Posted on

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

If you go all the way to Chile, you’ll probably be tempted to visit San Pedro de Atacama. All the guidebooks mention it, you’ll probably find lots of travel blogs talking about it and it seems like a pretty cool place from pictures. I am not sure I can recommend it. At least, I probably wouldn’t go back. There were some highlights for sure, but also it has the distinct feel of a place that was once beautiful but now is being over-touristed into oblivion. As with all such places, any positive superlatives that follow all have the implied suffix “for San Pedro” unless otherwise specified. For example, “a good selection of beers” should be read as “a good selection of beers for San Pedro”. If you really do want to go, I am sure three nights is enough time.

Because nothing here really belongs in the “Don’t Miss” category (except maybe for sandboarding), for this post we will just have a list of things we tried and whether we would recommned them to you or not.

What to do (and what not to do)

Sandboard San Pedro – https://www.sandboard.cl/

Let me just say this is a brutal workout if you really do it. There are no lifts; you earn your turns on the sand dunes and walking up a sand dune at 10,000 feet above sea level will basically make your lungs and legs want to explode. That being said it was awesome and for me totally worth it. I am not a snowboarder so I was really just learning the whole time but it was totally rad. If I were are an accomplished snowboarder I bet it would have been even cooler. Plus our guide, Nacho (real name Ignacio Luis), was a total blast and spoke English quite well, possibly better than anyone else we met during our time in Chile. He was such a board bro but I loved it. If you are up for the workout I can’t recommend this one highly enough. Fyi you will get sand everywhere. I still think it’s worth it.

Franchuteria – https://goo.gl/maps/QrpfnkqDjQ4QybHT7
In the pre-trip planning document, Bryn wrote a note next to this place, “Sandwich to go for the airport?” which turned out to be maybe the best idea in the history of ideas. (OK maybe that’s a lot but you know what I mean.) But also! This is is not just a place to get a great sandwich to go. They are open early and multiple mornings when we had a tour pickup at 7:00a (way before our hotel started serving breakfast), we got some legit, fresh-out-of-the-oven croissants at this place and felt really smug about ourselves for hours afterward. If you are there at a normal hour and the croissants didn’t just come out of the oven, they will warm them up for you if you ask nicely (probably in Spanish ; ) The bread here is also legit, so if you are staying in an Airbnb or for some reason find yourself leading an early morning tour and would like to give your guests a breakfast they’ll remember, you should check this place out. If you are not a professional tour guide and just want to hang out, they have a really pretty terrace for al fresco dining. The coffee is unmemorable, but that’s actually kind of a rave review for San Pedro coffee.

Baltinache Restaurant – https://goo.gl/maps/HGtLrJy1xweWVuTi7

Guanaco stew
Roasted apple dessert

Definitely the best food we ate in San Pedro. I particularly loved the guanaco (!) stew and the desserts, one of which had a chañar (local stone fruit) mousse and the other was a baked apple on top of quinoa cream (kind of like horchata I think but with quinoa instead of rice). The food was really good! It’s expensive but worth it given the alternatives in this place. My only complaint is the wine list is super weak. If they step up their wine/cocktail selection this place could be San Pedro’s first “Don’t Miss” destination ; )

Adobe Restaurant – https://goo.gl/maps/fV1SpH9RQpCSCbTj7

Ceviche mixto
Small producer, funky blend? Now you’re speaking my language.
Lomo rustico

Some of the pictures on Google Maps make this place look wack, but if you skip the pizzas and quesadillas (because, seriously?) and don’t look too closely at the prices, this place is easily #1 or #2 in San Pedro de Atacama (Baltinache’s food is probably slightly better but Adobe’s wine list is light years ahead and sometimes you just want a fried egg on top of a steak on top of fries for dinner.) It gets busy though so either go early or make a reservation.

[Possibly] Pulperia Atacama – https://goo.gl/maps/ACJQDcT6J1VBbPta6
I don’t normally like to include places in these lists that we didn’t actually visit, but I’ll make an exception here because (a) the food scene in San Pedro kind of sucks and (b) I’m pretty sure this place would be in the top 3 just based on hearsay and google sleuthing alone. It’s closed on Sundays though (which is the reason we didn’t get a chance to try it) so if you want to check it out make sure you plan ahead.

Roots Cafe – https://goo.gl/maps/1d7CA6cZ9MDEv9yv5

Fresh salad!
Completo and Ropa Vieja Sando

A good selection of craft beer and an excellent green salad–which, depending on how long you have been in Chile, you might desperately need. Also a solid completo (hot dog with more avocado and mayonnaise than seems appropriate) and a pretty good ropa vieja sandwich which Bryn correctly described as a Chilean cheesesteak. Skip the coffee though, it’s legitimately bad.

Babalu Ice Cream – https://goo.gl/maps/La1pYZccHL5ka4fh8, among other locations
Somehow there are three locations of this ice cream shop all along the main pedestrian street in town (Caracoles) which is like a 5-minute walk MAX form one end to the other. Anyway, the ice cream is fine, nothing that will change your life, but the flavors are cool. Lots of local flavors like pisco sour and flor del desierto. It’s ice cream, who doesn’t like ice cream?

Chile Infinito Wine Shop – https://goo.gl/maps/hATvLy1g74nid3E67
The hours on Google Maps are definitely wrong, at least as of September 2023, but I have no idea what the right hours are. The one time we managed to find it open, we did find a decent selection of wines including some smaller producers and interesting wines. If you are staying in an Airbnb or just want to get takeout for some reason, picking up a bottle of Chilean Semillon (or something) could be a cool thing to do ; )

Laguna Chaxa – https://goo.gl/maps/gD7QFBmVGdb55rdG7

We did this as part of the Piedras Rojas and Lagunas Altiplanicas tour below. We could not find a tour that only offered the flamingo lake but not the rest of the dopey stuff. If you can, I would recommend it. I think you can also go there by yourself if you have a car (or a private driver/tour). The flamingoes were really cool and totally majestic (in a goofy kind of way) when they fly. The flamingoes was the only part of the tour worth doing, but I have to say it did help to have a tour guide in this case because he shared some basic knowledge of the flamingo life cycle that we didn’t have which made the experience that much more interesting.

Silvana Sutar – https://goo.gl/maps/9oXXwsWyE9qCEWxs5
Really nice little jewelery shop on Caracoles with everything handmade on a small scale. Bryn bought a cool silver ring with a very cool malvilla flower design. The woman manning the shop (she wasn’t the owner, though the owner is apparently sometimes present in the shop making the jewelery) spoke decent English. Definitely worth a look around, very nice stuff for reasonable prices.

Boutique Femme – https://goo.gl/maps/NbZZnqgLa73tU5RRA
Small shop filled with various products (ceramics, chocolates, jewelery, etc.) hand made on a small scale by women-led businesses. A nice place to look around for a few minutes (which of course makes it one of the most interesting shops in Sand Pedro).

Emporio Andino – https://goo.gl/maps/JX4LfyFK8zH3i1Lg9
In fairness to them, we (unknoiwngly at the time) wandered in right before their siesta closing time, but if they wanted to be closed they could have just said that. It wold have been better than grumpily making a terrible coffee. I would not recommend it based on my small sample size of experiences, but the empanadas and cakes looked pretty solid (and there is like nothing else to do in San Pedro) so I wouldn’t fault you if you don’t take my advice.

Las Delicias del Carmen – https://goo.gl/maps/cpyuWxXboqDkagCs6
I wanted to try some local food and one of our tour guides (whose tastes I trusted) told us this is a place to get it. I have to say though, it was quite disappointing. They were out of the Cazuela stew that I really wanted, and the food items that we did order were enormous portions without any warning from the server. The pastel del choclo was fine, but who wants that much corn casserole? And the oven roasted pork leg was a literal entire leg of pig which was not cooked well–tough and chewy indicative of having been cooked too quickly at too high a temperature. The beer selection was weak as well, just a couple of lagers available. I cannot recommend this place; there are better places to eat in San Pedro.

Piedras Rojas and Lagunas Altiplanicas tour – https://welovechile.com.br/conheca-os-nossos-passeios/deserto-do-atacama/
We booked this tour through some tour aggregator called Get Your Guide, and we were quite surprised to find that everyone else on our tour was Brazilian, but in hindsight the actual tour operator is clearly a Brazilian company (based on their website) so it kind of makes sense. The tour was offered in English, and the tour guide was a nice guy but overall it just wasn’t a very exciting tour. There was a lot of annoying people taking annoying photos, obviously more concerned with posting on Insta than actually learning anything.

Valle de la Luna sunset tour – https://turismolayana.cl/
We also booked this tour through Get Your Guide and again we were the only English speakers on the tour. This tour was even less informative than the Piedras Rojas tour above. The vaunted sunset over the Valley of the Moon was nothing special to my mind. If you’ve seen a desert sunset I think you can skip this one. The lady guiding it was nice and I felt bad that she had to say everything twice just for us but overall it was just a giant waste of time.

Stargazing tour – https://www.feelatacama.com/

Another tour booked through Get Your Guide, another tour where we were the only English speakers in a van full of Brazilians. That said, the guide was great. She actually spoke better English than Brazilian and she was clearly passionate about astronomy and since the Brazilians were clearly not passionate about it (unless they could post it on social media), she seemed to be more interested in talking to us about the constellations and showing us some cool stuff in the telescope (including Saturn!) than anything else. I would recommend this tour for sure.

Where to stay

There are tons of hotels/hostels/etc in San Pedro at literally all conceivable price points. The choice can feel overwhelming for sure. If you stay near the main tourist pedestrian street called Caracoles, you’ll set yourself up for success as far as walking to all the places above/any tours that for some reason won’t pick you up or drop you off at your hotel. We stayed at a place called Hotel Desertica (https://goo.gl/maps/vntxex1eRzXn1dpSA), which was in the middle of the road price-wise (around $260/night in September 2023). The rooms were nice, the service was great, the breakfast was fine, the coffee was terrible (what else is new). We can recommend it but also if you feel like the price is higher than it should be I would definitely encourage checking out other places; it was not a be-all and end-all destination hotel.

Some things to note

In the winter (when we visited), the prevailing weather pattern is calm in the monring and pretty windy (sometimes extremely windy) in the afternoon. My understanding from talking to tour guides and others is that it is the opposite in the summer (windy in the morning and calm in the afternoon). You may want to take this into account for when to fly in/out and when to book certain tours or visit certain sites (for instance, sandboarding is apparently no bueno when it’s windy).

The town itself is pretty boring. I doubt you would find enough outside of meals to keep you busy for more than an hour or two total. As you can see, I think many of the excursions are a waste of time. Perhaps worst of all, there is no good coffee in San Pedro. Literally, none. So you can’t even just pass the time at a cool place drinking good coffee. That’s why I’m not sure I can recommend it as a destination.

Posted on

CFB: Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota

If you think this post is going to be about Mt. Rushmore, think again! Ok, yes, we went there, because it is basically a requirement in the Instagram era to put some Mt. Rushmore selfies on the internet, but ultimately this part of South Dakota is about much more. The beauty of the landscape is quintessetially America and many of those beautiful places have historical significance too. This is the kind of place to come and be outdoors as much as possible.

On that note, make sure you come dressed and prepared for the outdoors. Real hiking boots, moisture-wicking socks and undershirts, sunscreen, a jacket and a pack will all come in great handy, even on short day hikes since the weather can be fickle. Also make sure you pack plenty of water.

One more thing that is important to note, this is an early-to-bed, Sunday-is-a-day-of-rest kind of place. I don’t think we saw a single restaurant that was open for dinner past 8:00p, and very litle is open on Sundays, even in Rapid City. Grocery stores will be open, but very few restaurants, so either reserve well ahead or plan to make your own dinner (a great idea in my opinion if you have access to a grill!)

Don’t miss

Dakota BBQ LLC – Barbecue Restaurant – Custer
Really friendly people making great BBQ. Gotta get there early, especially if you want ribs, but even if you miss out on ribs you won’t be disappointed. The pulled pork is awesome; so moist but still distinctly porky. Get it naked or on a sandwich and don’t skip the baked beans—homemade of course—which are sweet and saucy and super delicious.

Black Hills Burger and Bun Co – Hamburger Restaurant – Custer
Really delicious burgers and fries. Patties are juicy and the buns are perfectly soft. Malted milkshakes are great too. All in all a great place for dinner. Minus one star for not being open for dinner on the weekends though. What’s up with that?

Red Shirt Table Overlook – Vista Point – Hermosa
A really crazy view of the Badlands within (relatively) easy striking distance from the Custer area. A great place for otherworldly photos, especially at sunset. Also a decent place to do a little stargazing if you have a blanket or a pickup truck bed ; ) On a clear night the stars are magical. Visiting at sundown and staying until the stars came out was possibly my favorite experience of the whole trip.

  • South Dakota Badlands
  • Waiting for the stars to come out

Canyon Lake Liquors – Liquor Store – Rapid City
Great place to buy good wine in what seems like an otherwise wine dead zone. Prices are high but where else in South Dakota are you going to find wine that doesn’t have a picture of a cartoon donkey on the front.

The Custer Beacon – Event Venue – Custer
A pretty cool spot in an otherwise not particularly cool little town. It feels like the sort of place that would be almost like a de facto cultural center—it definitely has a lot of potential. Lots of fun shows and even an annual air guitar competition (?!) Acoustics could be a bit better but the atmosphere and decent selection of craft beer is hard to deny.

Skogen Kitchen – American Restaurant – Custer
Amazing find in sleepy little Custer, SD! It’s small, so make reservations, but it’s worth the extra leg work. Highlights of our meal were the morel risotto daily special, the veal sweetbreads with aji amarilo, the free-range chicken with muhammara and the pork chop with green papaya salad. Plus they have by far the most sophisticated wine list maybe in the whole state. It’s a small list that skews mostly American but there are wines at every price point and definitely some good deals. As if that wasn’t enough it is one of the few places open on Sunday for dinner. They also have a killer brunch with amazing pancakes.

  • Veal sweatbreads and morel risotto
  • Scallops, pork chop, and good wine
  • Delicious brunch…
  • …with fried chicken and pancakes!

Cream – Ice Cream Shop – Hill City
This ice cream shops pulls their espresso from a LaMarzocco so you know they mean business when it comes to their coffee. In fact it is the only legit coffee shop we found outside of Rapid City. They make a well-made 8-oz (“small latte”) and also had French-pressed coffee brewed and ready to serve. Plus the homemade ice cream comes in a number of inventive flavors and is *real* good.

Lost Cabin Beer Co. – Brewery – Rapid City
Great beers (very well made and a large and diverse selection) and really friendly staff. It’s not huge inside but a nice place to hang out with friends and have a pint over tater tots from the food truck in the parking lot. I’d definitely be back for more smoked coffee stout and tater tots!

Pure Bean Coffeehouse – Coffee Shop – Rapid City
Strong coffee game for sure; in fact the best we found in all of South Dakota. Good single origin drip coffee and an excellent cortado (8 oz) pulled from a Mavam espresso machine. I would definitely come back for coffee and a cookie anytime I’m in Rapid City.

N.B. If you are in the market for coffee and aren’t sure about the fact that the bags have no indication of the coffee’s roast date, I am told that all the coffee is freshly roasted and none of the coffee bags on the shelf should be more than a couple days old.

Custer State Park Wildlife Loop Road – Wildlife Viewing – East Custer
This is a really beautiful drive through the park with lots of opportunities to see native wildlife like bison, pronghorn antelope, prairie dogs and even donkeys (!) The drive is beautiful and there is a good chance to see wildlife but the part that I would recommend not to miss is the hike on the Prairie Trail. There is a small parking lot and a bathroom at the Prairie Trail Trailhead on Wildlife Loop Rd. Hiking through the wilderness is a much better way to experience the beauty of this area than driving, and you might even happen upon some bison!

If you have time/are in the area

Black Elk Peak – Hiking – Sylvan Lake
The trail was snowy and muddy as all get out in late May (!) but it was a fun (if wet) slog to the top. The top was slightly underwhelming though; the views are spectacular but the top can be crowded. Also we had a really hard time finding the USGS high point marker. Overall it wasn’t bad just not the most exciting high-point experience of my life.

Baker’s Bakery & Café – Breakfast Restaurant – Custer
I would describe it as a fairly standard diner-type spot. The breakfast and pastries are homemade but lacked the artisanal touch I was really hoping for. Bryn thought the doughnuts reminded here of her childhood, I thought they reminded me of Dunkin’. There is one shining star of the breakfast menu though, the the western omelette with a side of green chile sauce that is the bomb.

Mt. Rushmore Brewing Company – Brewpub – Custer
Some of the beers are really good, but others still need some work. The oatmeal stout, the cranberry juniper (!) special ale and the scotch ale are all strong choices. The IPAs and porters left a lot to be desired. Similarly for the food, stick to traditional bar food: the chicken wings are super-duper and the bratwurst is solid but I would not order the pizza again. Overall it is a place to eat in Custer that may be open when other places are not open, but it is definitely not worth going out of your way for.

Don’t bother

Wind Cave National Park Visitor Center – Cave Tour – Hot Springs
Unless you manage to get on the Wild Cave tour (crawling required) or potentially the Candlelight tour (some off trail travel) I would definitely skip this overly touristy stop in Wind Cave National Park. The park itself is cool and there is lots of great-looking hiking as well as a herd of bison you can see from the road, but the cave tours are pretty lame. There is nothing natural about the Natural Entrance tour–everything has been widened and paved for ease of access and it feels too manicured and a bit like waiting in line for some sort of Indiana Jones-themed ride at Disney World. Plus almost no real information is given about the caves and their history and significance to the native peoples, which would have at least made the tour more interesting if it wasn’t going to be very exciting.

Knuckle Saloon – Gastropub – Sturgis
First of all, this is NOT a Gastropub. Tricked again by Google Maps, I guess. In reality, it is just your average dive bar with tons of tchotchkes and junk all over the place, which makes it feel a little too much like a Disney World version of a dive bar. The food is just regular bar food. Perhaps it is just not my type of place but I would skip it next time.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial – Memorial Park – Keystone
This may be blasphemy but just stick with me here. It’s Mt. Rushmore. You know it, you (probably) love it, but it’s just a bunch of heads carved into a rock. It is actually kind of cool up close, and $10 for one carload is somewhat reasonable, but you don’t realy *need* to do this to have a great time in South Dakota. If you do decide to come here there is no way I can see that you would need anymore than 20 minutes at the monument. In a way it’s kind of a victim of its own fame; it looks exactly like what you expepct it to look like. There is no mystery, no wonder, no real interest unfortunately. Snap those selfies and get on to the good stuff!

Posted on

CFB Paris: Everything you need to know

The worst part about Paris is the flight. Never fly Air France economy class. Never fly into or out of Orly (though Charles De Gaulle is only marginally better). In fact, if possible, just take the train from somewhere else in Europe. You will enjoy your journee so much more. The good news is, though, once you manage to escape the most uncomfortable flight in history, it will definitely be all uphill from there.

Some things to note about Paris, especially regarding eating and drinking, that always seem strange to me:

Restaurants in Paris operate around their lives, not yours. Lunch hours are a tight window from 12:00p to 2:30p and are held very strictly–do not expect to show up at 2:35p and be seated for lunch. Similarly, many of the restaurants you want to eat at will be closed on the days you want to eat at them (i.e. the weekends). There are of course some good restaurants in Paris which have deigned to be open on Saturday and/or Sunday, but be sure to make reservations well ahead of time so you don’t miss out.

Paris has great natural wine. In Paris, “natural wine” just means “good wine that happened to be made in a sustainable and earth-friendly way”, as opposed to “natural wine” in America, which just seems to mean “wine that smells like animal waste and tastes like hot garbage”. Find a wine bar in Paris and it’s a good bet it will be a “natural wine” bar, but that is actually a good thing in this case.

This is not directly related to coffee, food or booze, but it can sometimes be tough to get around Paris (especially if you are from New York) because Google Maps makes all distances in Paris look more walkable than they really are. On top of that, you–being well acquainted with the worst transit authority in history, the MTA–probably have an inherent distrust of taking the subway to go on a trip that covers what seems like short distance and/or requires one or more transfers. Never fear; the Paris Metro is very safe and efficient and trains run almost one after another so that you would rarely wait more than three or four minutes for the next one. Plus rides are cheap–1.50 EUR per ride if you buy 10 tickets at a time. Hence, taking the subway one or two stops is probably actually the most efficient way to get from point A to point B.

Parisian restaurants always seem to want to get your food order first, and then take your drink order. I suppose this actually makes more sense than the way things are done in America because you will probably want to pair your wine (or beer or cocktail) with your food, rather than the other way around, but it always throws me off. Especially since I am always concerned the food will come before the booze (which does happen on occasion and drives me nuts). It is quite possible however that I am the only weird that really cares about this and it won’t matter to you either way.

I think everyone already knows this about Paris (and France, and Europe in general), but it gets me every time: the servers at most restaurants feel almost no incentive to sell you anything. Beyond the initial order of food and drink they will not look at your empty wine glass and ask if you want more wine. In fact they will probably not ask you if you want anything else at all. If you do happen to want something else (say, more water, or wine, or to pay the bill) you will need to flag them down and ask for it. This is perhaps the thing that I have the hardest time with because I feel rude asking someone to basically do their job. It is a cultural difference that I will never understand but as they say, c’est la vie.

One more thing I would be remiss not to mention is how much we enjoyed our Airbnb Experiences in Paris. We took a “Magic French Liquors” mixology class with
François and a “Learn to Bake French Croissants” class with Flo and Olivier. Airbnb makes it easy to sign up for these offbeat and interesting experiences and we really enjoyed both of our experiences. I would highly recommend them to anyone else looking for something fun to do in between all the eating and drinking ; )

Ok, that should be enough to get you started. Now on with the show:

Don’t miss

La Maison du Savon de Marseille – Beauty Supplies – 4th Arrondissement
It may seem weird for a beauty supply store to be the very first place listed in the blog, but this might be Bryn’s favorite spot in Paris. We measure the time between trips to Paris in bars of this store’s wonderful soap. When we start to run low (only two or three bars left), then it is time to start looking for flights to Paris. There are so many wonderful scents to choose from and each one makes taking a shower like a taking a short, wet little trip back to Paris. There is a second location near the Arc de Triomphe.

  • Soap heaven
  • La Maison du Savon de Marseille

Cafe Mericourt – Cafe – 11th Arrondissement
The rare coffee shop that serves great food and great coffee instead of just one or the other. Everyone is very friendly and the flat white is one of the best I’ve had in Paris. Food wise, the shakshuka is off the hook. Like seriously it’s the standard to which I compare all other shakshukas. The only problem is Cafe Mericourt is tiny, so you should definitely plan to be there on the early side because it will fill up fast. We’ll definitely be back every time we’re in Paris.

  • Waiting for tables outside Cafe Mericourt
  • What everyone is waiting for: shakshuka!

Golden Promise – Bar – 2nd Arrondissement
The bar called Golden Promise is actually a fine whiskey bar downstairs from a Japanese restaurant, but the real attraction here is the “other room” (which doesn’t have a real name as far as I can tell–you can just tell the bartender you’re looking for the other room) where basically every whiskey in existence (I assume based on the length of the list) is available by the ounce. Some (most) are very rare and therefore very expensive, but there are definitely gems in the 15€-30€ range worth seeking out, like Johnnie Walker Black Label from the sixties or a really interesting Berry Bros and Rudd Peated Springbank whiskey from 1992. It won’t be cheap but it will be an experience you won’t forget if you are truly a whiskey lover.

Fragments – Cafe – 3rd Arrondissement
A small but cosy cafe near the Chemin Vert metro stop. Delicious breakfasts–avo toast with perfectly poached eggs, homemade quick breads with inventive flavors like sweet potato or banana tahini–and coffee. The espresso is balanced and sweet and they serve raw milk by default in the cappuccino which gives the drink a little added sweetness and roundness (and definitely not something you’ll see in the US). Perfect English is spoken in case you are not up on your French cafe vocabulary. The only drawback is it’s on the expensive side, but definitely worth at least one breakfast as a vacation treat.

  • Avo toast and sweet potato bread
  • Outside Fragments

Danico – Bar – 10th Arrondissement
A classy bar at the back of the Darocco Italian restaurant. Tell the host you are there for Danico and you can walk back through the restaurant to the bar. The cocktails are really creative–especially with their use of savory and non-alcoholic ingredients–but also delicious (which is not always a given when mixologists get a little too creative). The staff are friendly and speak good English and it’s a great place to have a few drinks after dinner (or while waiting for a table at Darocco, which we have not actually tried).

Au Quai Caviste Vin Nature – Wine Shop – 10th Arrondissement
Fantastic little natural wine shop run by a wonderful man named Alain. The deal–to start–is you get one glass per person and a plate of sausage to share. You pick the color of your wine, Alain picks the rest ; ) Don’t worry though, Alain has great taste. I chose red and he brought me a superb pinot noir from Alsace. I never order the same glass twice but I was ready to order that wine again. Luckily he would not let me (or maybe he just didn’t understand me–his English was passable but definitely not his strongest language) and he let me taste 3 other red wines he had open before letting me choose a Rhone-valley syrah for my next glass. If you see a bottle in the shop and want to drink it there, corkage is a very fair 7€ per bottle. Definitely a great place to start your night in the 10th.

  • Natural wine and sausage at Au Quai Caviste
  • Roasted squash at Freddy’s

Feddy’s – Wine Bar/Restaurant – 6th Arrondissement
Great spot for a slightly later lunch than usual–the kitchen is open until 3:00p (as opposed to the usual 2:30p) and they have a nice mid-day snacks menu in case you can’t make it in time for actual lunch. Small plates are excellent–delicious, creative and beautiful–and pair well with a great selection of wines by the glass and bottle. Go for lunch, afternoon wines or dinner. Just go!

Ambassade de Bourgogne – Wine Shop – 6th Arrondissement
A small wine shop on the right bank with a few tables and a bar to try wines by the glass. As the name implies, the list leans very heavily (if not entirely?) towards Burgundy. Bryn had a very nice Nuits-St-Georges from 2015 and I found a wine from 1999 so there is definitely a good range of choices. In case you can’t decide on just one glass they have a few flights you can try too. Also, you can drink any bottle in the store for a 15€ corkage fee. It’s a bit on the expensive side, especially compared to some of the other wine bars in Paris like Au Quai Caviste (above) and La Cave de Belleville (below) but it is Burgundy after all and in Burgundy you tend to get what you pay for.

  • Ambassade de Bourgogne
  • Steak and Bordeaux at hugo&co

hugo&co – Restaurant – 5th Arrondissement
Here is an example of a great restaurant that is not open on Saturday or Sunday, so make sure you plan on going during the week and make sure you have reservations. It’s small inside but somehow still comfy. The decor and vibe are real cool and the food is super delicious. A small but good selection of cocktails and wines by the glass and bottle pairs well with the menu. If you see the steak on the menu, get it. Served on a bed of smoked hay, it comes with traditional sides (ours were mashed potatoes and French lentils) and the best pan sauce you’ve ever tasted. You definitely won’t regret it.

If you have time/are in the arrondissement

O Chateau – Wine Bar/Restaurant – 1st Arrondissement
They have a big bar with lots of seats but on a Friday evening around 6:00p it filled up pretty quick. 50 wines by the glass basically guarantees you’ll find something you like. We drank a glass of 2015 Volnay, 2000 Mersault and 1995 Haut-Medoc when we were there so there are definitely some good choices. They also have a killer truffle ham and cheese board which sounds kind of weird but was actually amazing, especially with the red and white Burgundy. The other meat and cheese boards looked amazing as well, even though we didn’t get to try them. The only thing keeping it from “Don’t Miss” status is the price; it’s not cheap. Still, I would say it can be a very good call for a glass of wine or two before dinner.

  • Truffle ham and cheese board at O Chateau
  • “Surf’s up” at Blackburn Coffee

Blackburn Coffee – Cafe – 10th Arrondissement
Kind of a sketchy neighborhood, so it’s not too clear why you would “be in the neighborhood” for breakfast, but in case you are be sure to stop in. Solid flat white and perfectly melty, cheesy scrambled eggs. English was pretty hit or miss, so bring your phrasebook : )

Il Brigante – Pizza – 18th Arrondissement
Last time Bryn and I were in Paris we met a young guy at a bar who was from Paris but loved pizza so much he once went all the way to New Haven (!) to try some pizza place that was supposed to be really good. That guy told us this place was the best pizza in Paris. I don’t think we’ve ever eaten pizza anywhere else in Paris so it’s tough to say for sure, but it is a really solid thin crust pizza. And Il Brigante is a good (if tiny) choice for lunch before or after Montmartre/Sacre Couer. English is a bit hit-or-miss but if you don’t speak French you can try Italian.

Cassiopee Cafe – Coffee Shop – 18th Arrondissement
An oasis of good coffee in an out-of-the-way part of town. The coffee is solid if not spectacular, but it is freshly roasted in house (right in the back patio of the shop!) a couple times a week and there is obviously a lot of love put into the coffee and the shop.

  • Roasting a la minute at Cassiopee Cafe
  • Le Syndicat

Le Syndicat – Bar – 10th Arrondissment
A speakeasy-style bar with a unique style that is basically hidden in plain sight on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis and only uses French ingredients to make their drinks. Service is friendly, English is well-spoken and while all of the drinks are definitely creative, only most of the drinks are delicious. On the whole though it is a cool experience and a nice place to have some creative drinks in a funky space.

Au Petit Tonneau – Bistro – 7th Arrondissement
Friendly, cozy ambiance with simple but beautifully prepared dishes. Definitely go for the wild mushroom saute of the day. Also, it wouldn’t be France without at least one plate of escargots; the snails are particularly good here. English (and Spanish as it turns out) is spoken well so no need to worry about understanding the menu. A fine if not particularly exciting lunch option located in between the Eiffel Tower and Musee d’Orsay.

La Cave de Belleville – Wine Bar – 19th Arrondissement
Another cool wine bar/wine shop in the same mold as Au Quai Caviste and Ambassade de Bourgogne (both above). Great little selection of natural wines by the glass and a huge selection of wines by the bottle (and craft beer!) to go with some killer cheese and meat boards. It’s also a pretty big space so there should be room for you and a few friends. The only challenge for us was the language barrier; the only guy who spoke English kept getting pulled in a bunch of different directions and it was tough to get his attention for another glass of wine. Overall though a good place to start the evening with some friends, a nice bottle and some delicious charcuterie.

  • Charcuterie at La Cave de Belleville
  • Game meats and old Beaujolais at Le Clown Bar

Le Clown Bar – Restaurant – 11th Arrondissement
I had high hopes for Clown Bar even though the chef that made it famous had moved on. To be honest, the food was not as exciting as I had expected. It was still very good but ultimately some dishes felt like they were trying too hard (like the fish fried in a black (squid ink?) batter. It was good because deep fried fish is delicious, but I really couldn’t understand why it was just some black pieces of fried fish on a plate. Bryn’s pigeon was definitely the star of the show–a balanced, composed, interesting dish that was perfectly cooked. Plus they have a pretty good selection of natural wines by the bottle so your confusion over some of the food will be easily forgotten ; ) I would go back for the wine and some of that pigeon, but I can’t say I would go out of my way to make it back, especially if I am on a short stay in Paris.

Don’t bother

La Bourse et La Vie – Bistro – 2nd Arrondissement
Don’t get me wrong here, this was a very solid–though not mind-blowing–central option. The food is very good and very classic French bistro food. There is also a small but good selection of wines by the glass, but it is a very expensive meal–especially for lunch, which is when we went. You will definitely have a good meal if you choose to go but personally I would not go back with my own money; I just don’t think it is worth the price.

Saturne – Restaurant – 2nd Arrondissement
Maybe we were there on an off night. (I know Valentine’s dinner is a disaster in the states but is it also a thing where restaurants mail it in in Europe too?) Either way, it just felt like the kitchen was trying too hard. Some of the food was good, but other bits were head-scratching and some–like our amuse bouche of oyster and green pea foam–were downright despicable. Also the wine pairings were very hit-and-miss, with no real stars to speak of. I think for the money I would have expected to have a more delicious, well-curated and better-executed experience; I can’t really recommend it based on our experience.

Ellsworth – Restaurant – 1st Arrondissement
I have to admit I’m a bit torn about Ellsworth. On the one hand, it’s small (“cramped” doesn’t really do it justice) and full of tourists. The vaunted fried chicken was moist but ultimately nothing to write home about, and the other dishes we tried were also fine but not ground-breaking. The service was also very disjointed (though maybe they were just having a bad night since they seemed to be aware of the fact that the service was not great).

On the other hand, they do have a very good–if small–selection of natural wines by the glass and by the bottle, so maybe sitting at the bar for a drink and a snack would be the move here. I would not go back for the whole dinner thing though.

Cafe Spoune – Cafe – 11th Arrondissement
I only tried the coffee, so maybe this is a bit harsh, but the coffee was only ok. Double-shot of espresso with milk (like basically a 6-oz) was quite bitter (though it did get the job done). I might come back to try the filter coffee and some for the food items but for sure there is a better flat white in the area (see especially Fragments and Cafe Mericourt, above).

Marché aux Oiseaux – Market – 4th Arrondissement
Umm, I’m really not sure what this is all about, but it’s pretty weird. I don’t know why anyone would want to buy a bird from a random outdoor market on a Sunday morning on Ile de la Cite but somehow this place is still going strong. Bryn insisted we check it out for nostalgia’s sake; I insist you do not waste your time.

Posted on

Our favorite restaurant in the world

Everyone who knows us and knows we live in New York will eventually ask us the same question: what is your favorite restaurant in the city? The problem with that question is that our favorite restaurant in the city is not a super-famous restaurant…and we would like to keep it that way!

So we’re not going to tell you the name of our favorite restaurant ever because I want to continue being able to find 8:00p reservations for Friday night when checking Opentable on Wednesday. But because we love this place so much and we do want you to go there if you really care, we are going to give you some hints so the intrepid among you will be able to figure it out.

It’s not a famous restaurant but it is possible you have already been there if you live in or have visited us in NYC. Many of you who know us pretty well have probably already met us in the East Village for Modern Hawaiian food and a fantastic wine list at a small space with a black awning in between a bakery and an Irish pub. Just like in this post, the name is not prominently displayed anywhere–you just have to know something amazing is inside.

Inside is a small space divided across two rooms. A small bar is somehow squeezed in the middle and the specials are written on a surfboard-shaped chalkboard on the back wall. Looking around the restaurant before you’re probably wondering what the heck “Modern Hawaiian” food is and why such a restaurant would have such an amazing wine list.

  • Great food, great wines and great times

  • Pork jowl and spam musubis: “Modern Hawaiian”

Checking out the menu gives you your first clues about why this place might be special. A three-course prix-fixe menu for less than $50 is basically unheard of in New York these days. As if that isn’t enough, you can tack on a three-course wine pairing for just $35 more!

Even if the food were bad and the wines were dreck this would be a pretty good deal these days. But as you start to look at the menu you will probably quickly realize there are some really tough choices to be made–because everything sounds amazing! The silken tofu is ridiculously creamy and earthy in the best way; the kabocha squash tempura is probably the dish I would talk about if I were ever on that Food Network show “Best Thing I Ever Ate”. The chicory salad with papaya and pumpkin seeds is refreshing and a brilliant combination and the big-eye tuna poke is Bryn’s go-to. And while all the mains are amazing, the mochiko fried heritage chicken is crisp and crave-worthy and basically a can’t-miss.

Mochiko Fried Heritage Chicken! Seriously the best fried chicken in NYC.

Amazingly, the wine is also not dreck! Usually wines by the glass at restaurants in Manhattan are either not worth drinking because they’re gross or not worth drinking because they cost almost as much as the whole bottle. Not here; all the wines available by the glass are great by-the-glass choices and the pairings (if chosen) are expertly paired with all the dishes.

Sometimes though it is tough to choose the three-course wine pairing because the bottle list is even more amazing than the wines-by-the-glass. There are enough choices at enough price points that you will definitely find something you like–especially with the staff’s help–but not so many choices that it is overwhelming (cough, cough, Union Square Cafe). It is definitely a wine nerd’s wine list. Assuming you listened to my advice and ordered the mochiko fried chicken, consider pairing it with a bottle of the 1994 Poco do Lobo Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva if you see it–just make sure there is still one left for the next time I go ; )

  • Great wines…
  • …and great company

Everything about this restaurant is wonderful, from the food to the beverage program (especially the wine!) to the warm and welcoming staff. It really is the perfect restaurant experience in my opinion. If I could afford to eat here every night I would probably try! Hopefully one of those nights we will see you there too ; )

Posted on

CFB: The Finger Lakes

What if there were a place nearby to New York City where the people are friendly, the food and booze are delicious and the scenery is beautfiul? Don’t believe it? Neither did we. That’s why it’s been almost 12 years that Bryn and I have lived in New York but have not visited the Finger Lakes region. Not because we thought it would suck, but just because it we figured it couldn’t really be as good as it sounds.

But on this account, we definitely stand corrected. We drove up just for a short weekend, but everywhere we stopped we found friendly, genuine people who are passionate about what they do. Everywhere we looked we saw Norman Rockwell-worthy scenery.

It’s easy to feel a connection to a place that seems so full of genuine and frinedly people and even in just a short visit I think Bryn and I felt that connection to the Finger Lakes region quite strongly.Don’t miss

Don’t miss

F.L.X. Provisions – Wine Store – Geneva
There is a mini-empire of related businesses all across the Finger Lakes; the “F.L.X.” empire is probably the thing about the Finger Lakes that impressed me the most. While we could not get one of the coveted spots at F.L.X. Table, we did discover this gem of a wine store basically next door (it’s connected to the F.L.X. Fry Bird, which is a fried chicken restaurant–see below–that is next to F.L.X. Table). Not only has this great little shop done the hard work for you to find the best wines from the best wineries in the Finger Lakes–if you see a bottle of wine in this shop it is going to be a good bottle of wine from a good winery–but because they have a Coravin hooked up to a huge tank of argon (I guess it’s argon?) you can taste any wine they have in the shop at very reasonable prices, including wines from Element Winery, which is the winery owned by the F.L.X. team.

I really loved F.L.X. Provisions–it’s my kind of shop–and loved chatting with the manager Donovan who led us through our tastings and geeked out hardcore with me about all things booze, much to Bryn’s chagrin. They also have a great beer selection and you can drink anything you buy in the store at the Fry Bird restaurant too. I can’t really recommend it highly enough. The only drawback is it’s pretty small so there is room for about 4 people to do a tasting at once. During high season it might be worth calling ahead to see if they can slot you in at a specific time.

F.L.X. Wienery – American – Dundee
In case you can’t tell from above, I am a big fan of what they are doing at the “F.L.X.” family of companies, and especially what they are doing at the Wienery. Yes it’s a hot dog restaurant, but it’s also so much more. The wieners and sausages are delicious of course, but the real gem is their crazy and amazing beverage program (yes, it’s a hot dog shop with top-notch booze) and their Saturday night specials (known as “Dundoit Socials” they are basically crazy ideas for a party that come to life every Saturday night, with different themes like Tequila and Tacos or Ramen with a Master Sommelier).

  • F.L.X. Wienery: don’t judge this book by its cover

Maybe the coolest thing about F.L.X. Wienery (or in fact any restaurant I’ve ever been to) is their “Secret Wine Fridge”. It’s a wine fridge in the middle of the restaurant that has no printed list of what’s inside, but you are welcome to look through it and if you find something you like you can buy it and drink it, and there are some serious bottles of wine in there. Their actual (non-secret?) wine list is also legit and they even have DRC on the list, as if it’s not weird to have a $1500 bottle of wine with your $5 hot dog. They have a super-legit beer selection and in case somehow you are not impressed yet they have a crazy good spirits menu with some of the heaviest hitters around (Pappy Van Winkle 23-year-old and George T. Stagg for example). This is exactly what a restaurant should be–cool, casual and welcoming but still pushing the envelope with impeccable taste in everything they do.

Kemmeter Wines – Winery – Penn Yan
If you only visit one winery in the Finger Lakes, I would make it this one. Johannes who owns the winery with his wife, is such a fantastic guy who makes really excellent Rieslings. Make sure you call ahead to schedule an appointment since tastings are by appointment only. You won’t regret the effort since spending time with anyone so genuine and passionate is an unfortunately rare treat these days. In case that is not incentive enough, you will also get to taste some cracking-good wines at the same time. How can you go wrong?

Our tasting of 4 fantastic Rieslings at Kemmeter Wines

Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard – Winery – Dundee
If you only visit two wineries in the Finger Lakes, I would stop here after (or before) Kemmeter Wines (see above). You can call ahead to setup a special Riesling tasting but you don’t need to make an appointment. All their wines are very good but some of their wines–especially the single-vineyard rieslings–are truly excellent and worth tasting at any opportunity. My only (minor) complaint is the wines are more expensive than you might expect when buying direct from the winery, but not so expensive that I would not go back.

  • Tasting room at HJW
  • Just a part of the Riesling tasting at HJW

Argos Inn – Hotel – Ithaca
Staying in Ithaca is not necessarily the best choice for exploring the Finger Lakes region, especially if you are planning to spend the majority of your time visiting wineries–the best of which are mostly clustered around Seneca and Keuka Lakes. But Ithaca is a slighlty more reasonable driving distance from NYC and it is the location of the Argos Inn, which is a totally great place to stay. We normally do not put too much stock into where we are staying–rarely do we need (or care for) more from a hotel than a bed and a hot shower, but we really loved the Argos Inn.

Not only is it a big, cool old house with nicely appointed rooms and heated bathroom floors (a great feature for an Ithaca winter), but it also has a great cocktail bar (Bar Argos) on the ground floor and across the parking lot there is another bar/lounge space (Argos Warehouse) that has a good (and different) cocktail menu plus snacks (including a really fantastic charcuterie plate). Overall a great hospitality experience that I would recommend to anyone staying in Ithaca. Even the coffee served at breakfast was acceptable, which is basically unheard-of for coffee from a free hotel breakfast.

  • Cocktails at Bar Argos
  • Cocktail and charcuterie at Argos Warehouse

Press Cafè – Coffee – Ithaca
If you do stay in Ithaca then make sure to start your mornings here; their coffee game is strong here. Single-origin drip coffee brewed and ready. Plus an an excellent flat white and a cool space to hang out as well as fresh, locally roasted beans for sale. It’s basically what every coffee shop should be. I’ll be back for sure next time I’m in Ithaca.

Flat whites and local beans at Press Cafe

Heart & Hands Wine Company – Winery – Springport
Small little tasting room on the east shore of Cayuga Lake that specializes in Pinot Noirs (they also make Rieslings, but their focus is the red grape). The Pinot Noirs are very good, the Rieslings are good, and the tasting room staff is friendly. When we were there on a Sunday afternoon the co-owner herself was pouring our tasting flights. Their attention to detail and vineyard knowledge is obvious and even though I am fairly skeptical of the weird glass corks they use, I am bullish on their wines and would stop by just to try them any time I am back in the Finger Lakes.

If you have time/are in the area

F.L.X. Fry Bird – Fried Chicken – Geneva
It’s a pretty small place so it can get packed at peak times. The popcorn chicken was fine; it had a somewhat funny, almost cheesy taste that I couldn’t get past although it may have been the dipping sauce and not the chicken itself. The collard greens side was excellent though and so is the drink selection when you consider you can bring something in from F.L.X. Provisions (see above) next door. I’d give it another shot next time I’m near Geneva and need a fried chicken fix, though maybe I would go for a sandwich rather than the popcorn chicken.

Nickel’s Pit BBQ – Barbecue – Watkins Glen
We came very early on a Saturday evening after visiting wineries and got seated right away, but by the time we left there seemed like there was quite a wait. The no reservations policy can make it hard to time this place right and I would not say it is worth waiting for, but if you can get seated relatively quickly then I’d say go for it. If you do decide to wait a bit, they have good beers from Rooster Fish around the corner to help pass the time ; ) We had the pulled pork sandwich and an order of the smoked chicken wings. Both were perfectly cooked and very delicious, although somewhat lacking in that essential BBQ smoke flavor that is pervasive in really great ‘cue (although the room itself basically smelled like a campfire so maybe my senses were thrown off).

Prison City Pub and Brewery – Brewpub – Auburn
Auburn does not seem a likely stop on your tour of the Finger Lakes region, but if you are in the area (Heart & Hands Wine Company–see above–is relatively close) then I would definitely recommend stopping here for some delicious craft beers, including an excellent chocolatey porter and a solid, fruity and hazy New England IPA. But don’t sleep on the food, as their burgers are real good and they make an awesome, if slightly non-traditional, poutine. A great place to spend an evening watching a game with friends.

Dope poutine and beers at Prison City Pub and Brewery

Thompson and Bleecker – Pizza – Ithaca
Apparently this brick-oven pizza place is a big deal for Ithaca since they have been wandering through the pizza desert for a long time, at least that’s the impression I got. At this point I think Thompson and Bleecker is more mirage than promised land, but that is not to say it doesn’t have any potential. The space has nailed the hipster vibe with mismatched china pattern plates and tight spaces between tables. The wine list is intriguing but it always drives me crazy when there are no vintages printed on the wine menu (since I am a pretty severe age-ist when it comes to wine) and since we had basically been drinking all day we didn’t order any drinks with our food.

Hambo pizza: crispy on the outside, but not quite in the middle

Speaking of the food, the Prasini salad had good flavor but needed some textural element to break up the monotony of chopped lettuce, dill and scallion. The Hambo pizza–which we split–also had good flavor components but the large slices of ham coupled with the fact that the pizza was slightly undercooked in the middle meant that all the cheese and toppings came off in one bite–the ultimate pizza fail. That said, the flavors were good and the crust was nicely charred ad crisp on the outer edge like it’s supposed to be, so if they can figure out how to get the middle of the pizza cooked perfectly then they will really have something worth seeking out.

Don’t bother

Seneca Lake Wine Trail Deck The Halls Weekend – Event – Seneca Lake Region
We did not do this, but we were in town at the same time as this event and in tasting at various wineries that were not part of the event it became very clear that not being a part of it was a good idea. It’s basically old-people SantaCon with Finger Lakes wineries instead of New York City bars. If that sounds good to you then I think you are probably reading the wrong blog?

Other than Old-people SantaCon I don’t think there was anything else that we did or saw that was out-and-out not worth our time. Which, frankly, seems impossible. But maybe that’s the cynical New Yorker in me speaking–maybe it is possible in a place like the Finger Lakes where people are friendly and genuinely care about what they do. Shame on us for not making that discovery sooner.

Posted on

Homebrewing 101 – Basic Brewing Theory

A lot of people seemed surprised to find out that I brew beer at home (well, not technically home, since my home is a 500 square-foot apartment in Manhattan, but you know what I mean). It is actually not that difficult and hopefully today I can introduce the basic concepts in a way that everyone can understand and will inspire the most intrepid of you to continue your education and maybe even try it out for yourself.

Brewing beer is a lot like cooking food, except the main result takes weeks (at least) before it’s ready to be consumed. And just like cooking, there are basically two approaches to brewing beer: you can follow a well-written, detailed recipe exactly, or you can understand the basic concepts and put together your own process based on those concepts. I am a fan of the latter approach when it comes to both cooking and brewing and hopefully you will be too, but even if you’re not, hopefully the information here will help you get started.

At it’s very, very, most basic level, beer is a kind of sweet porridge made from barley and possibly other grains that is fermented by yeast to make it alcoholic. I like to think about it like oatmeal: when you make a bowl of oatmeal, you are mixing water and some grains (oats in this case) to form a kind of porridge. The water acts to draw out the sugars from the grains so that if you taste the liquid part of the oatmeal it tastes sweet and probably a little bready from the oats. Now if you take that same bowl of oatmeal but replace the oats with malted barley, and then you drain the water away from the barley and then you add some yeast to that barley water and let it sit for a while you will have beer.

At a basic level, that’s all beer is and that’s “all” that is required to make it. Beer doesn’t have to be carbonated or otherwise flavored in any way. Of course, I think there is almost universal agreement that beer is better when it is carbonated and at least flavored with something bitter–like hops–to balance the sweetness of the fermented barley water.

A very important thing to remember when brewing your own beer is that these raw ingredients when combined in this way want to become beer. It is not a fool-proof process by any means but neither is it an exacting, scientific or especially tricky process. Which is why great beer can be made from guidelines and principles instead of only from exacting recipes. If nothing else from this post, keep this in mind and I can almost guarantee it will save you lots of stress during your brewdays.

The main challenge your barley water and yeast combo will face in trying its darndest to become beer is contamination by a collection of microbes ominously referred to as “spoilage organisms”. Basically the thing is that yeast (certain types of yeast, anyway) love sweet barley water and given no competition will colonize and proliferate in a batch of barley water (a.k.a. wort, pronounced “wert”), happily eating the sugars and farting out CO2 and alcohol. (This is literally what yeast do.) The problem is that these spoilage organisms also love sweet barley water but instead of eating the sugars and making alcohol, they eat the sugars and make all kinds of nasty-tasting stuff, and sometimes also prevent the yeast from doing their thing.

The good news is that yeast are pretty resilient little buggers and if they manage to gain the high ground in the battle to colonize the wort then they will almost always win–there’s no such thing as spoilage organisms “coming from behind” to spoil a batch of beer–once the yeast get going munching those sugars and farting out that alcohol, it is too much for any spoilage organisms to overcome.

So how do we make sure the yeast can get a good foothold? Sanitization. Cleanliness. There’s a saying that 50% of brewing is cleaning and I’m not sure that’s right–I think it’s probably more like 75%! You have to be a stickler for clean brewing otherwise I can guarantee you will eventually get a batch of beer that will make you never want to brew again. Of course, there are some products on the market that can help immensely in this area: the two most important “ingredients” you need for making your own beer are some form of sanitizer solution and some form of oxidative cleaner.

Sanitizer’s role is to kill all the spoilage organisms present on an otherwise clean surface so that there is no competition for the yeast in the wort or beer which will be touching that surface. I literally cannot overstate the importance of sanitization for brewing. Even if you think some piece of equipment is “clean”, it definitely has tons of microscopic life on it and most, if not all, of that microscopic life is going to turn your wort into something other than delicious beer.

The oxidative cleaner’s role is basically to prepare a surface for sanitization. There is a lot of gunk generated during the brewing process and you need an effective way to get rid of that sometimes very persistent gunk. If you don’t get rid of the gunk then it can become a breeding ground for spoilage organisms in later batches no matter how much sanitizer solution you use to try to sanitize that surface.

Without the help of both of these products, you can still technically make beer, but you are pretty unlikely to be able to make good beer.

Hopefully now you have at least a conceptual idea of what beer is and how it comes to be beer, along with the understanding of how important it is to keep things clean when brewing your own beer and why it is so important to keep them clean. (In case you can’t tell already, this really is the most important thing!) And now that you have satisfied your pre-requisite, hopefully you are looking forward to Homebrewing 102 next semester : )

Posted on

Austin barbecue: everything you need to know

If there’s one thing people ask me the most about Austin it’s where to get the best barbecue. Not only is Austin smack-dab in the heart of Texas BBQ country, but there are a huge number of choices about where to get your ‘cue. To make matters worse, the “Best BBQ” is a hot topic around those parts (and these parts) with a lot of different opinions, bogus or conflicting information and just plain bad taste. So, that all being said–assuming you trust my taste (otherwise why are you even reading this drivel)–let me contribute one more set of opinions to the pool : )

I would definitely trust this guy’s opinions on BBQ…

Don’t miss

Franklin Barbecue
Don’t get me wrong, this is definitely the best Texas-style BBQ I think I’ve ever had. Everything is delicious, even the potato salad (which I generally hate), the flavors are pure and meaty and smokey and the people at the counter are somehow pleasant despite the never-ending waves of people ordering way too much barbecue. The problem is the line; no food is so good it’s worth waiting 3 hours for on a good day. If you somehow manage to get this barbecue without waiting in line for it, then do whatever you have to do. But I just can’t condone spending that much time standing around when there are places almost as good with nowhere near as much of a line.

Note if you have a bunch of friends and a stack of cash as well as some forethought, you can pre-order BBQ from Franklin. You need to order at least five pounds of meat, which all in all will likely set you back $150 or more, and you’ll have to find somewhere besides the restaurant to eat it, but if that works for you it is a good way to avoid the line.

La Barbecue
On a good day, the brisket here is just as good as Franklin’s (see above). Unfortunately on a good day the line here seems to move just as slowly than Franklin’s (if not more so!) It’s too bad because the meat is super-duper good as are the crazy sandwiches they put together (the sides are just ok), but I still feel like you can get barbecue which is almost as good without being made to feel like cattle to the slaughter, being slowly herded to your beefy demise (ok, fine, it is kind of a weird analogy). Go to nearby Kerlin BBQ and then spend your extra free hour enjoying the outdoors by Town Lake or climbing at ABP or something!

That said, pre-ordering is also possible at La Barbecue and they only require pre-orders to be one pound of meat (as opposed to the five pound minimum for pre-ordering at Franklin, see above), so it is more reasonable for one or two people to try it. You still need to be able to plan ahead at least three days (something I am very not good at) and find somewhere to eat it, but in my opinion this is by far the best way to get your hands on some of the best BBQ I’ve ever tasted.

Micklethwait Craft Meats
Micklethwait is my favorite spot for BBQ in Austin. It may not strictly be the best pure BBQ in Austin (see Franklin Barbecue and La Barbecue, above), but it is very close and you will not have to wait nearly as long for it. Plus they are bit more creative with their meats and sides than either of the two above, which is especially refreshing if you are on a barbecue marathon (quite common around these parts, I assure you). The meats are always moist and delicious, especially the brisket and smoked beef rib and I love that they have lamb and barbacoa as options too. Normally sides at a really good BBQ place are basically an afterthought for the kitchen, but you should not skip the delicious and unique grits, which are some of my favorite BBQ sides ever.

Barbacoa and brisket plate with grits and beans and a Diet Coke because we are apparently watching our figures.

Pro-tip: it is pronounced “Mickle wait”; the t and the h are apparently silent. So now you can look, eat and sound like a a BBQ expert.

Kerlin BBQ
Kerlin is a close second for me in terms of the best accessible BBQ in Austin. I love the location, I could basically spend the entire day on this block or two of Cesar Chavez, bouncing between Veracruz and Kerlin and Flat Track  and Weather Up. The brisket at Kerlin is smokey and fatty but not too fatty–simply perfect on a slice of white bread with a pickle, a slice of raw onion and a drizzle of BBQ sauce. To me it is pure, traditional BBQ the way the good Lord intended (to use a phrase I picked up in Texas).

And, just when you thought this was some boring old trailer serving boring old “traditional” BBQ: bam! Smoked corn on the cob! Boom! BBQ kolaches!  The kolaches are awesome, even if they didn’t serve anything else this would probably be one of my favorite trailers in Austin. Don’t miss it!

Maybe not for everyone/if you are in the neighborhood

Terry Black’s Barbecue
Terry Black’s and Black’s (below) are apparently owned by the same family, so they are both about the same in terms of barbecue: solid, dependable, good brisket, good sides. Usually short lines make these good choices for a lunch break when you have a real job and don’t have time to stand in line for barbecue for 2 hours. Also they do catering pretty well so they are good choices for getting lunch for you and your twenty closest friends (which is something you often have to do when on a recruiting trip).

Lamberts
Lamberts is not the best barbecue in Austin, but it does have some other things going for it. For one, it’s right downtown so if you are not in the mood to drive (or at least get in an Uber) then it is probably very accesible to where you’re staying (although that benefit is mitigated these days by the presence of Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que Austin, below). Secondly, it’s fancy, so if you need a BBQ place to go with your parents who will not be happy about eating at a trailer or on a picnic table then this could be your spot. Thirdly, it’s open for dinner, which is not necessarily a given for BBQ joints, so again, could be a good choice for dinner with your parents or someone else you want to show that you have at least a modicum of class (suffice it to say I never feel the need to come here ; )

Black’s BBQ
Terry Black’s (above) and Black’s are apparently owned by the same family, so they are both about the same in terms of barbecue: solid, dependable, good brisket, good sides. Personally I think the meat at Black’s is a bit better but Terry Black’s edges past on the sides. It’s really splitting hairs though. Usually short lines make these good choices for a lunch break when you have a real job and don’t have time to stand in line for Franklin or La Barbecue.

Stiles Switch BBQ and Brew
Solid choice for smoked meats in North Austin, there is usually not too much of a line and there is pretty ample space for seating inside. Brisket is generally if not perfectly moist but the jalapeno-cheddar sausage could use a bit more cheddar and jalapenos. Corn casserole is a brilliant combination of corn bread and creamed corn and a can’t-miss side. Not necessarily worth the trip out of your way but a good option if you happen to be craving BBQ in that part of town.

Brisket and jalapeno-cheddar sausage plate from Stiles Switch BBQ and Brew

Don’t bother

Kreuz Market
Kreuz Market is one of the three well-known old-school BBQ joints in Lockhart, Texas, about 45 minutes south of Austin. It has been serving smoked meats for more than 100 years and making the trip to Lockhart feels like a pilgrimage to BBQ mecca, but it feels to me like it’s resting on its laurels a bit at this point. The brisket is dry and they are militantly anti-sauce (and anti-utensils) which doesn’t help. Supposedly they are known for their smoked sausages, which were good, but not demonstrably better than the smoked sausages you can get at basically all the other BBQ places above. (Plus have you ever really had a bad smoked sausage?) I would not say it is worth the trip or even the stop if you are already in or near Lockhart for some other reason.

Iron Works Barbecue
It’s got a cool “old-timey barbecue” vibe inside, but unfortunately the meats and sides fall flat; they are nothing to write home about and with so many other great barbecue options nearby there is not much reason I can find to come back here.

Snow’s BBQ
It was a long drive out to Lexington on a cold, bright and early Saturday morning so maybe I was expecting too much but I was underwhelmed by the barbecue here. The brisket was not dry but neither was it particularly moist. Certainly it was not special enough to go an hour out of your way at 7:00a; maybe I got it on a bad day but I just can’t recommend it unless you are somehow already in Lexington at 8:00a on a Saturday (which you would definitely never be, I am quite sure).

The Salt Lick
This place looks cool on TV shows and it feels authentic being in the middle of nowhere outside of Austin but it is legitimately not good BBQ. It is basically a big barbecue factory, with all the negative connotations that phrase implies. Very disappointing; I cannot recommend it at all.

Posted on

CFB Lisbon: basically everything you need to know

If you have read our guide to Porto, the Douro and beyond, you already know that Portuguese people are some of the most friendly and helpful people you will come across in your travels.  They all seem to speak good to excellent English and are almost always trying to help if they are trying to get your attention. Use that to your advantage instead of fighting to do something yourself. Even in a city like Lisbon where it sometimes feels like tourists outnumber the locals, it seems Portuguese people are just as friendly and happy you are there as can be.

Especially important in Lisbon in the fact that when it comes to CFB, Portugal is a lunch country. On Saturday or Sunday especially if you don’t have a reservation for lunch then you will be waiting for a table. Also there are not really any “grab-and-go” type places for lunch; almost everywhere worth eating lunch will be a proper restaurant with table service and everything. This was a very difficult reality for me to grasp so don’t fall into the same trap I did—plan where you want to eat lunch (especially on or around the weekends) and make reservations.

See our guide to Porto, the Douro and beyond for more basic Portugal knowledge, but see below for all the best coffee, food and booze Lisbon has to offer!

Don’t miss

Enoteca De Belém – Lisbon – Restaurant/Wine Bar
Definitely go here if you like wine and elevated food and service. It’s small so make reservations or be willing to walk around for a while, especially if it’s the weekend, but the food is awesome, the wine is excellent and everything about the service is perfect, including their English. It’s a wonderful choice in otherwise touristy Belém.

Alma – Lisbon – Restaurant
Legitimately one of the best meals of my life. The only miss was this weird shrimp appetizer that tasted like it was made from three-day old shrimp. Other than that the food, wines and service were all amazing and the meal—while very expensive if you spring for the big tasting and wine pairing—was well worth the price paid.

A Cevicheria – Lisbon – Restaurant
Totally delicious and worth the wait (for about 45 minutes or so, anyway). Small settings and small portions to match but the food is extra delicious. The host is very friendly and you can have a drink on the sidewalk (lol, Europe) while you wait. Plus your wife can get that Instagram shot of the octopus hanging from the ceiling that she has been dying to get, so that’s good too.

  • Gaspacho
  • Ceviche
  • BBQ Pulpo

REAL Slow Retail Concept Store – Lisbon – Shopping 
Put your name on the list for A Cevicheria and head on over to check out this haunt.  An adorable concept shop with everything from shoes and beach bags to jewelry and sunglasses.  Everything is well merchandised and their price points are all realistic (woohoo!).  I got an amazing pair of suede espadrilles for around $50 USD.

Manteigaria Fábrica de Pastéis de Nata – Lisbon – Pastry Shop
I figured they would not live up to the hype…I was wrong! These pasteis are the best I have tried in all of Portugal, including the Pasteis de Belém. Fresh out of the oven they are basically heaven and they seem to always be fresh out of the oven. Unlike the Pasteis de Belém, these are worth waiting in line (at least for a little while) for.

The Wine Cellar – Lisbon – Restaurant/Wine Bar
No relation to the Wine Barrels in Porto (see above), but still have a good selection of wines from Portugal including many choices by the glass. Some can be a bit on the expensive side but the staff is friendly and helpful and will try to get you what you are looking for at any price point. They also speak excellent English. No matter what you’re drinking, order the cheese board; all six cheeses (all from Portugal) were fantastic. It’s small so come early or make reservations.

FÁBRICA COFFEE ROASTERS/FÁBRICA COFFEE SHOP – Lisbon – Coffee
Five stars for the coffee—one of the best shots of espresso I’ve had in a long time was pulled from their black La Marzocco. All the flavor components of the coffee were noticeable and harmonious; very well done. I do wish they had a stronger savory breakfast game; some toast and jam with poached eggs would be perfect. The roastery location (on R. das Portas de Santo Antão) was a bit better than the shop (on R. das Flores) in my experience.

AMO Brewery – Lisbon – Brewery/Tap Room
Super low-key spot to hang out on Thursday or Friday nights. There are literally just like two tables but basically everyone kind of makes it work; it could not be more chill. It’s in a very residential (i.e. not touristy) area of Lisbon which is a nice respite. The people who work there are also awesome—super friendly and chill. Plus the beer is legit, especially the Chocolate Porter if they still have any left.

Dear breakfast – Lisbon – Breakfast/Brunch
The coffee is solid but NB for Americans a “cappuccino” here (and I guess elsewhere in Lisbon?) has chocolate in it. Not bad, but if you want something like what you get at home when you ask for a cappuccino then ask for a latte. The food is also solid if not amazing, but I think the real draw for most of the people here is the beautiful, Instagram-worthy interior. Staff is really friendly and speak excellent English. Makes it into “Don’t Miss” because of the strong coffee game.

Wish Slow Coffee House – Lisbon – Coffee
Five stars for the flat white—probably the best I had in Lisbon. Did not try the food but the espresso from their Kees Van Der Westen is definitely legit.

bikeiberia Tours & Rentals – Lisbon – Bicycle Rentals
Very friendly and helpful service to rent some bikes for the day to cruise along the river. Reserve ahead or show up early, especially for the weekend. Cash only.

Lisbon Bike Rentals – Lisbon – Bicycle Rentals
Nice bikes, friendly and helpful staff that speaks great English. This is place to rent a nice road bike for a ride to Sintra or Cascais (as opposed to bikeiberia above for just tooling around the riverfront for the day).

If you have time/maybe not for everyone

Livraria Sá da Costa – Lisbon – Bookstore
Cool old with old books and an interesting selection of very old (though possibly fake, based on google maps reviews?) maps. I would probably not buy anything here but it’s a cool place to wander around.

Bistro 100 Maneiras – Lisbon – Restaurant/Cocktail Bar
I’m very torn about this place. On the one hand, excellent cocktails as well as delicious and creative elevated bistro fare. On the other hand, the service was very weird with long pauses in between drink orders but almost no time in between courses. The servers themselves seemed competent but it just seemed like maybe they were short staffed and maybe the kitchen was overstaffed or something? It was a very weird experience to get the main course so quickly but to have the second round of drinks to go with the main course take so long. I would go back since there is a lot of promise, but I would make sure to arrive 30-45 minutes early to have a cocktail at the bar and just order a bottle of wine with dinner ; )

Azul – Lisbon – Restaurant
Good place to get your gooseneck barnacle fix! Conveniently located in the TimeOut market. They were pretty cool and actually quite delicious. I can’t say for sure about the quality or deliciousness of anything else they serve but I’d go back for more barnacles.

Pasteis de Belém – Lisbon – Pastry Shop
The pastries are good and this place is a sight to behold in just its sheer size but honestly they are not so special you need to wait a long time for them. Plus if you are like me then the chaos inside this place will drive you crazy. Note there are lines for take-away that snake outside and a different line way inside the dining area for table service. Apparently the table service line is usually shorter.

Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto – Lisbon – Wine Bar
Don’t come here expecting help (or any form of service) from the servers, but do come here hoping they have a glass or bottle of a port you love because if they do then it will be available at the best possible price. Maybe the only place in all of Portugal where we got some attitude for not speaking Portuguese.

Ze MOURARIA – Lisbon – Restaurant
I guess this is a traditional Portuguese restaurant, so if you want to experience what that is like then this could be your place. The food is fine: tasty but nothing to write home about (except that the portions are obscenely large). Very friendly and accommodating staff with at least some servers speaking good English but if you are trying to come on a weekend at prime time (around 1:00p-2:00p) then make sure you have a reservation.

Duque Brewpub – Lisbon – Brew Pub
Good selection of beers on tap but only one was brewed in house? I thought this was a brewpub : ) Anyway, the beer I tried was a bottle of bourbon vanilla porter but it was pretty lackluster. The meat board was solid though. All in all a solid if unspectacular place to get some craft beer in Lisbon…I’d just recommend sticking to what’s on tap.

Garrafeira Alfaia – Lisbon – Wine Bar
Fairly touristy-seeming, small wine bar of no major interest.  Nothing bad about this place just nothing outstanding either. Could be a good place to drink a bottle while waiting for something else (a table somewhere maybe)?

Lisbon Winery – Lisbon – Restaurant/Wine Bar
Decent wine bar with large list of bottles though a little on the expensive side. Food was lackluster, I would just drink here or maybe go for something safe like a meat and cheese board.

Don’t bother

Boi Cavalo – Lisbon – Restaurant
Maybe this restaurant is an elaborate practical joke on foodies? If so, then bravo. Not only was the service so disjointed that it was uncomfortable, but the food coming out of the kitchen was totally lackluster and almost non-sensical. The first course tasted like nothing because the two components themselves tasted like nothing. The second course tasted like nothing because the three components had nothing to do with each other and all the flavors just got muddled together. The main course was rabbit chops, which are exactly as tiny as they sound like they would be and exactly as annoying to eat as you would assume. Not only that, but they were paired with whole beans (similar to favas), snails and a fried dough kind of thing that is apparently traditional in Portugal (?) There was nothing tying all these ingredients together, just four ingredients on a plate, arranged somewhat artistically. It was just a disappointment, from start to finish, which is sad because there is a lot of potential here but it just seems like the kitchen is trying too hard to be creative with flavors and ingredients instead of focusing on the things that make a restaurant successful: delicious food and strong service.

Loja das Conservas Petiscos – Lisbon – Tapas
Creative idea, but just not hitting on the execution. It wasn’t bad—in fact some petiscos were enjoyable (tuna pate, samosas) and the staff was very friendly and spoke very good English—but overall it was just not anything special, and it’s not like there is a shortage of better places for a drink and a snack in the area.

Posted on

CFB Porto, Douro and beyond: basically everything you need to know

The Douro Valley

Portuguese people are almost impossibly friendly and helpful and they all seem to speak good to excellent English since I think it is mandatory in schools. So if someone is trying to get your attention it is way more likely that they are trying to help you than scam you…unlike in some other countries [cough, Morocco, cough]. I would suggest using Portuguese people as a resource rather than fighting to do something yourself.

A very important fact when it comes to CFB: Portugal is a lunch country. On Saturday or Sunday especially if you don’t have a reservation for lunch then you will be waiting for a table. Also there are not really any “grab-and-go” type places for lunch; almost everywhere worth eating lunch will be a proper restaurant with table service and everything. This was a very difficult reality for me to grasp so don’t fall into the same trap I did—plan where you want to eat lunch (especially on or around the weekends) and make reservations.

As an added difficulty for someone like me, Portugal does not seem to be the most technologically savvy country. You will be extremely lucky even at the most sophisticated restaurants outside Lisbon to find some sort of online reservation capabilities. In some cases you won’t even have an email address, only a phone number to call. In these cases, see above regarding the friendliness and general proficiency in English of the population, and make the call to make sure you have a reservation (though it probably wouldn’t hurt to learn how to ask in Portuguese if someone is able to speak English). N.B. Just because Portugal is a lunch country that doesn’t mean you won’t also need reservations for dinner at fancier/popular restaurants like those you are likely to want to eat dinner at while on vacation.

One unfortunate thing about Portugal from a CFB perspective is the coffee is generally terrible. Even in Porto specialty coffee is scarce, in the Douro and beyond it is non-existent. I do not have a solution for this problem, I just want to make sure you are prepared : )

Finally, another unfortunate thing about Portugal that we learned the hard way that you may find useful if you plan on driving: they have a product at gas stations called “gasoleo simples”. Do not be fooled by the name; this is a kind of diesel fuel. Do not put it into a car that needs gasoline. Always look for “sem chumbo” on whatever fuel you are going to put into a car that needs gasoline. Trust me.

Anyway, on with the show…

Don’t miss

Quinta Nova Nossa Senhora do Carmo – Douro Valley – Hotel/Restaurant/Winery
If visiting the winery, be sure to book a tour as far in advance as possible, especially during the summer. The wines are very good and even if you don’t get on a tour you can still sit and look out over the beautiful vistas onto the Douro valley while tasting some of the wines. Just fyi, it’s a long drive to get here, from either direction, so take that into account if you’re planning to visit other wineries.

Quinta Santa Julia – Douro Valley – Hotel
Perched at the top of the hill, the views are amazing. The vines and gardens are beautiful and the house is charmingly old (i.e. dark and slightly claustrophobic) and giant and you can just feel the history. Staying here is more like staying with an old relative than at a hotel, and Eduardo, the owner of the house, is an absolute joy to sit and talk with the way you might enjoy sitting and talking to your grandpa who lived an awesome life.

View from Quinta Santa Julia

Restaurante Castas e Pratos – Douro Valley – Restaurant
Huge wine list with excellent selections by the glass in both table wines and dessert wines as well as solid, composed food.

DOC – Chef Rui Paula – Douro Valley – Restaurant
Costs and arm and a leg but the food (and wine) was so good. I had the roast baby goat with oven rice and it was so perfect. I could eat it every day, especially paired with the Rebolar tinto by the glass. Plus the view is amazing from the deck across the river and the valley. Make a reservation.

Al fresco dining at DOC

The Wine Barrels – Porto – Restaurant/Wine Bar
Legit wine professionals here (surprisingly, since it feels like a pretty touristy place). They take their wine and your experience drinking it very seriously; I really appreciated the dedication to the craft, as well as championing the small producers of the Douro Valley. Plus the meat and cheese board was pretty dope and they have vintage port by the glass! Check out their sister wine bar The Wine Box, as well.

Cafe Progresso – Porto – Coffee
Genuine La Marzocco so you know the coffee is legit. The scrambled eggs and toast breakfast combo was good if a bit plain (could use some jam for that toast). They have single origin espresso options and speak very good English.

Combi Coffee – Porto – Coffee
Best coffee that I tasted in Porto. They roast their own beans and have multiple single origin options for espresso. Plus their Pastel de Nata is the best I tried in Porto. Very cool/hip ambience and perfect English is spoken by all the staff.

Casa Guedes – Porto – Sandwiches
Don’t be fooled by anything else on the menu—the sande com pernil e queijo is the way to go. They are small though so maybe get two per person or some fries or soup. But man those pork sandwiches are basically perfect

Época Porto – Porto – Breakfast
The sourdough bread and eggs with Turkish spices is so good it makes me upset. I could probably eat that every single morning. Plus, really good coffee, cute and cool decor, and English-speaking staff; I loved this place.

7groaster – Porto – Coffee
Solid coffee and a very cool ambience. They roast their own beans and have multiple coffee options (espresso and brewed coffee). They have food as well which—except for the so-so pastel de nata—we did not try, but as far as acceptable coffee goes in Villa Nova de Gaia I’m sure this is your best bet.

If you have time/maybe not for everyone

Quinta do Vallado – Douro Valley – Winery/Hotel
The winery tour is decent and the winery is beautiful but the wines you taste at the end are mediocre. Personally, I would probably choose a different winery to tour if I were to do it all over again.

Offley – Porto – Winery
Next time I would probably just skip the tour and the lackluster tasting (even the Barão de Forrester tasting was lackluster) and go straight to the tasting room on R. Costa Santos for either the €15 flight of aged tawnies (10-, 20- and 30-year old) or a €7.50 glass of one of the vintage ports.

Caves São João – Aveiro – Winery
Great wines, especially the Poco do Lobo wines (both the Arinto and the Cabernet Sauvignon) from the 90’s make it worth seeking out. Your guess is as good as mine as to where you’re supposed to park, but assuming you do find somewhere then you should know that tours are given every weekday at 10:30a and 3:00p. If you happen to show up at a different time they will still sell you wine and they have a huge list of current as well as older vintages for very reasonable prices. It would be nice if the website were more up to date and the entrance was a bit more…welcoming, but I guess that’s Portugal for you.

Quinta do Noval – Porto – Winery
No tours here, just tastings. The ports are good but there are no options for just a glass of vintage port; you have to buy a bottle or do one of the tasting flights in order to taste a vintage port. They did however have a colheita by the glass and their 20 year old tawny is very nice indeed, with a wonderful cocoa and leather nose, at a fairly reasonable price of €8.50 a glass.

Caves Vasconcellos – Porto – Winery
I really wanted to like this place because the tour is private and it is a small producer of port and our guide Jorge was very passionate, but in the end I just found their ports to be a bit too thin and racy for my tastes, and there was kind of an awkward, simultaneously hard and soft sell to get us to buy something—seemingly anything—at the end of our tour and tasting that I was not a fan of.

ODE Porto Wine House – Porto – Restaurant
Four stars for the creative, artistic and (most importantly) delicious dishes and delightful Portuguese wine pairings. It would be a very good choice for a special occasion but it’s way too expensive to be a regular visit. Minus one star for being so expensive and not accepting credit cards; two people will need at least €200 in cash and most likely more if you really want to enjoy yourselves. [Update: apparently they now do take credit cards, which would take it up a notch in my book, but I have not verified this.]

ALOJAMENTO BATATA – Nazare – Hotel
I would not necessarily recommend Nazare overall, but in case you are there or want to go there for some specific reason, this is a wonderful space to stay with modern but comfortable decor and very welcoming staff! Apartments are perfect for a beach vacation in Nazaré; good location and value.

Fishing boats on the Nazare beach

Casa Pires – A Sardinha – Nazare – Restaurant
If it’s not sardine season, go for the fish stew with potatoes. Heck even if it is sardine season maybe still go for the fish stew—it’s so delicious. There seemed to be a healthy mix of tourists and locals and the waiters speak good English in case you don’t speak good Portuguese : )

Queque de Cenoura – Nazare – Pastry Shop
Tooth-achingly sweet (in a good way!) pastries, and a super-duper pão com chouriço. The coffee is miserable, but I think that’s pretty standard for Portugal? Good luck finding a proper flat white in Nazaré. Perhaps most importantly though the staff is very friendly and helpful even though they don’t speak English; take your Google Translate app and you’ll be fine.

Taverna do 8 Ó 80 – Nazare – Restaurant/Wine Bar
Excellent tapas and very good steak (N.B. “veal rump steak” aka alcatra in Portuguese is much more tender than beef rump steak, so it is actually their best steak as the menu says). Good, extensive wine list. My only (admittedly snobbish and very minor) complaint is they have a lot of newer vintages, not very much that is more than just two or three years old. The staff is very friendly and helpful, especially in helping select a wine to drink, and they speak very good English.