Category: travel

where my mouth has taken me…

travel: leapfrogging…

~ Another year is gone, and I’ve barely written about it.  This is especially sad to me, since so many wonderful things happened. Every year, I pause at calendar’s end to record and remember the anxieties and adventures that made the preceding months memorable, including an accounting of all the restaurants I visited, and my favorite meals and dishes among […]

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travel: leapfrogging…

~ Another year is gone, and I’ve barely written about it.  This is especially sad to me, since so many wonderful things happened. Every year, I pause at calendar’s end to record and remember the anxieties and adventures that made the preceding months memorable, including an accounting of all the restaurants I visited, and my favorite meals and dishes among […]

Continue

travel: kansas city… (2014)

~ Evidently, the gestation for Midwestern maturity is slow.  Two years ago, I took an honest (some might characterize it as critical) look at the eating culture of my hometown of Kansas City.  Cautious with praise and focusing mostly on quality, I also used that blog post to acknowledge and recommend a few local restaurants, businesses, artisans, and food […]

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travel: kansas city… (2014)

~ Evidently, the gestation for Midwestern maturity is slow.  Two years ago, I took an honest (some might characterize it as critical) look at the eating culture of my hometown of Kansas City.  Cautious with praise and focusing mostly on quality, I also used that blog post to acknowledge and recommend a few local restaurants, businesses, artisans, and food […]

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review: geishas in the gion… (ifuki)

~ Kyoto’s ancient Gion district is famous for its geishas.  Full of theaters, where geishas perform, the Gion also offers some of Kyoto’s best, and judging by the hoards of tourists who visit, worst dining.  This is where my friend and guide Tomo and I had our first dinner in Kyoto – at Ifuki, a one […]

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review: geishas in the gion… (ifuki)

~ Kyoto’s ancient Gion district is famous for its geishas.  Full of theaters, where geishas perform, the Gion also offers some of Kyoto’s best, and judging by the hoards of tourists who visit, worst dining.  This is where my friend and guide Tomo and I had our first dinner in Kyoto – at Ifuki, a one […]

Continue

travel: kimonos and kaiseki…

~ My only complaint about my visit to Kyoto is that it was too short. The imperial capital of Japan for over a millennia (the capital was moved to Edo – modern-day Tokyo – in the second half of the 19th Century), Kyoto is full of history and culture.  Thankfully, much of it is preserved for us […]

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travel: kimonos and kaiseki…

~ My only complaint about my visit to Kyoto is that it was too short. The imperial capital of Japan for over a millennia (the capital was moved to Edo – modern-day Tokyo – in the second half of the 19th Century), Kyoto is full of history and culture.  Thankfully, much of it is preserved for us […]

Continue

travel: flemish fling…

~ All of the international flights from the Americas dumped into Aéroport Paris–Charles de Gaulle within minutes of each other, as they usually do, when I arrived in the early morning a few months ago.  I shuffled into the immigration hall along with the deplaning masses, a shapeless hoard that defied order, especially since very little […]

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travel: flemish fling…

~ All of the international flights from the Americas dumped into Aéroport Paris–Charles de Gaulle within minutes of each other, as they usually do, when I arrived in the early morning a few months ago.  I shuffled into the immigration hall along with the deplaning masses, a shapeless hoard that defied order, especially since very little […]

Continue

travel: until tonight becomes tomorrow…

~ When a volley of pink blossoms overtakes Gramercy Tavern and the big, picture-windows on Fifth Avenue begin blushing with brighter, bolder colors; when chefs get grabby for ramps and peas at the Union Square greenmarket, and the walls at casa mono finally swing open to seduce those turning the corner of 17th and Irving with the smell of pork and clams; […]

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travel: until tonight becomes tomorrow…

~ When a volley of pink blossoms overtakes Gramercy Tavern and the big, picture-windows on Fifth Avenue begin blushing with brighter, bolder colors; when chefs get grabby for ramps and peas at the Union Square greenmarket, and the walls at casa mono finally swing open to seduce those turning the corner of 17th and Irving with the smell of pork and clams; […]

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travel: american cool…

~ Realizing that I’ve traveled far more this year than time has allowed me to record and report, I’ve decided to set aside chronology and just write.  After a poor posting record in the first half of this year, I’m picking my blog back up with my latest trip: Washington, D.C. Two weeks ago, I was at […]

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travel: american cool…

~ Realizing that I’ve traveled far more this year than time has allowed me to record and report, I’ve decided to set aside chronology and just write.  After a poor posting record in the first half of this year, I’m picking my blog back up with my latest trip: Washington, D.C. Two weeks ago, I was at […]

Continue

travel: scatter my ashes at isetan…

~ My friend Tomo knows I have a hard time finding clothes that fit.  So, she took me to Isetan. Isetan is a high-end department store in Tokyo’s hyper-commercialized Shinjuku ward (the department store is located next to Shinjuku Station, the busiest train station in the world).  The leather and laces lining the walls of its shoe section, alone, […]

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travel: scatter my ashes at isetan…

~ My friend Tomo knows I have a hard time finding clothes that fit.  So, she took me to Isetan. Isetan is a high-end department store in Tokyo’s hyper-commercialized Shinjuku ward (the department store is located next to Shinjuku Station, the busiest train station in the world).  The leather and laces lining the walls of its shoe section, alone, […]

Continue

review: heart of tartness… (willows inn)

~ Is there a happier summer soundtrack than the splash of cannonballs accompanied by the reckless hoot of youth? My friend and I arrived at the ferry slip on a warm summer afternoon to the sight of children hurling themselves off the headworks into the cool waters of the sound.  We got out of the car and cheered […]

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review: heart of tartness… (willows inn)

~ Is there a happier summer soundtrack than the splash of cannonballs accompanied by the reckless hoot of youth? My friend and I arrived at the ferry slip on a warm summer afternoon to the sight of children hurling themselves off the headworks into the cool waters of the sound.  We got out of the car and cheered […]

Continue

travel: pacific pragmatism…

~ The last time I visited Seattle I was a rising senior in college.  That summer, I spent a few days with my friend Miller, who was from the inland suburb of Issaquah.  Thereafter, I went down to Portland to visit another college friend, Newland.  That was the last time I was in Portland too. […]

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travel: pacific pragmatism…

~ The last time I visited Seattle I was a rising senior in college.  That summer, I spent a few days with my friend Miller, who was from the inland suburb of Issaquah.  Thereafter, I went down to Portland to visit another college friend, Newland.  That was the last time I was in Portland too. […]

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