GastroNaughties' Gallivant - Sipping'n Snacking California Central Coast and Las Vegas

BuzzzzOff

Description

Sipping'n Snacking California Central Coast and Las Vegas

When planning a visit to our family in the USA, we decided initially to parachute into California and Las Vegas for some sipping and snacking and catching up with old friends. After all, flying to the east coast of the USA from our home requires several, somewhat grueling flights and layovers and more than a day of travel if you are inclined to do so in one go. Well, we were in no hurry, and we detest hibernating in airplanes and airports for more than 36 hours...actually, we simply consider them a necessary evil.

Thus, we sat down more than three months in advance to plan our trip to California and Las Vegas. Searching, clicking, Google-mapping and, generally, learning that California is one very HUGE state! It was fun, educational and offered ample justification to sip good wine during the day as well as evening.

We started in San Francisco, worked our way south along US1 through the Central Coast (Big Sur, Paso Robles and Santa Barbara) and thereafter across the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas....sipping 'n snacking along the way.

"GastoNaughties' Gallivant - Sipping'n Snacking - California Central Coast and Las Vegas" is not our first road trip. Trust us, the first trip will include a lot more "Ooops" and "Do's and Don't". We like to learn by experience! It is, however, our shortest trip. Hence, our first effort to publish together all our notes and photos. We are working on publishing GastroNaughties' Gallivant for other destinations... Stay tuned to this Bat Channel.

Hope you have as much fun reading this book as we had "gallivanting".

Until next time...Bon Vivant!

Warning: Our comments are based on our personal opinions, are not subject to the influence of others and, well, we occasionally can be brutally honest...for which we do not apologize.

Sujets

• Transportation
• Restaurants
• Lodging
• Travel
• Food

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 13 septembre 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781456625344
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

BuzzzzOff
Presents
 
G ASTRO N AUGHTIES’ G ALLIVANT
Sipping’n Snacking
California Central Coast and Las Vegas

Text copyright © 2015 BuzzzzOff
All Rights Reserved
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
http://www.eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-2534-4
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
About Us
About BuzzzzOff
The mental masturbation disgorgement (zero dosage) of less than professional albeit experienced, fun-loving albeit profound, opinionated albeit rational, dedicated to those MentalMasturbaters, GastroNaughties and VineNaughties of exceedingly discerning albeit not overly snobby palates. Say that three times fast
Despite the youthful semblance of Mrs. and immature character of Mr., we confirm having eclipsed a combined 100 years of age in 2015.
A dubious distinction, indeed, but just enough years to announce publicly with excessive confidence, or at least somewhat plausibly, that
we have – for work or play – visited almost everywhere in the world (not too keen on the absent bits);
we have been lucky enough to enjoy exceptional events snacking at a plethora of the world’s most renowned restaurants (many more than once);
we have sipped some of the worst and most of the best (and everything in between) wines on the planet;
we have actively participated in more than a lot of truly inspirational charity programs in more than a dozen countries (altruism is nonsense…we did it because it made us feel really good); and, well,
we have done business and/or broken bread and toasted The Noble Grape with more than 10,000 people residing in no less than 100 countries.
We think it fair to say we have “lived”…and we have been very, very lucky!
We met in 1991 when we were both young, a touch crazy and always seeking something to make us smile. We have been, non-stop, working, playing, sipping and snacking with each other ever since.
We each are exceedingly pleased to have met “our person”.
We never, ever find ourselves bored with each other’s company.
Au contraire, we prefer always to be with each other.
Sounds a bit over-the-top and sappy?
We are good with that
We started our serious sipping adventure in 1997 with a reasonably well-aged bottle of St. Julien that cost us a bit more – a lot more – than any wine we ever had tried.
We continued learning from friends, who grew up with families keen on sipping The Noble Grape…unlike our families.
We started attending wine tastings any and every time we were invited.
We planned holidays based on visits to wineries and restaurants.
We befriended and learned from some of the most experienced and globally recognized sommeliers and chefs at, not surprisingly, many of the world’s most exceptional restaurants.
Et voila, we flourished…and will continue so to do
We are citizens of the World! We love our dog. We love each other.
We have decided to remain anonymous because we do not want anyone – be he/she a chef, winemaker, sommelier, friend or foe – to influence us. After all, if they do not know “us”, they are safe
We love to engage in and talk sipping ’n snacking
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“GastoNaughties’ Gallivant - Sipping’n Snacking - California Central Coast and Las Vegas” is not our first road trip. Trust us, the first trip will include a lot more “Ooops” and “Do’s and Don’t”. We like to learn by experience! It is, however, our shortest trip. Hence, our first effort to publish together all our notes and photos. We are working on publishing GastroNaughties’ Gallivant for other destinations... Stay tuned to this Bat Channel.
Hope you have as much fun reading this book as we had “gallivanting”.
Until next time...
Bon Vivant!
Warning : Our comments are based on our personal opinions, are not subject to the influence of others and, well, we occasionally can be brutally honest...for which we do not apologize.
Bon Vivant Boulevard

California Central Coast and Las Vegas
San Francisco
11,121 km (6,910 miles), 14 hours to
Snacking at
Foreign Cinema
Gary Danko
Michael Mina
SPQR
224 km (139 miles), 2 hours 45 mins to
Big Sur
Sipping at
Boekenoogen Winery
Talbott Winery
Testarossa Winery
Snacking at
Nepenthe
Sierra Mar at Post Ranch Inn
The Restaurant at Ventana Inn
drive 156 km (97 miles), 2 hours 19 mins to
Paso Robles
Sipping at
Paso Robles Downtown Wine Tasting Walk
Arroyo Robbles
Asuncion Ridge
Clayhouse
Sipping with the Double Ds:
Adelaida
Denner
Hope Family
J Dusi
Justin
Summerwood
Tablas Creek
Snacking at
Artisan
Habaneros
Il Cortile
drive 194 km (120 miles), 2 hours to
Santa Barbara
(via San Luis Obispo)
Sipping at
Brander
Demeitria
Snacking at
Madonna Inn
El Encanto
Los Olivos Wine Merchant Cafe
StoneHouse, San Ysidro Ranch
drive 552 km (343 miles), 5 hours + to
Las Vegas
Snacking at
Emeril's
Guy Savoy
Joe's Stone Crab
Joël Robuchon
Olives by Todd English
Picasso
Spago
Twist
BON VIVANT: Loosely defined, bon vivants are people who devote themselves to a lively lifestyle especially regarding sipping ’n snacking. Well, folks, we have no choice but to consider ourselves bon vivants because sipping ’n snacking, whether at home or on the road, is how we roll on a daily basis. Whether chopping up fresh veggies from Japan to slow cook in a seafood broth with Norwegian salmon with a drop of French champagne while sipping a California Chardonnay or breaking bread at Le Bernardin in New York City or Pierre in Paris or Robuchon in London or Le Pergola in Rome or Otto e Mezzo in Hong Kong….well, you get the picture. We are devotees of the bon vivant lifestyle. You only get one shot in life…at least as far as we are aware…so go big or go home!
Planning
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
— Benjamin Franklin
We think most people will agree Benjie was a smart fella. As such, we started planning our “annual pilgrimage” to the east coast of the USA to visit family. This visit, given our decision to live on the other side of the planet from one of our families, has been fairly consistent and often more than one time per year, for 30 years. Family
Query: we recognize we caused the problem by moving, but hey, how ‘bout visiting us!? No problem…distance makes the heart grow fonder, and we have never enjoyed a better relationship with our siblings since the move .
In any event, to break-up the trip, we decided initially to parachute into California and Las Vegas for some sipping and snacking and catching up with old friends. After all, flying to the east coast of the USA from our home requires several, somewhat grueling flights and layovers and more than a day of travel if you are inclined to do so in one go. Well, we were in no hurry, and we detest hibernating in airplanes and airports for more than 36 hours…actually, we simply consider them a necessary evil .
Thus, we sat down more than three months in advance to plan our trip to California and Las Vegas. Searching, clicking, Google-mapping and, generally, learning that California is one very HUGE state! It was fun, educational and offered ample justification to sip good wine during the day as well as evening.
ONE MONTH, CARRY-ON LUGGAGE ONLY: We no longer pack more than carry-on luggage. This trip was for one month. We have travelled for more than three months with only carry-on luggage. The aggravation of lost luggage is something that can literally ruin a trip. Even if you do get your luggage without delay, and without incident, you now have to lug it everywhere you go. When did people forget about laundry service? This is especially true when in a major city where self or full-service laundromats are frequently available and convenient. Of equal importance, if you are like us and buying wine on your journey, you will need the space in your rental car. Clean undies or a beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon? A rhetorical question for us
In any event, we landed at San Francisco International Airport in the evening and hopped into a waiting car destined for our hotel. Exhausted, yet determined to beat jet lag, we popped several pills that advertised a good night slumber and dropped off into Neverland. Whew, talk about a solid 9 hours!!! Living life better via (legal) pharmaceuticals .
It had been quite a few years since our last visit to San Francisco. We still had many friends in the “town by the Bay”…sorry, but we cannot seriously consider San Francisco a “city”…New York, London, Tokyo, etc, are cities…San Francisco is an adorable town and should be happy for the moniker. On a side note, we had two choices in terms of direct flights from our home to a destination in California. We were quite pleased to give Los Angeles (not even a “city”, but a sprawling mess) a miss…forever! Easy peasy choice...
On the planning note, prior to our arrival in California, we conducted extensive research and discovered, much to our sadness, that Napa and Santa Barbara were not the only wine regions of high reputation in the United Socialist Republic of California. We write “sadness” because we had visited the state more times than we could remember, and we had missed out on some spectacular wines! Live ’n learn. As such, we rented a car and stopped at several wineries along the way until we settled in Big Sur.
TOO MUCH WINE, NOT ENOUGH TIME: It is rumored or at least claimed by the “experts” that there are more than 10,000 different wine grapes and almost 100,000 different wines in the world. Wow, seriously!? We wake-up everyday with a view to sipping something new. Our dedication to overcoming the challenge posed by supply (too much wine) and demand (well, stretching it a bit, but not enough time) is unwavering. Join the challen