When I travel for work, once I get to my hotel, I unpack and figure out where I am getting coffee in the morning. I know better than to drink the decaying packages of coffee in my hotel room to make with the $9 coffee maker. No, thank you. The coffee in the lobby? I am sure a kid has licked each item at that coffee bar.

No, I am fine doing a quick search for the nearest and greatest coffee in the area. Fluid popped up as being, basically, around the corner from my hotel after this search, so I headed on over.

Fluid is in a fairly nice looking, fairly new, fairly modern, fairly clean building. What is great is that when you head inside, it is a really cute local coffee shop with art on the walls and a great selection of to-go beverages.

Similar to all of those local, salt-of-the-earth coffee shops, the service was not warm, but it was efficient. That is all I need it to be, so I was satisfied. I ordered an almond milk latte (so many coffee shops don’t even carry almond milk– bonus) and it was excellent. Nice work, Fluid. Stop on by. It will be a nice, quick break in your morning to get a good cup of joe.

Counting both times I have been to this city, this was by far the most shocking disappointment in Montreal. The number of glowing reviews and the articles in trusted magazines should have lead to a positive and memorable experience at this restaurant. What happened was a disaster on a lot of levels.

What I can safely start off by saying is that this restaurant has, by far, the worst hostess of all time. I introduced myself and noted my reservation in French… then, in English because she gave me a blank, yet critical expression. Speaking English didn’t help matters much. She looked down and then answered the phone. Now, there was no one behind us and no one walked in while she was on the phone, so we waited. And waited. And waited. Then, we waited some more after she (very rudely) told us that we would need to wait longer for our table. We went outside and then came back in, only to be dismissed again. Thirty-four minutes after our reservation started, we were seated.

We had a wobbly table that was immediately fixed by our the nearest food runner. Our table was next to the bright bar that overlooks the kitchen. It felt good-busy, not uncomfortable-busy.

After we ordered drinks, we got a deconstructed makers mark and coke (they had a lot of American liquids), which allows you to make your own consistency. Clever.

During this time of ordering and drinking, the water boy was the nicest person we interacted with. The hostess, our server, other people’s servers seemed to be grumpy. I don’t know if they just got yelled at or all had a collective agreement to be terrible, but the only thing that was clear was that they were terrible.

We ordered the codfish fritter, beet and goat cheese salad and duck in a can. Nothing stood out as being amazing. It was fine is the nicest thing I can say about it and I am known to positively exaggerate about everything.

The thing about all of this is that it took fifty-three minutes to get our dinner, after our appetizer. The temperature in the restaurant increased dramatically as we waited. Just so, so hot. Sweating grossness. Ugh.

The maple ice cream was perfectly timed, but not for good reasons.

By the end, the servers were actively drinking and flirting, really not giving any attention to their tables. Our server was leaning into our table while we signed the bill. Just a disaster. I sincerely wish this went better. Les 400 Coups was approximately a million, billion times better than this dinner. I would never recommend that anyone come here for dinner.

On our first night in Honolulu, we went to the Beachhouse because we were staying at the Moana Surfrider. Similar to the hotel, the Beachhouse is all flash and no substance. In the hotel, the lobby is beautiful and in the rooms you cannot walk around the bed (in the historical wing). (Just a note: we didn’t even have room for our luggage in our room. Book carefully.)

We went to dinner a little hungry after flying in from Chicago. Now, I am not a grumpy hungry person. I am an everything-tastes-like-the-best-food-I-have-ever-­eaten-even-if-it-is-day-old-bread-when-I-am-hungry person, so this shouldn’t have been hard. But, the Beachhouse made it very, very hard.

The house photographer came by before the server. Ugh. No, thank you. There was no obligation, but it would have been a weird 10-minute conversation that we were not in the mood for. The server finally came by and seemed very nervous. He read the special from a piece of paper and shuttled off. We didn’t see the drinks we ordered for 16-minutes. Seriously.

He came back (finally) and we ordered steaks (bone-in rib eye and a petite filet), creamed spinach and parmesan potatoes. This is when time slowed down considerably. The night we were there was not busy. There were several tables open next to us, but the kitchen was still behind and, while we waited, I only saw our server once.

The steaks were fine, not great, with a bland seasoning. The creamed spinach was edible and the parmesan potatoes were severely undercooked.

What is shocking about this meal now is that it was one of the most expensive ones we had while in Hawaii for two weeks. This includes Mama’s Fish House in Maui and Hanalei Dolphin Restaurant in Kauai. Such a bad start to a great time in Hawaii. It seems that this is a breakfast location that is trying to hurt people with offering dinner. By “hurt”, I mean injure. Go to Roy’s down the street.

Since moving out to the suburbs, my husband and I have had to defend our choice to our urbanite friends. Here are our reasons:

1. We have eight times more space.
2. Both working from home, we would prefer to not actually be on each other’s work calls.
3. Our dogs have their own personal dog park in our yard.
4. The silence (comparatively).

And when we still get asked questions like “but where do you EAT?”, we respond with a wink: “we drive into the city”. There are many, many good places to eat in the suburbs, but once a month anyway,  we make the big, bad drive in to the city (because it is usually late on the Saturday this takes us an easy thirty minutes). Some restaurants are not even worth that much time in the car, but RPM Italian is worth the drive.

I made reservations two and a half months out for 7:30pm on a Saturday. This was our first night out as a married couple and the first Saturday after my husband’s birthday, so this was going to be a pretty ceremonial dinner. The waitress brought us a prosecco toast for both celebrations and a homemade ricotta (with pomodoro) that was amazing. The bread served with it looked like it would be a hard french loaf, but was soft. The ricotta was served with a little olive oil, which made it taste even better than any ricotta I have ever had.

The service was warm, but unobtrusive. We had a lot of information about the menu before we ordered and I think we ordered well.

What we ordered (with comments):
The special squash blossom appetizer, which was like the best mozzarella stick you’ve ever eaten. Mama DePandi’s Bucatini Pomodoro with the gluten-free pasta, which you would never be able to tell was gluten-free by taste, and one meatball (because apparently you can order just one meatball on the side– nice option). The Bone-in Ribeye, which came without a lot of garnishments and sauces; it was just a really nicely cooked steak, well-seasoned. Grilled Giant Prawns, which were very herb-y and needed the lemon that came with it sprayed all over it. Sautéed Broccolini, which was a nice complement.

For dessert, we had this gelato-filled mocha crunch ball… so, so good.

The thing about this meal is that I was full, but not stuffed. They were nice portions and, if you share the pasta, you get a nice sampling of a lot of flavors. The price of the meal is what completely surprised me. Our total bill was $163 with four cocktails added. Such nice pricing, nice service, nice food, nice environment. Well worth the drive in from the suburbs.

1105 Pennsylvania Ave
Columbus, OH 43201

Once I pulled into Katalina’s parking lot, I felt myself take a really deep breath. Katalina’s is that vintage-but-clean kind of place that you wish was in your town and in every town you’ve ever visited. Katalina’s could make you move to Columbus, just to be close by.

It is a tiny place where you order off of a huge chalkboard. It is an organized place where there are recognizable vendors and homemade concoctions, including mason jars filled with brewed tea. It is a peaceful place where, if you came later in the day, you could sit for a while.

The blue floor tells an interesting story with its chips and scratches. I love that it is untouched.

I had the reuben with chips. I wish I could have eaten a dozen other things. I miss this place. I want it to relocate to Chicago, but it just wouldn’t be the same.

816 W Armitage Ave
Chicago, IL 60614

Hearing that Charlie Trotter’s was closing in a month (because Charlie is going to travel with his wife and then go back to school) is like hearing that a guy your friends have been dying to set you up with is getting married to someone else.

I have been wanting to go to Charlie Trotter’s restaurant for years, but in my 20′s, I didn’t have money. Then, I got to my 30′s… and suddenly Girl and the Goat and Graham Elliot were a priority. Both did not disappoint. But, I felt like I had time to do an excessive Chicago culinary tour well into my 40′s, but Charlie Trotter’s early departure from this tour moved them up to this weekend.

On my phone, I plugged in what I thought was a shot-in-the-dark attempt at getting a reservation and got one, however late. We were seated at 9:15pm, although our reservation was at 9:30. I was surprised by the quantity of empty tables as we walked through the restaurant… and that we were walking past them to some other location. They took us up a steep flight of stairs to the hot second floor. Minutes later, a couple, that immediately started talking about head cheese, was seated directly next to us.

Our selection options were a vegetarian or a meat-centric prix fixe menu, which we attempted to research before we arrived, but there is no information online about the day’s selections. We were still quickly comfortable with the meat lovers $195 Grand Menu.

Just to clarify: that $195 does not include alcohol.

Our first service person told us in detail about the wine pairings (“this is a SYRAH that is made from FOUND grapes on a PINOT orchard”), but when we asked for their scotch options, he said they didn’t have scotch. We mulled that over for several minutes and decided on other options. Then, the second service person came and told us they did have scotch and whiskey… or rather that he could “get” some for us. This was said in a “you-want-whiskey-oh-I-know-a-guy” kind of tone.

After getting through the prohibition-like drink ordering, we had some time before the first course.

Eating in this restaurant is like eating in a mid-price restaurant that happens to have a prix fix menu… in the 80′s. We started to have a running theory that the reason Chef Charlie may be closing is so that he wouldn’t have to redecorate. It was like going on a date in a John Hughes movie. It felt like at any moment someone in taffeta would get proposed to.

Here are the specifics:
1.  We were seated at 9:15pm and we left at 12:15am. There could have easily been 90 minutes taken off of this total time.
2.  There were eight courses and three were desserts. I have a sweet tooth, but this was intimidating.
3.  We had no less than seven people serving us during our time there. Some were more confident than others, but most seemed to have “senior-itis”. They were basically signing year books in the hallway.
4.  The tuna with fennel was a great start. I want that as an appetizer every time I eat sushi.
5.  The hamachi covered in squid ink was unimpressive… and a little scary. It still tasted great for however worried I was about undoing any teeth whitening treatment I have ever done.
6.  The salmon, the duck and the antelope were the highlights and the reason why people should have come here… in the 80′s.
7.  You would think that three dessert courses would come out quickly at midnight, but that is an inaccurate assumption, although the raspberry one was absolutely beautiful. Crunchy, cold and tart.

Two things that pulled us out of our overly critical experience:
1. The BREADS. Yes, they get capital letters. Amazing. Bacon rolls. Pretzel rolls. Yes, yes, yes.
2.  With Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin playing in the background, we would occasionally remember, fondly, the world outside.

The final score is an 8 out of 10. Not better than Graham Elliot… which may be the best meal of my life, but I haven’t eaten at Alinea yet.

In closing, ladies and gentlemen, I got needlessly defensive about the recent reviews of Charlie Trotter’s before actually going there and now I support them. It is a meal we will never be able to repeat, but I am not sure that I need to.

When I am in this part of California, I am traditionally here for work. Let me translate “work” for you. “Work”, in this case, means that I am ordering room service at the Sheraton in Milpitas late at night because I have convinced myself that fries and pizza are an awesome idea, as I have talked so much that for some reason I cannot feel my legs anymore and my brain is mush. Also, I am also going to watch The Bachelorette.

The last time I was in Mountain View, I got swept away by a friend in a convertible and we landed here. It was a little miracle to score a table when we did, but we got the last two-top and went at it.

The restaurant is modern. It is high end. The environment is also surprisingly warm… or was the night we were there. It seemed that everyone who was eating around us was having a good time.

I can’t say that the service helped things, but they also didn’t hurt them. They got to the brink of too-much-time-away, my-drink-is-too-low and you-are-talking-too-long, but then recovered.

The white sangria was perfect for a light summer drink. I had perfectly cooked scallops, which (let’s be honest) never happens. The onion rings are magical.

Go here. Call first.

799 Poho Pl
Paia, HI 96779

When we decided to have our wedding in Maui and told people, this is the response we got: “GO TO MAMA’S FISH HOUSE!” Not “have a nice wedding” or “what an excellent location”, but specific instruction from person-after-person telling us to go to one restaurant.

Rightfully so, my fiancé and I started to grow skeptical. How is it that everyone that we spoke to recommended the same place. We decided to, at least, give it a try and made reservations before we left for the islands.

And I am so, so, so glad we did.

We went to Mama’s after a “jitterbug” session with our wedding photographer on one of the windiest days the north shore had had in a while. We were wind blown and ready to eat by the time we got there. We were a little early for our reservation, but they seated us in the bar area and got us for our table before we had received our drinks.

The service was focused, without being aggressive. Our waitress was informed about the menu and could speak knowledgeably about everything on the menu (not that we made her, but we overheard other conversations she had).

The open air environment, the cheesy decorations, the tiki torches outside all add to the relaxed ambiance. Our drinks were powerful and tasty. We ordered the Ahi Sashimi appetizer, which was hot pink and delicious. The curry was the best I have ever had and the Opah was steaky with a perfect salsa compliment.

We raved about this for days and convinced our wedding party all to go. Today, when I heard someone say they were going to Maui, I realized what my first response was “GO TO MAMA’S FISH HOUSE!” and now I understand why.

2365 Kalakaua Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96815

Even if I completely abandon the high expectations of this hotel before our arrival and am filled with grace mixed with love and understanding, my review of this hotel is still combination of noise and annoyance.

We arrived and were blinded by the sun reflecting off of the white paint all over this hotel. It should stand out a little more, but when you are driving down the street, this hotel creeps up on you because it sits a little further back on the street. The lobby is impressive, but then our front desk attendant was p…a…i…n…f…u…l…l…y slow. Slow, slow, slow. We finally got up to our room and then the service bringing our bags up was slow. After 27 minutes, we called down and they knocked on the door a minute later. It almost felt like they were waiting in the hallway for us to call to finally bring our bags in. We had no room for our bags, however… We were in the historic wing and the rooms were exceptionally small. We had four total bags and there was no place to put them, but on furniture. Not fun.

There are paper thin walls in this wing, too. “Paper thin” is an over-used reference, but this is used seriously here. The first morning we were there, I could very clearly hear silverware being put into a drawer in the kitchen, which was downstairs and a dozen rooms away. Very clearly. Between the king size bed taking up the whole room and being able to hear everything, this is not a room that you want to spend much time in.

Outside, there is a tremendous amount of competing music. Piano in the open-air lobby and top 40 outside. There is also the Vegas-like atmosphere in this section of the strip, which includes fire-performers and tourists with umbrellas. Honestly, stay at the Sheraton Waikiki. It is more modern and has better service. You can come over here for breakfast and still successfully miss all of the challenges in this hotel.

Apple World Travel Adapter Kit

If you are like me, your life is being documented by and is surrounded by Apple products.

This is how I power my travel life so, for $39, just buy the world travel adapter kit already.

From Apple’s website: The World Travel Adapter Kit includes the Apple USB Power Adapter, USB Cable and six interchangeable AC adapter plugs for use with iPod, iPhone, and iPad. The adapter plugs can also be used with Apple MagSafe Power Adapters (for MacBook and MacBook Pro), Portable Power Adapters (for iBook and PowerBook), and AirPort Express, so you can plug your power adapter into most electrical outlets around the world.

These are less cumbersome than other adapters and have become exceptionally useful to me.  I am sure that they will be for you, too.