Food Travel


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Everything’s Bigger in Texas (Including the Tacos)

Texas. Land of Shiner Bock, queso, beef, dry rub BBQ, and Mexican (okay, Tex-Mex) food. Truly one of my favorite places to chow down. I visited Austin and San Antonio at the end of September, partially to join the 10th Anniversary celebration of Austin City Limits, but let’s be honest, also partially to eat everything I set my eyes on.

I’ll go ahead and admit it, authentic Mexican is great but my heart truly belongs to Tex-Mex, something of which my hometown of Seattle has very little. I knew I had to take advantage of Texas while I could, so one day we headed to the Hildebrand area of San Antonio to a little…establishment…well.. fast food-ish shack imaginatively called Taco Taco.

Quite the luxurious digs, eh? No matter, everyone knows that some of the best food comes from some of the most unassuming exteriors. I took it as a good sign. Speaking of signs, inside Taco Taco there are multiple signs and banners proclaiming that they were named “Best Tacos in America” by Bon Appetit (a bit of internet research informs me this honor was bestowed in 2007). It has also garnered a fair amount of recognition from various Texas publications over the years, so I had to see if it could live up to the hype. Plus I just have a very tacky propensity for needing to try anything proclaimed the biggest, best, most famous, etc…. So I knew I had to go for it and order the taco that made Taco Taco famous: the El Taco Norteño.

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in Cheese / Food Travel / Red Meat / Restaurants 1 comments
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Screeching, Squirming and Screaming: Crabbing and Fishing in Oregon, Part II

Last week I started photo-journaling my first fishing experience. I left off in the waiting period, which is pretty much what this type of non-casting fishing is all about.

While drifting around in one set of coordinates without any luck, our fisherman Dave got on his cell phone. Yes, I said cell phone. Here we are, on the Columbia River, caressing through the misty Oregon air and Dave chats it up with another fisherman, finding salmon in another set of coordinates.

We brought in our reels and Dave (above) drove us to a new area. (PS-You can totally hire Dave to help you find fish.) Forty-five seconds later Greg, our event organizer, started screaming. A salmon hooked onto Nick’s line. Greg screamed for everyone to reel in their lines, for fear Nick’s catch would tangle other lines. Within another 45 seconds, a 12-inch salmon wriggled in the hands of Nick and Dave. Cameras snapped and the salmon soon returned to the water, for it wasn’t a native fish and it wasn’t the right time of year and salmon politics are awfully complicated.

The excitement hung in the air for another few minutes as we eagerly awaited another catch in our new sexy coordinates.

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in Fish / Food Travel 1 comments
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Screeching, Squirming and Screaming: Crabbing and Fishing in Oregon, Part I

I screeched and squirmed and well, fine, flat out screamed really, really loudly. Like reeeeal fucking loud. But it was okay. It was just the six of us on the Columbia River, with only a few seals popping up through the chilly water.

And maybe some cranes. Pelicans? Well, I’m not sure. This fishing excursion marked my first time in Oregon and I didn’t properly prepare for bird sightings. Or really, for fishing and crabbing in general. For it was my first time at this too. The only other time I’ve played with a fishing reel was on my friends’ balcony, for they lower the keys down from their 6th floor apartment to incoming guests. It’s pretty fun, but Tim doesn’t let me near the reel all that often. I’m not gentle on the line.

The six of us drove from Portland to Astoria (check out this gorgeous, sea lion and Goonie-filled town on FB), drank lovely beer at Fort George Brewery + Public House and went to bed early.

I just had to: here’s one glamour shot of Astoria.

Don’t let the lighting fool you. I snapped this when we returned from fishing, around noon, but the picture is here to move the plot along. Imagine this is all misty.

Kind of like this, actually. We’re just taking off and I’m sitting right behind these crates of bait. It’s cold out and my rain jacket doubled as a blanket.

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in Fish / Food Travel 8 comments
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Plus-Size Vegas: The Peppermill

To celebrate/mourn the end of the summer, I did what any old-fashioned, hard-drinking American girl would do: hopped a flight to Vegas for a weekend of pool parties, 52-oz. margaritas, slot machines, and food exploration. I know it’s important to look hot in Vegas, and part of looking hot is not stuffing your face with so much buffet food that you get all bloated and oily. That’s why I took it relatively easy until the final day of our trip, when I said “screw it” and headed down to the old end of the Strip to try out a diner I had read about and was desperate to experience for myself: the Peppermill, where everything is larger than life.

The Peppermill is equally lauded for its immense portions of epically greasy diner food and its gloriously tacky atmosphere. Upon entering the Pep, the hostess will probably say something like “Okay, for three?  It’ll be about 20 minutes. But you’re welcome to wait in our lounge…?” Yes, yes, YES. You will wait in the magnificent Fireside Lounge!

It looks like Xanadu crashed into a jungle, and then disco balls covered the sky, then half of the wildlife in the jungle turned into flatscreen TVs that blare blurry 80s music video programming. How’s that for a mental picture? Can you imagine it? Well, here’s a taste:

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in Bacon / Cheese / Food Travel / Pig / Restaurants / Sandwich 1 comments
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The Oktoberfest Survival Guide

Oktoberfest kicked off on September 17th in Munich, Germany. Unlike last year, I won’t be in attendance this time around. But in case you will be (or will be attending one of America’s faux celebrations), I want you all  to be prepared with my professional tips.

1) Be prepared for the ride

If you’re traveling to Munich via train, you might find yourself in a car with 10 men from the same “village” who have multiple kegs, loud music and an underage 15-year-old.  They will all be offended if you don’t drink beer and/or take shots with them, so just do it. Don’t plan on resting up during this voyage.

2) Eat whatever everyone else is eating

Look around. What are the old men and the bavarians in leiderhosen eating? Order that, no matter how good everything else sounds. If you can’t figure out the German menu, ask for an English version. They have them.

3) Order a pretzel the size of your head

You will not find anything like this in America no matter how hard you try. Plus, you’re going to need some carbs to aid with the 10 liters of beer you will inevitably drink.

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in Drinks / Food Travel 0 comments
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