Bouchon ~ Wine Country Cuisine in the Heart of Santa Barbara, California – As these boomers are out roaming, one of our great missions is to find wonderful places to dine, sample their cuisine, and then report back to you our loyal subscribers.
We are very excited to tell you about our dining experience at Bouchon in downtown Santa Barbara, California.
Bouchon specializes in Santa Barbara “Wine Country Cuisine”. This means they source their ingredients using an “as-fresh-and-as-local-as-possible” approach, with fish from the Santa Barbara Channel and produce from the surrounding countryside. They then take into account how these flavors can be presented in concert with their local wines.
This was day #1 of our 10-Day California Central Coast Road Trip, we have our good friends from Michigan dining with us, and we are looking forward to a wonderful dining experience.
As we settled into our table, the first item of business was to select a nice local bottle of wine. I didn’t realize this, but Santa Barbara County has over 100 wineries, most of them small local businesses, and together they are producing a half billion dollars in revenue. According to the Santa Barbara Vintners’ Association, the area is well-known for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah. We settled on a Syrah.
For our first course, Carol and I shared Tutti Frutti Farms Heirloom Tomato Stack (heirloom tomatoes, pickled shallots, Purple Haze goat cheese, teardrop tomatoes, heirloom basil, balsamic & tomato oil). We love heirloom tomatoes and these were simply outstanding. This is my half of the stack.
When we are visiting a new restaurant, I always inquire about the chef’s signature dish. I received an immediate response: Bourbon & Maple-Glazed California Duck Breast (duck confit, thyme-infused jus, succotash of corn, fava beans, applewood-smoked bacon, and Windrose Farms butternut squash).
As I am writing this, I am racking my brain to discern if I have ever relished upon such an amazing serving of duck. The answer is no. This is easily the best duck I have ever enjoyed and I find myself wishing I lived closer to Santa Barbara. Hats of to Executive Chef Greg Murphy.
Listen, if you fancy duck, then there is only one choice on the menu in my opinion.
My taste buds were doing a happy dance with each and every bite!
Further, I was having a hard time keeping other’s forks away from my plate. Back you swine…back!
Now, my wife Carol is a major fan of short ribs.
If there are short ribs on the menu, then she is drawn to them like objects to the magnetic neutron star known as Soft Gamma Repeater 1806-20, the most powerful known magnetic object in the universe.
Therefore, Carol enjoyed Duo of Braised Short Rib & Grilled New York (Yukon gold potatoes, braised celery root and baby shiitakes, celery root puree, and red wine jus).
It was absolutely delicious, but not as good as my duck!
Of course, she vehemently disagreed.
Not to leave our friends Bob & Karen Schroeder out of the picture, Bob was beaming over his Grilled Smoked Venison (red wine braised farro barley, fava beans, Tamai Farm beets, smoked onion purée, and souce Bordelaise), while Karen quietly enjoyed her Char-grilled Rack of Lamb (sautéed fingerling potatoes, braised Swiss chard with golden raisins, crispy prosciutto and rosemary demiglace).
I think Karen’s suppressed joy was merely a ploy to keep us away from her lamb. Only later did I hear of her praise for her dinner. Had she given utterance to her enjoyment earlier, certain I would have begged for a taste.
Very sneaky Karen, very sneaky!
With very satisfied, and full bellies Manager John Loewen insisted that we try the chef’s Margerum Ranch Blueberry Upside Down Cake (thyme créme anglaise, blueberry coulis, & California lemon zest ice cream).
The four of us split one dessert, but what a wonderful ending to a completely delightful gastronomical journey.
“As fresh and as local as possible”. That is the aim of Bouchon Santa Barbara, and the four of us were completely delighted to have sampled the Santa Barbara area in such a wonderful way.
Certainly, hundreds of local business-folk contributed to this experience, and we thank you all from the bottoms of our hearts.
Great job Bouchon team! We will certainly be back when we next visit Santa Barbara, and will sing your praises until we do.
Here’s a great video from Bouchon’s owner, Mitchell Sjerven.
Disclosure: the wonderful dining experience was provided by Bouchon Santa Barbara. Thanks!
Once we have a copy of the video, we will share it with you here. But in the meantime, here’s a photograph shot by our PR guy, Tony Felice. Thanks Tony!
Waldorf Astoria ~ Orlando, Florida – What comes to your mind when you hear the words Waldorf=Astoria?
I think of New York City, the world’s first skyscraper hotel, a place where the rich and famous stay, and the inventors of the legendary Waldorf Salad, Eggs Benedict, Red Velvet Cake, Veal Oscar, Lobster Newburg, and Thousand Island Dressing.
But alas, on October 1, 2009 a new Waldorf=Astoria was born. In fact, this is the first “built from the ground up” hotel to ever possess the Waldorf=Astoria name outside of the original New York City landmark hotel.
Fascinatingly, being born in the land of Disney, this new hotel was re-imagined and designed to pay tribute to the NYC original’s acclaimed restaurants and bars.
Indeed, the hotel infuses the timeless Jazz Age-elegance of The Waldorf=Astoria in New York City, with the vibrant and modern ambiance of tropical Florida. An impeccable level of guest service is a nod to the original Waldorf, the hotel that set the standard for urbane sophistication. Waldorf Astoria Orlando features 498 deluxe guest rooms (and 170 exquisite suites) with sweeping vistas of Disney’s vacation kingdom and the Bonnet Creek nature preserve.
Re-imagined versions of famed New York food and beverage establishments are part of the guest experience, including Waldorf=Astoria legends Peacock Alley®, Oscars®, Sir Harry’s®, and Bull & Bear Prime Steakhouse®. Much like their Big Apple counterparts, the hotel’s restaurants have already become among the city’s most popular “go-to” restaurants to celebrate special occasions.
We arrived at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando after a very long day of travel from Scottsdale. We used some free tickets that we had available with our Delta miles program and wound up with nearly three hours of lay-over in Atlanta.
When we arrived at our room, we were very happy to see that our turn-down service had already been administered, chocolates and slippers were in their places, and our warm, comfy bed awaited us.
After a delightful night’s sleep, Carol had an early morning massage in the Waldorf Astoria Spa by Guerlain while I got a little work done on our website. A little over an hour later I was greeted by a wife who had the most relaxing countenance after her one-hour Guerlain Impériale massage. She was very, very impressed with this spa.
At 12:00 we had a lunch meeting with Director of Public Relations Keith Salwoski and Marketing Coordinator Catherine Segar in the re-imagined Peacock Alley®. It was there that we learned of the history of Waldorf=Astoria and how proud the whole company was of this very new luxury hotel.
Peacock Alley® features a menu of small-plate inspired cuisine. Here is our sample of Lobster “BLT” Popovers (Smoked Bacon, Haas Avocado, Micro Arugula, Tarragon Aioli). Major YUM!
We were planning to head into Disney’s Epcot Center while we were staying at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando, but a near tropical storm dumping nearly 12 inches of rain in nearby cities made us reconsider.
After a relaxing afternoon, we made our way down from the 14th floor to dine at the resort’s replica of the famous NYC Bull & Bear Steakhouse®.
We started off with a wonderful bottle of Pinot Noir and some wonderful bread.
Next up was Deviled Eggs (Shaved Black Truffle). Wow!
And then a Classic Caesar Salad prepared table-side.
And check out these Heirloom Tomatoes. Unbelievably fresh, sweet, and totally delish!
The Waldorf=Astoria was the first restaurant on the Eastern Seaboard to serve USDA-Certified Angus Beef®, the highest quality grade available in the United States.
As if to pronounce that we were about to experience culinary greatness, out came these wooden chargers for our steaks.
And then, drum-roll please, out came the Certified Angus Beef Prime Filet! Holy melt in your mouth Batman!
And of course, you can’t have a beautiful piece of filet without Mac and Cheese with Pancetta. Right?
Wow! That was good Mac and Cheese!
We then ended the night with a marvelous Chocolate Souffle. Piping hot and unbelievably good!
After spending a few nights at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando, this resort lands squarely in our list of wonderful places to stay. There is no comparable property so near to Disney World. But even if this property were in the middle of Timbuktu it would be worth your journey.
Disclosure: this wonderful experience was provided by the nice folks at Waldorf Astoria Orlando. Thanks! We loved it!
As the reality of that set in, a number of things went through my mind:
How vulnerable am I now to privacy issues?
Can a malicious person now complicate my life?
I wonder how much a new phone costs?
How will I ever get all my downloaded applications on a new phone?
Are the photographs and videos on my phone lost forever?
What questions should I be asking myself that I don’t even know to ask?
I frantically set about the house looking for my phone. I called my phone hoping to hear the famous “DROID” ring-tone.
Nothing! It’s gone! ACK!
Thankfully, just about a week ago, I downloaded a free security application called Lookout Mobile Security.
I frantically hopped on my iMac, went to the Google Apps folder where I stored my Lookout information, clicked on the link provided, andin less than one minute my phone was located using the internal GPS.
As it turns out, I left it at a posh resort where we had just spent the night.
In less than two minutes, I went from frantic to calm and found myself very impressed with Lookout Mobile Security.
From Lookout Mobile Security:
“Your smartphone is a vital part of your daily life – at work, at play wherever you go. You rely on it for so much – email, texting, social networking, cool apps, banking, shopping and much more. Your phone holds a lot of personal information, connect to various mobile networks and can even do financial transactions. As the use of your phone increases, so does your vulnerability. That’s why it’s important to protect your phone from threats of any kind, including mobile viruses, Trojans, worms, attempts to steal your private data and the loss or theft of the phone itself. Every month, Lookout blocks thousands of malicious applications, finds countless lost phone (that’s me) and restores important information that our users thought they’d never see again.
Lookout give you peace of mind. So you never have to worry when you download an application that it will infect your phone with malware, crash the OS or drain the battery. If you lose your phone you can find it quickly and easily, no matter where it is. And it’s good to know that the most important data on your phone is securely backed up and easily accessible.
Lookout’s award-winning application is uniquely designed from the ground up to provide advance protection for smartphones, while allowing them to remain lightweight and efficient. Our cross-platform, cloud-connected applications immediately identify and block threats to protect your phone. Lookout is available for Android, Windows Mobile and Blackberry.”
I must confess, I am one very happy baby boomer today thanks to Lookout Mobile Security.
I am a raving fan!
Note: this is not a paid advertisement but is simply the gushing love of a happy client!
Ventana Inn and Spa – We were both looking forward to this day at the Ventana Inn and Spa.
We finished our video shoot after breakfast and looked forward to a day of luxuriating in this fabulous place.
The first stop was to enjoy the resort’s Japanese hot baths.
We spent several hours alternating between lying in the sun reading a book and becoming slightly wrinkled in these wonderfully soothing hot waters from likely staying too long.
Total tranquility!
As noontime approached, our stomachs began to complain for food. Knowing that we had picnic fixings in our room, we ventured up the path to our room…
and enjoyed a delightful lunch accompanied by a wonderful Carmel Valley wine.
It was then time for more relaxing as Carol climbed aboard the hammock on our deck.
As the four o-clock hour arrived, it was time for the wine and cheese reception where we met Mr. and Mrs. Awe from Minnesota. They were here celebrating their 25 wedding anniversary.
This little scene beckoned my camera as we were visiting with them.
After enjoying some wine and cheese, it was off to dinner with our Michigan friends Bob & Karen Schroeder where I caught this beautiful lighthouse at sunset.
What a wonderful day!
Tomorrow we must leave Ventana Inn & Spa. Bummer!
But…wait…there’s more…we’re off to stay in a Yurt!
The Roaming Boomers
