Our Culinary City Picks

Bonnie and I are foodies and we love to eat our way through a destination!  We find that food is a huge part of a culture and it's a great way to discover a country, city and it's people.  We also find that it's one topic people love to talk about especially when you ask about childhood favorites and tradition.  When you start a conversation with who has the best ..... there is a robust competition to share experiences and make a proclamation.

When looking at the US and answering the question "What are the best culinary cities in the US"? We picked Chicago, New Orleans and San Fransisco because of their diversity in cuisine and their creations or style offers many options.

Chicago:

• Home of the Deep Dish Pizza or the Pizza Pie.  Of course you can find pizza anywhere in the US but this is a Chicago Style Pizza.  It's thick, cooked in a cast iron skillet and then filled with toppings.  Gino's East is one of the iconic places and they make sure each bite has the same ingredients.  Take their sausage pizza, they take ground sausage and roll it out in the shape and size of the pie. Of course, you can't mention Deep Dish Pizza and not mention Pizzeria Uno.  At Pizzeria Uno, you order the pizza when you arrive and when your pizza is ready your table is ready.
• Hot Dogs and the Vienna Sausage.  There are many favorites of the city and often the subject of a great debate.  Here in Chicago, it's all about the toppings.  Shredded lettuce, sliced or diced tomato, raw onions, in some cases a slice of pickle, hot peppers and a bright green relish.  If you want to make enemies put ketchup on your hot dog.  This just isn't done in Chicago!
• Italian Beef Sandwich.  Little Italy is a must visit while you're in Chicago and getting an Italian Beef Sandwich is a must.  Thinly sliced beef, sauteed, the sandwich is topped with sauteed onions and then the entire sandwich including the bread is dipped in a beef aus jus.
• The Chop House.  Great steaks are a staple in Chicago and so is the Chop House.  Gene and Giorgetti's is the oldest steak house in Chicago.  A premium cut of beef cooked to perfection.
• Don't forget the visit the neighborhoods in Chicago, by doing so you can take a trip around the world!

New Orleans:

• New Orleans has too many delights to list in one blog. And this is why it tops the list for a culinary tour.
• Anything Cajun! These spices are heavenly and the concoctions from New Orleans Cajun country are phenomenal.  Blackened Catfish or Red fish, Crayfish Boil, Etoufee, Jambalaya, etc.
• Beignets and Cafe Dumond are synonymous! Make it your fist stop to get that Hello to New Orleans.  Fried dough covered in powered sugar and a cup of chicory coffee.
• Po'Boys - A sandwich filled with fried seafood. They're traditionally made with catfish, shrimp or oysters. Add lettuce, tomatoes and remoulade and voila a Po' Boy!

San Fransisco:

• Why we picked it:
• The Fisherman's Wharf has to be on your culinary tour.  Spend an afternoon walking through exploring and tasting the seafood from he pacific coast.  Crab legs, shrimp, fish, etc. You can have it many ways, at a sit down restaurant, to go, in a sandwich or just out of the steamer.
• Sourdough bread.  Crusty on the outside, soft on the inside and oh so good when it's fresh out of the over!
• Chowder, of course made with seafood. Anything from fish to shellfish and to make a real San Francisco treat have it in a sourdough bread bowl!
• China Town is one of the best and biggest in the US from the traditional to the fusion San Francisco's China Town is a culinary tour of its own.

When trying to come up with destinations for a culinary tour outside of the US we wanted to stay away from the obvious.  Once again we have many favorite destinations so this does not mean any other destination is slighted.

Tokyo:

• I watched an episode of Andre Zimmer's Bizarre Foods on his culinary journey through Japan.  While I have some experience with Japanese cuisine neither of us have been to Japan.  I plan on going in January and wanted to get a head start.
• Tokyo has the most restaurants that any other country with Michelin stars
• Tokyo's Fish Market Tsukiji is on the list of Top things to do in Tokyo! There are 1600 vendors, 60,000 workers and 2000 tons of seafood.  The auction for tuna is a must see.
• If you want to most bizarre or extreme visit one of Japan's Extreme Bars.  Not only can the food be bizarre like everything made with Mayonnaise but also a strange theme like a toilet decor and design.

Bangkok, Thailand

• I absolutely love Thai food. The spices and sauces are the best because of their layers of flavors and the heat. I love the heat!
• These are some of my picks for must tries:
• Tom Yom Soup - a brothy soup made with pork or chicken and spice with tiny little potent peppers
• Thai Papaya Salad - made with the freshest of ingredients, green papaya, tomatoes, chili's, shrimp, peanuts
• Chicken or Beef Sa-Tay with peanut sauce - Skewered and grilled meat with a peanut sauce that made with peanut butter, soy and other spices.
• Curry - I favor the shrimp or chicken and it's sometimes with the green curry.  Be careful some curry sauces are very spicy.
• Crispy catfish is one of my favorites.  This fish is fried so crispy ad is not greasy and the spicy green mango sauce will have you going back for more.

Ja'Vonne

And Now Bordeaux

Well, I don't know how we're going to top Champagne but we will certainly try as we head south to Bordeaux.

We're leaving Paris behind for a couple of nights and staying at the Grand Hotel Bordeaux.  the hotel is f a b u l o u s! It' a historic land mark and resembles an Opera house and the location is ideal.

The best way to travel throughout France is by train so we take the TGV, the high speed train, in first class.  The train will take three hours.  Our train departs at 7:30am so we start with a wake up call at 5:00am to give time for breakfast, luggage, loading the bus and getting to the Montparnasse train station.

Our group (72) always seems to get attention.  I'm not sure if it's because we are so beautiful or if it's because we 72 black people traveling together?  What do you think?  As we are standing there waiting for our track to be displayed, a homeless man tries to blend in with our group.  As we try to distance ourselves from him he politely keeps his distance but stays near.  When I try to take a picture of the group waiting on the platform the homeless man jumps in to get in the picture.  Maybe I should have taken one of him.  He was sporting unattended dread locks and kept smiling.  Once again, I motioned with my hand for him to move and said excuse-moi and he politely moved to the side.

Sophie & me on TGV

The TGV is quick and smooth and after we talk for a bit, very quickly most of us start to doze off and before you know it we arrive in Bordeaux.  We immediately drive an hour outside of the city to Arsac and lunch at The Winery restaurant Wy.  We have the entire place to Napa.  The highlight of the meal was the dessert.  Nougat glace aux eclats de chocolat blanc, tuille aux amandes et confiture de lait.  White chocolate chipped iced nougat, almond tuile and caramel sauce.  Almost every plate was clean and our resident pastry chef gave it a thumbs up.
ourselves.  The Winery is modern and looks a lot like the wineries of

The Winery has a unique approach to wine and wine tasting.  They provide you with blind tastings of six different wines.  during the tasting you're taught how to recognize wine through sight, smell and taste.  During the process you're asked questions about the wine you're tasting and some general questions about your personal tastes.  At the end you're presented with your unique wine sign.  It's called your oenological sign.  This determines your wine profile and your personality.  Mine is "Strong Ascendant Gourmet". I have a muscular palate...and a soft heart.

After lunch and the wine tasting we head to the Chateaux d'Arsac for a tour and more tasting.

Happy Birthday Earnestine

This is one fun trip and we're getting friendly.  However, as much as I enjoyed today, I like Champagne better, I mean the drink. That being said I love Bordeaux, the city. I could stay more days here and dine around and shop.  I would definitely say that Bordeaux is a B-Side destination that is a hit! It's charming but not too small.  It has pedestrian streets with wonder shops and restaurants.  Lots of Brasseries. The people are friendly and it has an overall elegant feel.


Gene and I decide to spend an evening alone and dine at a charming brasserie just around the corner from the hotel, but we're spotted and before we know it at least 20 group members are also dining there.  It's OK, they all say hello and take their tables.  The pastries here are beautiful to the eyes and delectable on the tongue. I have the raspberry tart and Gene has the praline cream filled donut.  Of course, I have a bottle of Moet & Chandon to wash it all down.

Tomorrow we head to Cognac....I'm glad this day has arrived because one group member asks every day..."When are we going to Cognac?" He has the itinerary but insists on asking.

Until then.....

Ja'Vonne Harley, Co-Host, The Traveling Eye
www.thetravelingeye.com

Israel - Heading North

After leaving Tel Aviv we headed north and our first stop is along the Mediterranean Coast. Israel is a small country so we were never on the road for more than two hours. I like that we didn't have to fly and deal with the hassle of an airport and luggage.  Israel's infrastructure is great.  The roads are paved throughout and the highways are medium sized.  I would say easy to navigate because we had a driver and the signs are in Hebrew, Arabic & sometimes English alphabet.

Bonnie, Amir, Ja'Vonne

Our first stop at 9:00am is to the Binyamina Winery.  That's right 9:00am.  Somewhere in the world it was 5pm.  This is a Kosher winery, which means that everything from the vines to the bottle must be handled by a sabbath Jewish person.  The ingredients of wine are not non-kosher so it's deemed kosher by who handles the wine making process.  Israel wine is quite good and I purchased a couple of bottles for myself.  A blend of Cabernet sauvignon, Shiraz and Merlot.

Israel fascinates me every step of the way.  Our next stop is Nazareth.  Nazareth is the largest Arab town in Israel and the start of the Gospel Trail and Christian Pilgrimage.  I forget that it is Arabic and say thank you to a merchant in Hebrew.  He replies in English and then it hits me....I should have said shukran and when I remember and correct myself he smiles and replies afwan (you're welcome in Arabic).  We visit the Basilica of the Annunciation.  It's a Catholic church that is built on top of Byzantine and Crusader churches and it's the site where Mary was told by Gabriel that she would give birth to Jesus.  There is a shrine to Mary here and the site is beautiful.

We were introduced to another faith and culture in this area. Druze.  In the Carmel National Park we met with and had lunch at a Druze village.  The Druze culture and religion are very interesting.  They are people without a land. Druze theology believes that God was incarnated and as a whole in reincarnation of the human spirit.

Continuing on to Haifa, Israel's third largest city and as we are told the place where many cultures co-exist.  We're in the mountains and it's a bit colder than Tel Aviv and Nazareth.  I can't complain though because we're told that the week before was in the low 30's, rainy and windy.  For our visit it's in the upper 50's in this part.  One of the most beautiful & impressive attractions in Haifa is the Bahia Faith World Center.  It's sits high atop the city and it's gardens are absolutely breathtaking.  Irregardless of your faith you can come here connect spiritually just with the shear beauty of the surroundings.  Nature has a way of equalizing us all.  The Bahai Faith is among the newest independent world faiths and believe in a peaceful and unified world.

Next stop Akko and Galilee...we're getting serious folks.

Ja'Vonne Harley, Co-Host - The Traveling Eye
Photos by Howard Little, Video Twist Productions