Final stretch: San Francisco, huge Redwoods, Los Gatos, L.A. + more!
Good food & drinks, including wine tours in Willamette + Napa Valley.
Ridiculous amounts of fun in Saskatoon, Edmonton, Jasper, and Vancouver!
I’m not sure if the heat is finally getting to us or what, but for the past year we’ve been totally cocktail obsessed.
In order to escape the Texas heat we start on a month long road trip up to Canada.
We’ve been in Texas for two years now, but this was oddly only our second time in Houston.
I am honestly completely weirded out that we haven’t made bacon until now. It’s so ridiculously easy!
Homemade Pastrami is one of our favourite things we’ve cooked to date! It’s 3 week process of brining, smoking and braising was worth it.
Our fun first time making Mozza and Prosciutto from Duck Breasts.
Every city has special dishes to call it’s own; in Cincinnati Goetta and Cincinnati Chili top the list.
We have been wanting to try Cajun and Creole food for a long time and now we finally got our chance!
Chicago has so many incredible restaurants that’s its impossible to eat at them all over the course of a weekend… but we tried our hardest!
looks like u guys had fun! alinea of course looks like a blast, and xoco looks like so much fun just cuz im really into simple great street food style. maybe this summer i can finally convincemy hubby to take me. he hates driving. really loving this video. u 2 are cute together
Really looking forward to our next visit in March. Alinea… what a thrill that must have been!
OMG OMG OMG!!!!! Holy Fuck, Kyle and I were blown away by the Alinea part of the video. I was like screaming “holy fuck! that’s him, that’s him!!” at the computer. This shit should make you guys world famous, where else on the internet can you experience dining at Alinea. That was amazing!!! I’m so stoked. The server was probably like “hey chef there are a couple of kids that ordered the tasting menu with pairings, and they have a video camera, they must be chefs or bloggers or somthing.” He loves the internet, maybe he will see this.
Haha I’m pretty sure that you can’t get famous simply by being in the same room as someone famous…but it was pretty cool! We asked the servers about it after, and apparently he tries to come into the dining room as much as he can…so yeah not that special…but pretty special!!
Whoa!! Awesome trip you guys. I think that was the most amazing food sprint through chicago I could imagine.
That Alinea dessert was amazing! I dream of going back.
I haven’t been to Alinea… yet, but you hit all my faves in Chicago. You should have gone to Big Star right across from The Violet Hour. It’s Paul Kahan’s venture into the street food genre. AMAZING TACOS. Bill Kim’s street food joint, BellyShack, is also fantastic… and its much closer than Urban Belly. That would have saved you about an hour. It’s right under the blue line at the Western stop. Obviously you’ll have to come back. I’m so lucky that I live in Chicago and have access to all this incredible food. Although, I am super jealous of your access to Mexican markets and the crazy ingredients y’all find. Keep up the good work! Y’all are a great inspiration.
P.s. Any plans on going to any of Thomas Keller’s restaurants?
We’ve been to Bouchon in Las Vegas and I have to admit we were both a bit disappointed but I figure that one barely counts! We are going to go camping in Napa this summer and I hope we can get a reservation at the French Laundry if we’re lucky.
Thank you for sharing! I live around the area and I’ve been dying to go to the majority of the restaurants that you went to!
Did you notice in the Alinea dessert that when Grant spooned the sauce it was circular but ended up being in the shape of a diamond or square as it progressed?
weird, i didn’t even notice that happening
Wow! The Alinea dessert was so beautiful!!! I can’t believe that you guys got to film it. Except that you’re so cute that maybe you get away with more than most.
Yeah it was so good that I immediately bought the Alinea cookbok on our return…and now I have to start ordering shit like ‘agar agar’ off the internet. Who could have predicted there isn’t a strong molecular gastronomy following in Laredo Texas?
You can find Agar Agar in most Asian Grocery stores
This is my first time visiting your blog, and I must say it is a great one. I enjoyed watching the video. However, I was shocked and saddened by how much you all paid at Alinea. In fact I almost cried thinking about it. There are so many poor people in this world, especially with the recent natural disasters that have been happening in Chile and Haiti. Even if I had enough money to spend on such dinners, I could not see myself doing that. Instead, I would give that money to people or countries that need it or go to the countries themselves to help out. I know that you earned your money, and you can do whatever you want with it; I completely understand that and agree with that logic. Nevertheless, I was saddened that there are so many people in this world who have the means to buy ephemeral, unnecessary, yet pleasant items when there’s so much need in the world. Even though I’m a struggling, graduate student, this video made me realized how my life has been quite extravagant as well. I am thankful, as I’m sure you two are, to have the means and freedom to get practically everything I want or need, but I also need to reevaluate what’s most important in this life. I’m not asking or telling you two to do the same; I’m just confessing to you what I felt after I heard the amount you paid at Alinea and your justifications as to why it was worth that amount.
Sorry to get so deep on you! haha I did enjoy looking at the innovative preparations of the dishes. I love Chicago, and I’m glad you two enjoyed yourselves. Good luck on winning the Saveur blogs contest!
Enjoying great meals in restaurants like Alinea is entertainment! This is something we save up for; we just happen to enjoy great food and wine more than other forms of entertainment like cable tv and a new flat screen. Life without any fun distractions would be pretty dull. We had one of the most fun nights of our lives and that is really the only justification we need.
It was a pleasure to have you in Chicago! It’s great to see people enjoy the restaurants I’m privileged to live near
I try to bring guests to a very similar list (though Alinea is a less-traveled road, practically). You still have plenty of places to try, though, on your next trip!
Memoria, these viewpoints are important to hear, but it’s unfair to make assumptions about how Nicole and David spend their money in general, and to lecture them on how they should spend their money. Everyone deserves to treat themselves when they can, and it’s hard to put a price on the memories they made for one another during this trip (your namesake should appreciate this).
Thanks Stephen! We can’t wait to go back to Chicago!
What a wonderful experience. Dinning at all these restaurants. The food looked amazing. I would love to go to Alinea. I’ve never tried molecular gastronomy before. Though living in The Netherlands it’s pretty far away
You’ guys are great. I love your style.
I just discovered your blog! I’ll keep coming back for more. Congratulations on your nomination on Saveur.
Magda