Sushi at Kubota - Japantown, San Jose, Ca

A group of us went out last night to Japantown in San Jose.  It is one of only three such communities left in the US (there were more than 40 before the internment of Japanese during WWII). At a tip from Rob Brooks-Bilson we went to Kubota for dinner. 

Several of us ordered the chef special sushi, which is essentially all you know before it shows up. This is a picture of my plate, although I'd already eaten a couple of pieces. One measure of good sushi is whether or not you need to use soy sauce and/or wasabi. I'd poured some soy sauce into the little bowl, but after lightly dipping the first piece realized it wasn't at all needed. Each piece had a different amount of wasabi that provided varying levels of heat to each piece. The toro and the hokkigai were easily the best two pieces. We finished the dinner with mochi ice cream, always a treat.

We took the light rail to Japantown but by the time we left it had finally cooled down enough to walk back. This evening, the group of people and the sushi, was one of the highlights of the week. 

Blogging from SGF

It seems like a tradition that I make a blog post before I get on a plane in Springfield. This week it's off to San Jose for the Adobe Community Summit - two days of training and two days of meetings with Adobe staff. Last year was an outstanding event, and the schedule for this year looks equally good.

No major food plans (most of my meals are within the scope of summit, but I'm spending this afternoon in San Francisco. Might get something good for lunch. There are two dinners this week I know I'll eat out, but have made no plans. It will depend on where the other summit attendees feel like eating. I'm thinking tapas one night.

Time to board the plane. 

Headed to Copper Mountain

Sitting in the KC Airport getting ready to leave for a few days of skiing and relaxation in Colorado. We're going with our friends Amanda and Greg - should be a fun week. Probably not much blogging, but maybe a bit. I'm going to try and stay relatively unplugged this week.

Adobe Community Summit 2006

 I'm on my way back from the Adobe Community Summit - an event for User Group Managers and Community Experts. It was a phenomenal week of networking, learning more about the Adobe strategy and product lines, and training. After going through two days of Flex training I've got to say Flex is absolutely going to rock the RIA world and when Apollo comes along the desktop environment.

Monday night I ate dinner with my dad at Loft - a sort of mediteranean/american cafe. We sat on the rooftop patio which was great. As hot as it is in San Jose right now it's nothing like the heatwave in Missouri. I ordered the chicken parmesan which was breaded with panko bread crumbs. After using them for the croquettes I've decided that anything that is fried is better with the super crispy panko.

Tuesday several of us went to Tied House - a local microbrewery. The beer was good, but not exceptional the food however was pretty good. I had their game burger which was buffalo. The fries were your standard variety bar & grill french fry - nothing special.

Thursday night was Indian night at Tandori - a small, almost hole in the wall establishment on 1st street behind the  Fairmont. The food was outstanding, the prices are great with large portion sizes. It's done in a quick service style which actually works pretty well.

Friday a group of us went to Bella Mia and celebrated Joey's birthday. Several people had suggested Bella Mia, but I wasn't very pleased with it. I ordered grilled lamb which was served with creamed corn and a potato goat cheese gallete. The food was good, but not worth the price. I'm curious how it is for lunch.

I wish I'd gotten to eat at E&O Trading Company, but I think I'll be coming to San Jose more often in the next couple of years so there's always more opportunities. 

San Jose

 I'm in San Jose this week for some meetings with Adobe. I'm looking for a few good places to eat, particularly something that would be good for a larger group (15-20). Hopefully places in downtown or walkable from downtown. Do I have any blog readers that are familiar with San Jose?

DC: Amsterdam Falafelshop

If I had to pick my favorite restaurants from the trip to DC it would be hard to split the top two. For quick, easy, and late night (although we ate lunch there) food the winner would be the Amsterdam Falafelshop.

If you've never had falafel you have to try it - perhaps not something to make at home, but mmm. Falafel is a deep fried ball of spiced, ground garbanzo beans. It is most often served in a pita as a sandwich (as at the Amsterdam Falafelshop) then topped in a variety of ways. 

The menu is amazingly simple. You can get two sizes of falafel in white or wheat pita, two sizes of fries, brownies, and assorted beverages. The menu is really only 3 items long: falafel, fries, brownies. The complexity comes with the topping bar. This is also where the goodness comes into play.

The topping bar consists of nearly twenty different sauces, salads, and pickles. It's possible to build your falafel in such a way that no two bites taste the same but every bite is delicious. This was my goal. I did fairly well for the first two thirds, but by the time I got to the end of eating the toppings had blended together giving me a very flavorful finish. Lest your fries feel left out they include traditional Dutch mayo, ketchup, and malt vinegar for them as well.

Washington Round Up - Day 2/3

Tuesday we went to the Zoo, National Cathedral, and wandered around the Adams Morgan neighborhood. I think zoos seem much larger when you're a kid. Overall I was disappointed with the National  Zoo experience. I don't think it was much better than any of the large zoos in other major cities around the country (St. Louis for example -- maybe even KC). The one distinguishing factor is the giant panda family. We got a great opportunity to see the pandas outside. The adults were very active and the baby was sleeping in a tree.

After the zoo we walked to Adams Morgan for lunch at the Amesterdam Falafelshop. I promise there will be restaurant writeups, but  I'm saving those for easy blogging in the next two weeks (some are already written and scheduled). Adams Morgan seems like a neat neighborhood - I'll probably go back on Saturday.

Saturday afternoon was occupied by our misguided attempts to get to the National Cathedral. It took us over an  hour from Adams Morgan. I've thought the cathedral was cool ever since I first visited it when I was younger - it's even cooler after having visited some of the  large cathedrals in Europe.

Washington Day 1

Our first day in DC we did a lot of the standard tourist stuff. We had a good lunch and a great dinner, but those are separate posts. Here is the quick overview of what happened on day one.

• Washington Monument - Saw Marine  One headed to the White House while waiting to go up.
  
• WWII Memorial
• Lincoln Monument
• Korean War Memorial
• Vietnam Veterans Memorial
• Lunch - Capitol City Brewing
• Smithsonian Castle
  
• American History Museum - including the puffy shirt
• Arlington National Cemetary and all the normal stuff there - Kennedy graves, tomb of the unknown, Arlington house. I tried to convince Sarah to walk back into the city, but she refused.
• Dinner - Old Ebbitt Grill

So that's the first day. Today we're headed to the zoo, Adams Morgan, and the National Cathedral. Then sushi with a friend of ours from Mizzou.

Leaving for DC Tomorrow

 Sarah and I leave for DC tomorrow. We're flying out of Kansas City on Midwest Airlines - I love Midwest, not only because the service is better than other airlines these days, but also because of the cookies. I'm going to the Buzz Conference at NCC. I'm very excited about it. Sarah's taking a week of vacation, and I've slid some of my days off around to get the extra days around the conference free.

I'm hoping to have some good food while we're there as well. The list includes Capitol City Brewing, The Oval Table, Zaytinya, Jaleo, Booeymonger, and if we get a chance Brickskeller and the Amsterdam Falafelshop. We rented an apartment for the week so we're going to try to keep meals as affordable as possible, but we certainly can't avoid DC restaurants.

We're also meeting a friend of mine from college who works in DC for dinner one night. We've decided to get sushi and I've narrowed it down to either Dragonfly or Momoyama.

 

MAX 2005 - Anaheim

I've been getting ready to leave for a week of learning, networking, and fun at what will probably be the last Macromedia conference. I've been going to Macromedia conferences for years (several in San Francisco, New York, Salt Lake City, New Orleans, etc) -- actually the only one I've missed in a LONG time was the Orlando one after the Allaire merger.

I'm hoping that this will be a great conference. I'm especially excited about the Flash platform (mainly FlexBuilder 2 aka Zorn) and Flash Lite -- I've got a Flash enabled phone now.

I'm also hoping there will be some good Southern California food to be consumed. If you have SoCal eateries to suggest let me know. I'm mainly going to be in Anaheim and Orange County, but I may have a car so LA isn't out of the question. I'm pondering trying to find some good BBQ.

Santa Fe: Sugar's BBQ

Sugar's BBQ is the ideal sort of BBQ restaurant -- basically a metal shack in the middle of nowhere with great food. Situated in Embudo, on the highway between Santa Fe and Taos, Sugar's is one of Gourmet magazines top 10 drive-ins. There is no indoor seating, just a bunch of tables with umbrellas to the side of the metal building. Behind the building they smoke the meat -- across the highway is the Rio Grande. We thought Sugar's was so good we went there for lunch two days in a row. First after Bandelier and the museum in Los Alamos and then after hiking at Ghost Ranch.

The food at Sugar's is not fancy, but it is probably the highest quality food we ate anywhere on the trip. In our two meals we ate the signature Sugar Burger which is a burger topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, green chiles on one side of the meat and bacon, cheese, and mushroom on the other. The BBQ meats are served two ways as a sandwich which is well sauced -- and slightly spicy with a hint of the New Mexico green chiles -- and in a burrito served with a straight green chile sauce. You have your choice of brisket or pork for the bbq. I didn't get a chance to try the ribs as they're only served on the weekend.

If you're in Santa Fe take the time and drive to Embudo for a meal at Sugar's (they're open from 10am - 7pm).

Santa Fe: Ghost Ranch

Our second day out of Santa Fe we journeyed north once again, this time to Abiquiu (pronounced "ab e que") and Ghost Ranch the home of Georgia O'Keefe. The area is now owned by the Presbyterian church and is a conference and retreat center.

There are several trails on the ranch for hiking and Sarah and I hiked one of the shorter hikes that actually goes away from the lodge -- the Chimney Rock trail. The Flickr badge shows images from this hike and other parts of Ghost Ranch. The pictures don't really do justice to the scope of the landscape. We took several sets that can hopefully be stitched into panoramas, although they were hand held so they may not work too well. Does anybody have software suggestions -- ideally for the Mac?

I think doing a retreat or a conference at Ghost Ranch would be amazing. It is by no means posh accommodations, but it is very affordable and you can't beat the location (okay, so it's not that accessible, but otherwise it's great). I may go hide away there to do some reading at some point in the future.

Santa Fe: Cowgirl BBQ & Cafe

Wednesday night we had dinner at Cowgirl BBQ & Cafe one of the few restaurants in Santa Fe that is open later than 9pm. After Bandelier and a very late lunch at Sugar's dinner after 9 was a requirement. We sat on the patio which was a bit chilly, but there was live music and it seemed to be the happening place to sit. Sarah ordered an exceptional vegetarian chili and I ate a buffalo burger. Sarah especially liked the chili because it had garbanzos in it. I'm usually a bit leary of buffalo because it tends to be dry, but this burger was quite good. We accompanied our meal with pale ale from the Santa Fe Brewing Company.

Santa Fe Update

There may be more posting later today, but stay tuned over the next week or so for a full write up of the various things that have been going on during the vacation.

A brief preview:
1. Cowgirl BBQ & Cafe -- not too shabby
2. Bandelier -- ladders are fun
3. Sugar's -- so good we went two days in a row
4. Ghost Ranch -- hiking to chimney rock
5. Taos -- the why Taos sucks series, because one post isn't enough
6. Sanctuario de Chimayo
7. Restaurante Rancho de Chimayo

Today's agenda includes: breakfast burritos, Maria's, beer, and whatever else we end up doing this afternoon.

Outside Santa Fe

Today we're driving to several Native American pueblos, Bandalier National Monument, and Ghost Ranch (where Georgia O'Keefe lived). There will be lots of nature photos today, we're hoping to take enough that we can put together a good grouping. We're also stopping for lunch at Sugar's BBQ & Hamburgers. Today will be a day without New Mexican food.

Hiking in Corsica

Meg Hourihan: Apparently Corsica is home to the GR20, "the spectacular and arduous 130-mile route that many claim is Europe's best backpacking trail." Oooh! Perhaps my next trip to France will involve a visit to the GR20. Spectacular and arduous are two of my favorite hiking-related adjectives!

A few years back (Easter of 2000) Sarah and I had the opportunity to visit Corsica. We stayed in Ajaccio, Corte (up in the mountains) and Bastia. We hiked the section of the GR20 near Corte until a storm made us turn around back to the hotel. Of the trip I would say the area around Corte was the most scenic, but Bastia was great fun -- it blends the best of Mediterranean France with Italy (which is actually closer). It was a bit hard to get around in inland Corsica as English was very rare, my French is horrible, and most people speak an indigenous language.

Another little known hiking destination of choice is the Picos de Europa in Spain near Fuente Dé. There is cable car that will take you to the top of the mountain (and back down if you're so inclined). Sarah and I opted to hike down. We encountered a herd of goats that was quite curious about us and a point in the trail where the only way down is via the rope that is attached to the rock face. Challenging, but fun. The best part is that you can stay in a Parador right at the base of the mountain.

Perhaps I'll have to scan some pictures to attach to this post.