Up all night, sleep all day - yeah right ...

Friday night began with pre concert dinner at Alchemy in the Golden Hill neighborhood of San Diego. I love the vibe there - edgy, colorful and food is classic American. Post dinner plan was to check out Ari Hest at Lestat's which is an intimate venue for music attached to a coffee shop in the Normal Heights neighborhood.


Lestat's music venue enables an intimate, engaging atmosphere with the artist. Ari did not disappoint. He played a mix of new from his recent record "Sunset Over Hope Street" and some of his older songs. Ari took piano lessons as a child and later, as a teenager, taught himself to play his mother's nylon string guitar by ear with influences from both his parents' record collection and radio artists. Artists cited as influences are Paul Simon, The Beatles, Dave Matthews, U2, Smashing Pumpkins, Tears for Fears, The Police, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam among others. Josh Damigo opened for Ari. I don't know much about him but he is a good singer and entertainer. I plan to see him again ... he plays at Lestat's fairly regularly.













Home after the show, hit the sack at 1am but was up a 3am. Why you ask? The world cup cricket of course - India vs. Sri Lanka live from Mumbai. A group of my fellow Indians at work rigged up projectors to a live feed so we could watch the game on 2 big screens at a conference room. Nifty!













Home at 10:30am on Saturday. Connie had plans for us to head North to Laguna Beach so sleep was out of the question. Pumped on donuts from Leucadia Donut Shoppe and coffee from Starbucks I was ready to brave the day. First stop was Williams-Sonoma to replace our broken Waring mixer for the "Prosumer" Vitamix. We live on smoothies at breakfast time and this one is a beast! From there we headed to Saks where they were serving beer and champagne to celebrate a contemporary men's promotion. Sweet!


















From Saks it was off to Assouline where they specialize in beautifully illustrated luxury books covering art, fashion and lifestyles. I absolutely love that shop and the lovely ladies that work there.














Dinner reservation was at 7pm, Sapphire Restaurant in Laguna Beach. Chicken Satay, Pumpkin Ravioli, Monk fish in claypot with a pinot from Santa Barbara - I already forgot the name :-) Long weekend with no sleep will do that to you. A walk through the village, some frozen yogurt, people watching and then a 45 min drive back to Carlsbad. I leave you with some window scenes in Laguna ...

Vishal's First Beemer & Lunch at Lucha Libre Taco Shop

Spent a good part of Sunday with helping my friend Vishal purchase his first Beemer! Having done our homework on non-negotiables, invoice pricing and the wow factor, we headed down South (about 40 miles from Carlsbad) to the dealership. Greeted by our affable sales rep, we took the test drive in a beautiful black 328i convertible. After striking up a deal and signing the paperwork, we headed to Mission Hills to have lunch at Lucha Libre Taco Shop made famous on the show "Man vs. Food". Headed back after lunch to grab the car and headed North with the roof down of course!

Friday Night Dinner

Simple one tonight - Mushroom and Spinach pizza on whole grain crust + curried lentil soup accompanied by Au Bon Climat 2008 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir. This wine is just easy to drink. With pizza or chicken or just in a glass by itself, the pretty plum and spring strawberry flavors of this Pinot are simply delicious. There is nothing pretentious here, just well balanced, nicely textured, brightly fruity wine that seems to go with everything.

Cry Baby: The Pedal That Rocks The World Pt 1/4

Foo Fighters Trailer

Ari Hest's "How Would I Know" - Official Video

Weekend In Portland

Portland - ah, the greenest of the green cities, gardens galore, rain, craft beer and the main reason we visited ... it's a great foodie town. The vibe is laid back (No worries man!) and exudes a level of cool. This pic was taken in downtown Portland close to the Voodoo Doughnut (more on that later!)



Stayed at the Hotel Monaco located right in the heart of downtown (5th and Washington). The luxury hotel has an artistic feel and has won numerous awards, including Travel & Leisure "World's Best Values" and "Top 500 Hotels in the World," as well as Conde Nast Traveler's "World's Best" and "Readers' Choice Top 100 in the World." Hotel Monaco Portland is also a recipient of the City of Portland's BlueWorks Award for recycling and sustainability.


So - on to the foodie scene. The first night we ate at the Park Kitchen in the Pearl District. Small restaurant, fantastic cooking. If you go there, do indulge on the Chickpea fries with Pumpkin ketchup and the Sunchoke soup.



For a fast sugar filled breakfast head to Voodoo Doughnut where the magic is i the hole! On Southwest 3rd avenue, this tiny cash only joint stays open until 3am serving menus selections like the Bacon Maple Bar and Triple Chocolate Penetration.


Good sugar treats deserve the best coffee. Fortunately Portland is home to Stumptown Roasters, one of the best in the business. With locations in New York and Portland, their espresso drinks are sheer magic!




On Northwest Flanders street, I ran into Rogue Distillery and Public House famed for their handcrafted Ales, Porters, Stouts, Lagers and Spirits. Cheers! Burgers followed at Southpark - Carlton Farms Burger White Cheddar, Pommes Frites and Bacon. Check out the size of this mother!


The city's bustling street-food scene may soon be rivaling the food trucks of LA in terms of quality, scope, popular appeal, and value for money. In other words, the Pacific Northwest is doing for street food today what it did for coffee in the 1990s.


One street food vendor you just have to try - their peanut butter creations are mouth watering. I went for the grilled sweet and spicy Thai creation - local artisan Challah bread with PB, Marmalade, Sirachia, fresh basil and curry. Thanks Keena and Shane!




Portland is also a shopping paradise of sorts - great selection of big names, bespoke shops and little mom and pop places. Here's a little slice of the street scene ...






All in all a nice long weekend. The weather not too bad for February :-)
Peace out!