Travelogue: Atlanta (Dec 2016)

Posted on June 1, 2017June 1, 2017 Posted in art, Food, photography, travelTagged aquarium, atlanta, banh mi, boba, brisket, bubble tea, city skyline, coca cola, cocktails, georgia, long exposure, night sky, ribs, southern bbq, street art, vietnamese, wall muralsLeave a comment

Long weekend means road trip time! We flew into Atlanta and began there.

I’ve always wanted to go to the largest aquarium in the U.S. — the Georgia Aquarium.

It reminded me of the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans, which to this day remains my favorite (for blog post on that, click here).

Next to the aquarium is the World of Coca-Cola.

With the admission fee, you get a “free” coke at the start of the tour:

Here you can test out all the flavors of Coca-cola products from all the continents in the world.

After loading up on excessive sugar, we went to eat some BBQ because Atlanta.

Twin Smokers BBQ

The brisket was good but the BEST part was their DINOSAUR RIB!

The picture does not do it justice. And also the corn souffle (SO GOOD):

Ponce City Market reminded me of Chelsea Market in NYC, with lots of food options and retailers selling hipster things:

The “Beltline” also reminded me of the Highline in NYC, attached to Ponce City Market like the Highline is attached to Chelsea Market.

I saw a lot of people riding bikes here.

And of course, the main reason for coming here was for the wall murals nearby:

Dinner at King + Duke:

My chartreuse!

Bone marrow and amazing steak.

After dinner, we went to the Ivy for drinks and met up with a friend from college.

Of course I had to do a long exposure night shot of the city skyline:

Next morning, we went to grab some amazing banh mi for $3 (SO FAST AND SO CHEAP):

GET THE BANH MI DAC BIET!!!!!!!!!

It’s located inside an Asian shopping center which means lots of parking space and bakeries.

Tea House Formosa for bubble tea:

And that was it for Atlanta! It was a fun 1.5 day(s?) there, lots of good food and wall murals, kinda rushed because we were short on time. We could’ve eaten more fried chicken there. Next, we head to Chattanooga on the way to Nashville, Tennessee!

Where to eat in Downtown Phoenix, Arizona (April 2016)

Posted on May 4, 2016 Posted in art, Food, travelTagged Arizona, be coffee + food + stuff, beer garden, Bitter & Twisted, cocktails, Desoto Central Market, downtown, eat, food hall, fried chicken skin po boy, Matt's Big Breakfast, Melt ice cream, oysters, Phoenix, ramen burgerLeave a comment

The most important things to me when traveling are: food, coffee, ice cream. I was pleasantly surprised with Downtown Phoenix’s hipster coffee houses, food hall with amazing vendors, ramen burgers, creative cocktails and on and on. Here they are…

WHERE TO EAT:

Matt’s Big Breakfast, the most popular breakfast place in Phoenix.

It was crowded but I got a seat right away at the counter.

Their bacon is the thing to get. But I really really liked the hashbrown.

Bitter & Twisted — a low-key cocktail bar/restaurant. Easily my favorite in Phoenix.

Their menu looks like a video game manual:

You choose based on how strong and how eclectic you want your drinks.

Strawberry “sundae”: zubrowka bison grass vodka with cream, strawberries, chocolate, vanilla and banana liqueurs — LOVED this!!!!!

This is where you can find the Ramen Burger.

It was a cool concept but the ramen part was too crispy for me. Great burger.

Typhoon chicken: fried chicken and 8 spice salt, bread crumbs, chilies, scallion, garlic and watermelon kimchi lettuce cups. Highly recommended.

Tiramisu — this was AMAZING (and alcoholic). I would’ve stayed for longer but I was drinking by myself and the place got really busy. Definitely highly recommend this place to anyone visiting Phoenix!!!!!

Desoto Central Market — I actually liked it so much, I came back the next day. It’s a food hall and beer garden and also art space.

The outdoor beer garden.

Plenty of space and seating.

Get oysters at Walrus & the Pearl!

Get some baos at Adobo Dragon:

The Larder + the Delta:

The best thing there? FRIED CHICKEN SKIN PO BOY. It’s just the skin, no meat, but so crispy and tasty!!!

Pig ear “cheetos”

Cauliflower — this was my least favorite dish.

Tea & Toast — I got their black rose latte the first time and loved it! Then I got the “london fog”, which was earl grey with lavender, also really good.

The rest of the space:

FOR COFFEE:

Jobot Coffee

Great iced lattes and music. Now I’m obsessed with Odesza.

Be Coffee & Food & Stuff:

The layout allows for shared space with other art companies that want to use it as a venue at night.

Really loved their lattes.

Toast with mascarpone and jam… so gooooood.

I loved this space.

The Cafe at Phoenix Public Market serves Cartel coffee.

FOR ICE CREAM:

Melt

They have flavors like Trix, banana pudding, lucky charms, etc. all served in a Chinese take-out container with a fortune cookie.

Travelogue: Indianapolis, Indiana (Feb 2016)

Posted on April 3, 2016April 3, 2016 Posted in art, Food, travelTagged bone marrow, brunch, canal walk, cocktails, duck fat fries, indianapolis, milktooth, murals, speakeasy, Union 50Leave a comment

Continuing from the previous post, we started driving to Indiana from Kentucky. Google maps said it would take 3 hours but because of the blizzard and traffic, it ended up being 6-7 hours…

It was perfect timing for dinner at Union 50, one of the best restaurants I’ve been to in a long time.

If you’re in Indianapolis, definitely stop by for a cocktail or dinner. I was extremely impressed. We sat at the bar because it was a busy night despite the weather, but it was fine because we got to order more drinks than we would’ve…

Their drinks menu feature eclectic cocktails that are already amazing, but if you want something different, you can customize your drinks like a speakeasy. They are amazing at it, comparable to New York if not better — and at $10/drink!!

This was my cocktail after I asked for something “fruity” and “creamy”. This place really raises the bar for… all other bars.

Onto the food. Their innovative dishes change seasonally.

Bone marrow

Duck fat (+rosemary) fries with 2 sauces: garlic-truffle aioli and beer cheese. I loooooved these fries & the aioli!!!!!!!!!!! (worth every exclamation points)

The fish was ok.

“Toast and Jam”, shrimp toast with yuzu — LOVED this as well!

Kimchi Meatloaf

Other than cocktails, they also have beer and wine on tap! And don’t forget the live music!

We played inside the restaurant.

The next morning, we went to Milktooth for brunch. It was unbelievably incredibly AMAAAAAZING. Portland and New York have to step up their brunch game, cause they got nuttin on Milktooth.