trip must be about my favorite place to eat in Lawrence: Dempsey’s Irish Pub.

Well not exactly Dempsey’s Irish Pub – it is really The Burger Stand inside Dempsey’s Irish Pub. A few years ago, Dempsey’s had a small kitchen they weren’t using. So in February 2009, the Burger Stand opened the kitchen for business to serve gourmet burgers. The menu is heart stopping and includes such mouth-watering temptations as the Fromage Burger – a perfectly cooked beef patty topped with cheddar, maytag blue, mozzarella, goat, and gouda cheeses with rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage and oregano.

For vegetarians, I have heard great things about the Romesco Lentil Burger – a lentil patty with Feta cheese, Marcona Almonds, green beans and a roasted red pepper sauce. There are regular specials that delight and challenge the palates of customers. But you might have to hurry because some particularly amazing specials – such as the veal burger – have a tendency to sell out early. And for those who believe a good burger deserves a good beer will also be in luck because Dempsey’s is a full service pub with a wide variety of alcoholic beverages to help wash down your meal.

My personal favorite burger is the Kobe Burger, American Kobe beef with pickled red onion and truffle butter, best when ordered medium rare to medium with a side of truffle fries. The truffle fries alone are legendary. While McDonalds may be content to reheat some frozen potatoes, throw on some salt and call them french fries, Dempsey’s has made french fries an art form. I personally love the truffle fries and don’t think any meal at Dempsey’s is complete without them. My mother is particularly fond of the sweet potato fries. For those who love rich and decadent treats, there are the duck fat fries. They are amazing but are incredibly rich so I would suggest sharing an order.

Dempsey’s is not just a burger joint in Lawrence. For some foodies, it is a house of worship. I have a friend who always orders the Kobe Burger every time he goes to Dempsey’s, which is usually about once a week. I once asked him why he always ordered the same thing and didn’t he think he was missing out on trying some of the other great menu items? He told me, “If I didn’t order the Kobe today and I died tomorrow, my one dying regret would be that I hadn’t eaten the Kobe one last time.”

He was not exaggerating. That is the kind of devotion that a Dempsey’s burger will inspire.

Travel Time: 20 minutes
Travel Distance: 6 miles
Soundtrack: "Volume One" She & Him

Culinary Center of Kansas City - Overland Park, KS

Welcome back to The Yellow Brick Road Trip! I’m excited to say my first post is an exciting one. I have an incredible passion for cooking, but I am not a particularly skilled chef. Yet. Though I have been known to make some spectacular snacks for study groups (my baked asparagus in rosemary and white truffle oil wrapped with smoked salmon has earned some rave reviews), I am eager to learn. So for my birthday my parents have given me a three-day hands-on cooking class at the Culinary Center of Kansas City. For three days I learned knife skills, braising, sautéing, sauces, vegetables, and desserts.

The Culinary Center of Kansas City is a well-known institute throughout the Midwest that offers over 450 classes on the culinary arts throughout the year. The name is slightly a misnomer. While very close to Kansas City, the culinary center is actually in Overland Park.

This weekend I was lucky to be learning from Chef Gary, a certified executive chef and great teacher. The first day, we learned a number of important basics. We learned how to sharpen knives properly and how to make a variety of essential cuts, such as how to dice, mince, and julian vegetables. We also learned how to make good chicken and beef stock. We also learned how to make Chicken Chasseur with a rice pilaf and properly sauteed fall vegetables. The vegetables were actually a bit of revelation. For years, I thought I didn't like zucchini. Every time I had it before, it was mushy and full of seeds. But when Chef Gary made properly sauteed zucchini, I discovered I love it! I think that says a lot about the importance of proper cooking technique.

The second day was equally brilliant. We started off with a southwest smoked turkey corn chowder. I love soups, especially in winter, so I was thrilled for a new recipe. Soup is one of my favorite things to cook as well because you can freeze it. So often when I make really good food I'm stuck eating it for days. And around the third day I don't think its so good anymore. But with soup, you can freeze individual portions and so I can enjoy it for a long time without being forced to eat it day after day after day. With the soup, we also made salad dressings, asian salmon, and a stunning barley salad. The barley salad was so brilliant, I have to share the recipe! So check it out at the bottom of this post.

On the second day, we also confronted my biggest fear: baking. I am terrified to bake. For as much fun as I have cooking, I am a disaster every time I try to bake. It cruel and unusual punishment of chocolate chip cookies. But we were going to make an apple walnut pie and I was determined to finally bake sometime well. And I did. With my team of fellow culinarians, we made an amazing apple walnut pie and I did not destroy it.

Finally, on the third day we made eggs benedict to start the morning. I learned some great tricks to properly poaching eggs and how to make a really amazing hollandaise sauce. We then went into a high speed culinary race - we learned two beef dishes, a pork dish, shrimp scampi, risotto, and received recipes for a great pasta dish we ran out of time for.

I can't tell you how absolutely great this weekend was. Anyone who has any interest in cooking should definitely check out a class at the Culinary Center of Kansas City. You have the option of a weekend cooking basics class like mine, a nine week more intensive cooking basics course, or one of the many, many single evening courses that can bring a smile to any foodie's face.

Roasted Barley Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup pearl barley (do not buy the instant kind!)

3 cups vegetable stock

1 cup drained black beans

1 cup diced green bell peppers

1 cup sweet corn

1 cup diced seeded tomatoes

8 ounces of sliced mushrooms

6 green onions, diced

1/4 cup of jalapeno pepper slices

1/2 cup of fresh basil

6 cloves chopped, peeled garlic

Juice of a lemon

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

Toasted pumpkin seeds

Method:

Place barley in a sauce pan with olive oil over medium heat and toast it lightly. Be sure to stir it regularly to prevent burning. Add stock and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and cover; simmer gently until liquid is absorbed (about 25 minutes). Allow to cool. Saute the mushrooms in olive oil and then add to the barley. Then add everything else to the cooked barley and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Distance Traveled: About 150 miles (back and forth)

Soundtrack: "Good Health" Pretty Girls Make Graves

Ooh La La: The Dessert Boutique - Katy, TX

One of the best parts of traveling is and always will be eating. Whenever someone comes to see me, I automatically take them to my favorite local spots so they can stuff themselves silly. Luckily, my friend Anna thinks the same way and on my first day in Katy we sampled the fare at Ooh La La: The Dessert Boutique.

While I am not a cupcake connoisseur, I have had my fair share of delicious sugary confections. I have sampled a wide range of cupcakes from the chemically-altered generic grocery store brand to the fluffy, heavenly goodness of New York City Magnolia Bakery treats. (Fun Fact: Magnolia Bakery only lets customers purchase a dozen cupcakes at a time because they are so popular.) Still I can say without a doubt, that Ooh La La in Katy, Texas has some of the biggest and tastiest cupcakes I've ever had.

The variety was a little overwhelming. There were so many delicious treats but I knew I had to have a cupcake. Chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, peanut butter, lemon tart and every other kind of cupcake imaginable glowed in succulent sugary goodness under the display case lights. What to choose? Eventually I settled on a "Peter Rabbit," a carrot cake cupcake as big as my hand. As soon as it was in front of me, I swear I heard an angel weep for joy. Or maybe it was the screaming child at another table. Whatever, that thing looked good.

And it tasted good, too! When they say, "Everything is bigger in Texas," I'm glad that also applies to cupcakes. The icing was perfect - soft, sweet but not overwhelmingly saccharine. The cake was fresh and moist so it seemed to just melt in your mouth. In short, Ooh La La cupcakes make Katy, Texas a happier and tastier place to be.