Road Trip!

For 2 weeks my hubby and I (joined later by my awesome sis-in-law K) took a super fun 10-day road trip. I knew this meant not cooking at all for a while and I was pretty excited about trying new places (which is my second favorite thing after cooking!).

First we drove from PDX to San Francisco. We where there for a few days, spent Christmas eve and day with my aunt, then off to L.A. to see my brother for a few days. Then it was off to Napa for a few tastings, then back to PDX. The food overall was pretty good. Here are the highlights:

_ON THE ROAD:: 

Off 1-5 we stopped for lunch and this great burger place: Bartels Giant Burger. It was cheap, the burgers where really good and the chocolate milkshake even better. A must stop.

_SAN FRANCISCO::

Kirala: Super delish sushi, the fish just melted in my mouth! The place was super crowded but loved that it was pretty casual and the service was really good.

OOLA: Small place by our hotel. Food was good, we had some amazing oysters, ahi tuna and some really good fried potatoes with parmesan and truffle oil. The drinks where super overpriced though.

Ghirardelly: Had some Coffee ice cream with chocolate bites, lots of dark chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Need I say more? it was outstanding, still dreaming about it.

A16: I loved this place. Super cute and slick without being pretentious. We shared an appetizer of Mozzarella with olive oil that was incredible, we could have easily ate one each. The pizzas where lovely, thin crust and simple toppings. We had the margherita with prosciutto and the Scarola. Overall a really good meal.

Xmas: For Christmas we decided to make some baked salmon with hebs (auntie is vegetarian), mashed potatoes and a yummy salad of greens, goat cheese and toasted walnuts. It was delicious. On Xmas day my K and hubby made some great pancakes and cooked the leftover mashed into some really good breakfast potatoes.

_LOS ANGELES::

Mariasol Cocina Mexicana: We didn't really eat here but we relaxed, had drinks and enjoyed the sunset. This place it's at the end of the Santa Monica pier so it has a great view and you get free home made chips and salsa. What more can you ask for?

Gheisha House: Underwhelming is the right word for this place. The sushi was just ok, actually on the small side. Service was really bad. The place is kinda cool but not amazing. The price? expensive! I wouldn't go back. Ever.

Fritto Misto: REALLY good Italian place. Our friend Pete took us there and we loved it, good price, good wine and delicious food. Deliziosa!

_NAPA::

Elyse Winery: Super casual tasting. K and I had lots of fun here, tried about 13 wines for $10, learned nothing about wine and got a great buzz.

Domaine Chandon: We all did this tasting and we had a blast, it was SO good! If you don't have much time in Napa doing one wine tasting and one "champagne" tasting is great. Totally recommend it.

Now I'm back to cooking and cooking SUPER healthy. I'll try to post something good for you next week!