Category: Bistros

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A Trip To Maine and New Brunswick, Canada (And Random Thoughts About Breakfast, Too)

It was nearly 29 years ago when we first traveled from Long Island to Maine and New Brunswick with our then 1-year-old son strapped in a car seat in the smallest car I think Chevrolet ever made (the Sprint). It was actually so small (I’m pretty tall and Lynn is too) that we even nicknamed the Sprint “Sprint Junior” just to make fun of its tiny size.

This time we started out from upstate New York (already saving us probably at least 3 hours) avoiding that awful stretch of I-95 going through Connecticut. Our first stop was in Essex, MA, for amazing lobster rolls at an old school joint called Essex Seafood. I mean look at this handwritten menu tacked onto the wall!

The lobster was sweet, minimally dressed and the side order of onion rings were pretty decent, too. I’d also like to personally thank many of my Instagram foodies who shared that find with me!

Overnight in Portland, Maine

We hadn’t been to Portland in at least 20 years and frankly, we didn’t remember a single thing. We walked around near the harbor area but weren’t that impressed.

There were a couple of restaurants and bars and the usual coffee places but there seemed to be an overwhelming number of tourist places all selling the same trinkets. Actually anything that had a lobster on it seemed to be a guaranteed sale. Lobster key rings? Check. Lobster potholders? Double check.

Dinner that night was at Fore Street – a restaurant that didn’t disappoint in its open kitchen concept as well as the incredible wood-burning smell of everything they were cooking.

The menu was very creative. Squid with eggplant and green beans followed by grilled foie gras on a slice of homemade zucchini bread! Who does that?

Second course up: Fresh blue fin tuna with peppers and grilled corn. A tasty dish but a small portion I thought for the price tag. (Yes, look at it, it was about 2 .5 bites!)

Finally, Lynn and I split a fresh berry cobbler topped with a biscuit-like dough (not my favorite but more on biscuits later) and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Doesn’t that look absolutely delicious though?

On the way out, stopping to say “thanks” to the chefs working the line in the open kitchen, I was told by a not-so-friendly wait staffer that I was “not allowed” to be there or to talk to them! What? Cooking is a thankless job but I made sure the chefs working that night heard me compliment them on their exceptional talent. And at least I got a smile out of a few of them.

Before we left Portland the next morning, we stopped to see the lighthouse. Apparently, we had missed it the first time and the weather was absolutely perfect to get a great photograph!

On To Saint John, New Brunswick

We stopped for lunch outside of Bangor, Maine, and started with a seafood “chowdah” brimming with haddock, clams, shrimp and lobster. I moved on to eat a lobster BLT with avocado and Lynn held out for a traditional lobster roll. It was pretty darn good.

We had never been to Saint John and stayed at a hotel on the rather ugly waterfront. (This apparently is turning out to be a theme on this road trip.) Here, however, at least someone had attempted to create some “artwork” along the way. I particularly liked the random fish sculptures that were scattered around the downtown area.

We walked into a park, King’s Square, and found what appeared to be a Victorian-era band stand. Although when I looked at it, it kind of reminded me of a squat version of the Chinese Tower (Chinesischer Turm) in Munich’s Englischer Garten.

I have to segue just a bit. I really wanted to find a picture of Munich’s Chinese Tower and post it here but I realized that all the pictures I probably took of it were WAY BEFORE THE CLOUD! What? And yeah, I could drag out an old CD, pop it into my laptop and then spend hours looking for that one photograph. Or, I could just walk downstairs and find the one photo album I needed and just take a picture of the darn thing.

So here it is: My own photograph of the Chinesischer Turm in Munich, Germany, shot in the winter of 1979. Pretty cool right? And if you just look at the top two “towers,” you may see the same resemblance I did. And yeah, it took me a mere 3 minutes to walk down the stairs, find the photo album, flip open the page, shoot the picture, walk back upstairs and upload the shot.

Dinner At East Coast Bistro

When I tell you we had some of the best mussels EVER for dinner that night at East Coast Bistro, I’m not exaggerating. First of all, these mussels were from the Bay of Fundy which is the closest body of water to the town of Saint John and hence the restaurant. Spiced up with an intensely flavored coconut hot sauce with leeks on top, I’m still tasting (and dreaming) about this dish today. Second course I had was a fresh halibut with asparagus, pickled onions and arugula on top.

Yummy! Finally, since I had mentioned it was my birthday week – look what they brought out for me! Lovely homemade vanilla ice cream with a lemon tart topped with meringue. Also, I got to meet Chef Kim Steele and crew which was a nice treat.

Breakfast? What Breakfast?

One of my pet peeves of traveling these days is not being able to find a decent breakfast in the morning without A) driving out of our way and B) paying way too much money. I’m also not a fan of hotel buffets (unless it’s a really decent hotel). Or standing in line to scoop lukewarm scrambled eggs out of a chafing dish and then stand in another line to toast store-bought muffins.

I also like my breakfasts to be pretty simple. Eggs are a must but I don’t particularly like sausage for breakfast. But I’m okay with bacon but only one slice! And yes, I, too, fell for the avocado on toast thing. But then I stopped eating bread at breakfast for a while and I wasn’t crazy about just eating a “naked” avocado.

Hash browns or any kind of potato actually are also a definite no-no. You’re probably thinking, wow, it seems she doesn’t even like breakfast at all! But I do, I do, it just needs to be really simple and preferably served with a little bit of fresh fruit. (But only certain fruit.) Okay, I know I’m more than a little particular about my breakfasts.

I also won’t go into how I would prefer a croissant over a biscuit any day because my Dad, Larry, is one of my best blog readers and after he reads this he will probably be sending me hourly recipes for biscuits! (Love you Dad!) If you haven’t checked out any of his books, he is a funny writer and his books make great gifts, too. Side note: he LOVES biscuits and pie!

I also won’t go into my love/hate relationship with bagels. Well, okay, if you insist. I only like plain ones (and prefer mini bagels over full-sized ones) and also only buy bagels from certain stores. Recently Lynn and I decided pizza for breakfast would be a good idea but then wimped out at the last minute and got Italian pastries and cappuccino’s instead. (This photograph was from a recent trip to Montreal.)

Consequently, the next morning in our search for a bite to eat – a coffee, a donut, a bagel, a something, we walked around downtown Saint John and came up with zilch. We ended up back at the hotel, walked into the dining room and looked at a room filled with people who were drinking coffee. My breakfast “radar” went up. I realized no one had a plate in front of them which meant they had been waiting for their breakfasts a really, really long time.

I decided to be brave, ordered a simple omelette with toast and coffee and then we proceeded to wait. We got lucky. Apparently, the chefs working the line that morning cook everything at once since everyone’s food came out at the same time. So even though we were the last ones in that morning, our food came out as well. Timing is everything.

Since I didn’t take a picture of the omelette or my lousy coffee, I will leave you with some photos of some truly great breakfasts! (Regardless of my rantings above, I really do love breakfast!)

The best omelette you will ever eat. Courtesy of Les Deux Magots in Paris.

The best scones you will ever eat. Courtesy of The Langham Hotel in London. (Note: we did NOT stay there because it was outrageously expensive but went once for Easter brunch.)

The best farmer’s market to enjoy some pastries (and breakfast). Courtesy of the Byward Market in Ottawa.

I mean, even riding the Eurostar between London and Paris we had a decent croissant!

Finally, my new commuting life allows me not only to photograph my sucky”breakfast” at my desk but also share it with my husband, Lynn and my readers. If you’re wondering what it is – here’s more than a clue: Pepperidge Farm white bread, a slice of Munster cheese (or if I’m feeling really adventurous Havarti), a smear of butter laced with olive oil and either green or red grapes. Followed by weak office coffee. Awesome, right?

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.

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A Visit to Washington, D.C.

When we realized that certain trips we took from Long Island (notably to Washington, D.C. and further south) would now take us twice as long when we moved permanently upstate, we decided a trip to our nation’s capital would be in order.

Last time we were in Washington was between Christmas and New Years. The streets were empty and it was bitter cold. This time the streets were filled with tourists and school groups.

Our first stop after checking into the hotel was a walk down to the National Mall where we thought we’d pay Abe Lincoln a visit. This has always been my favorite “monument” in D.C.; there is such a presence in the massive stone structure which always has a humbling effect on me when I see it.

After visiting Abe, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at Kinship. I always love to stumble upon some interesting architecture along the way – whether it be a hidden courtyard or intriguing passageway.

Kinship

Kinship is a one-star Michelin restaurant near the convention center. What brought me to this restaurant was the inventive menu. I have to say, I loved the restaurant; the service was outstanding and most (but not all of the dishes) were superbly prepared. Here were some of my favorites: lobster “French toast,” celery root salad that looked like it had dollops of goat cheese around it but which were actually tiny meringues and finally potato crusted pike.

The next morning we woke up to pouring rain but determined to sight-see as much as possible. On the agenda that day, a trip to the National Portrait Gallery to see Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of President Obama as well as Amy Sherald’s portrait of Michelle Obama. Neither disappointed and I was pleasantly surprised that we picked the correct time to visit since the gallery was not that crowded.

And even though we had visited the National Portrait Gallery before, we didn’t remember the beautiful building! I also loved reading about the history of the structure – it is one of D.C.’s oldest buildings and housed the U.S. patent office at one point. Here’s a shot of one of the hallways.

Julie’s Kitchen

We also paid a visit to the National Museum of American history to revisit Julia Child’s kitchen from her house in Cambridge, MA. We had seen it once before but it had since been moved to the ground floor of this museum as part of a “Food” exhibit. I spent a lot of time staring at her kitchen and imagining her cooking in the space.

Look at those blue cabinets! And those funky kitchen chairs!

I also loved the fact the exhibit included her much-earned degree from the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris. Problem is when I looked at the diploma I only saw Meryl Streep (as Julia Child in the film “Julie and Julia”) not Julia herself! I guess that means Meryl did a really good job portraying her.

We stopped to have a bite at Michel Richard’s Central near the mall area since it had been decent on our two previous visits. This time however, we were disappointed. In fairness, I’m not a big fan of brunch menus but usually can find an omelet or a club sandwich. This time around they had neither and I was stuck with eggs benedict with a couple of slices of smoked salmon which although they visually looked OK, they came out cold and not very appetizing.

After lunch, we headed over to visit the Botanical Gardens. So many flowers! So many plants! And mangoes! The visit brightened up the gray and rainy Sunday afternoon.

It’s Always Happy Hour Somewhere

Actually it was nearly 6 p.m. and we had a good two hours to kill before dinner so we headed over to the Old Ebbitt Grill for oyster happy hour. The restaurant was packed with locals and tourists alike. Tourist question of the day: Why are you dragging your luggage through the restaurant? Could you not have left the bag at the hotel or checked it somewhere? Ditto for toddlers. TODDLERS DO NOT BELONG IN BARS. This in my mind is non-negotiable and I’m all for restaurants that ban kids in certain areas.

The bar was crowded but we managed to squeeze in and order a couple of drinks and a dozen oysters. The drinks were fare, ditto for the oysters. It may be described as an “iconic tavern,” but I won’t be back.

Mediocre Sunday Eats

Sunday turned out to be our day of not-so-good eating, since dinner that night at Le Diplomate (again a place we had been to before) served us a too-salty plate of tuna carpaccio and a tough steak frites. (Although the fries were good.)

The day wasn’t a total waste however, since checking our “Pacer” app, we had walked this much! And burned off 800 calories (theoretically) of uninspired cooking!

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.

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Travels Through Upstate NY, Keuka Lake and Canada!

Although Lynn and I have lived in the Mohawk Valley part time for nearly 9 years and we lived in Syracuse, NY for nearly 3.5 years, we had never been to either Corning or Rochester, NY. So this past spring break, Lynn and I decided to visit both of these cities.

First stop Corning, NY, with a visit to the Corning Museum of Glass on a damp and rainy afternoon. This image of what I perceived to be a school of fish caught my fancy. When I researched the artist, Lino Tagliapietra, and the title of the work, “Endeavor,” he described it as a fleet of boats. I’m always happy when my understanding of any artistic endeavor is close to what the artist was thinking.

I was also impressed with not only the size of the museum but the hands-on demonstrations that we, as visitors, were able to partake in. We watched glass being blown into shape, fired and molded. We watched glass being broken (carefully) and how glass heated to a certain temperature mysteriously becomes Pyrex and transformed into casserole dishes.

While I remember the tuna casseroles my mother used to make for dinner fondly now, my preference these days are layered vegetables (notably eggplant, zucchini, roasted tomatoes and mushrooms) in a Pyrex pan topped with some cheese. Anyway, I thought this “tower of Pyrex” was pretty cool. And speaking of vegetables, on the way out of the museum we stopped at the gift shop and picked up this glass cutting board. I think it will fit perfectly in the Red House kitchen especially since we grow garlic on the property (and the Mohawk Valley has both the perfect soil and climate for growing garlic in New York State).

Dinner in Corning that night was a pleasant surprise. We visited “The Cellar,” a downtown wine bar with an interesting menu which they describe as “global fusion.” Since Lynn and I frequently refer to ourselves as “professional eaters,” we usually get 3 or 4 different dishes and share them. That night didn’t disappoint with some oxtail tacos, spicy chicken skewers and pad thai to start. Tasty lamb chops and charred brussels sprouts with walnuts were a delicious finish.

Retiring back to the hotel, we stopped at the bar and had to persuade the bartender that he wouldn’t get in “trouble” if he served us the wine we wanted in the “pretty” glasses that supposedly were just on the counter as props.

What troubled me from a marketing point of view is that we were a mere 45 minutes from a Finger Lake (that would be Keuka) and there was not a SINGLE Finger Lakes wine to be had on their beverage menu! Shame on them.

Keuka Lake Tastings

From Corning we drove to Keuka Lake to visit two wineries in particular – Domaine Leseurre and Weis Vineyards. We started with Domaine Leseurre trying a few of their varietals. I really wanted to like their wines but truthfully was pretty disappointed. I’m always looking for the “wow factor” in a wine and those we tasted fell short. However, literally right next door is Weis Vineyards, a winery founded by German-born winemaker Hans Peter Weis. He’s the guy to watch out for in the next few years because the wines we tried (Dry Riesling, Gewurztraminer and most notably his Schulhaus Red) were absolutely delicious. Had we had a bit more time we would have visited a few other wineries around the lake.

On To Rochester

Here’s a photo of the outside of the George Eastman Museum. Pretty impressive, right? It actually reminded me of some of the big mansions during the “gilded age” in Newport, Rhode Island.

While there were exhibits to see and display cases filled with early camera prototypes (remember the Brownie? – it’s the camera in the middle), I was more interested in the house and the gardens. Unfortunately, the gardens didn’t open until May but we did get to see the rooms and the grandeur in which the family lived.

From the George Eastman Museum, we ventured downtown to see the falls. Kind of cool I thought to have the Genesee River mosey on down through the city to end in an old industrial area (which they have started to revamp) and culminate in the High Falls. The water looked pretty muddy that day (perhaps it’s always like that?) but I did manage to capture the rainbow that just happened to appear when we were walking along the bridge.

Italian For Dinner

If you haven’t been to Rochester and are in search of some really decent Italian (and pizza!) I recommend Veneto. True to form we split a Pizza Margarita, had a green salad and a caesar salad, then split a bowl of Rotini Bolognese. I hate to use the word “delish,” but in this case, that’s the most appropriate word for that meal.

From Rochester we drove to St. Catharines, Ontario, in search of their downtown farmer’s market. We parked the car, went to the ATM to get some Canadian $, found the farmer’s market but were disappointed in that we only found a couple of vendors selling smoked meat-products and/or lunch sandwiches. (We were on the quest for Canadian maple syrup.) Since my forte is planning ahead, I had already found a maple syrup farmer 15 minutes outside of town so that’s where we headed – stocking up on maple syrup that sells for half of what we pay in New York State.

Time For Lunch – The Good Earth Food and Wine Co.

There are some meals Lynn and I have enjoyed more than others over the many years we have traveled together. Lunch that beautiful Friday afternoon at The Good Earth Food and Wine Co. was one of them.

Nestled in what at first seemed like a residential area in the town of Beamsville, we came upon the winery and restaurant.

While it seemed like a gray and chilly day, actually by the time we sat down for lunch in their indoor/outdoor patio, the sun came out and it was quite lovely. Needless to say the food and the wines we had to go with our lunch dishes – pea shoot salad with yellow and red beets with goat cheese, lamb meatballs with cheesy grits, broccoli and roasted tomatoes, and finally the chef’s pasta special of the day -a rigatoni in a vibrant green spinach sauce with red peppers were exceptional. To say I was super impressed with Chef Andrew Thorne’s cooking skills is an understatement. I wanted to move into his kitchen and never leave!

We passed on dessert, taking time outside the winery (after buying a few bottles to go after chatting with the chef and I believe, the gracious owner, Nicolette Novak before leaving) to snap a few more pictures of some flower arrangements and a neat sculpture.

Now that we had not only seen “the fork in the road” but taken the fork too, we had time to kill before dinner so we went to Ikea!

Side Trip – Ikea!

I have to say that Ikea has come to our design “rescue” in every home we have ever owned. We’ve renovated TWO complete kitchens using their cabinets, purchased kid’s bedroom sets, TV stands, bathroom vanities, and even a dining room table and chairs. Really, the list of things we’ve bought from them over the years is endless. This time on our shopping list were temporary clothing racks (we have no closets in the Red House) so we at least have a place to hang up some clothes before we go into the closet-building business. What I particularly liked about this Ikea (actually 3 things):

  1. You can take your shopping cart loaded with all the stuff you bought directly to your car!
  2. There were associates on the floor who were available to help you find a product.
  3. The prices were cheaper than in the U.S.

Overnight and Dinner in Niagara-on-the-Lake

We had been to Niagara-on-the-Lake twice before. What I liked about going off-season was that you could get a hotel room for only half an arm not an arm and a leg, there weren’t hoards of people blocking the sidewalks licking ice cream cones and there was loads of parking.

Dinner that night was at Treadwell’s. We had discovered Chef Jason (Jay) Williams at the Inn on the Twenty the summer prior, and wanted to see what he was up to in his new digs. He and his crew didn’t disappoint.

We were lucky enough to get a seat at the bar which meant we got a bird’s eye view of the chefs cooking and plating. Let me mention that the service at Treadwell’s is top notch with a much-appreciated wine list that is heavy on the local wines and a Sommelier, James, who made some remarkable recommendations.

What did we eat? House-cured smoked salmon with hand-picked fresh herbs.

Whitefish with a creamy potato “chowder” and chunks of lobster claws.

Arctic char with roasted beets and tiny baby radishes and greens.

And while we also watched them put together an amazing charcuterie board, we only feasted with our eyes. However, we did end the evening with a lovely cheese plate.

Plus, look at all these greens! Truly farm/garden to table.

What I took away from this short get-away is there are many talented chefs who are not working solely in urban areas but all over New York State and Canada. When we first started traveling to Canada (albeit when we were in college 40 years ago), the Canada food scene, unless you were in a major city, was dismal. I remember driving in search of anything that didn’t resemble fast food and more often than not came up “empty-stomached”. Since then, the food scene in Canada has exploded with chefs and restaurants and wineries bringing creative and fresh food to the consumer. I am so happy to see and appreciate this development. Going forward, since we are now within a shorter driving distance to the Niagara wine region of Canada, we will hopefully be making many more trips to that area.

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.