Lovin' the Yucatan!

During our trip to the Yucatan, I just fell in love with the place. I mean...what's not to love, beautiful ocean, friendly locals, vibrant colors and great food!

Our resort was part of a strip of hotels on the ocean-front between Cancun and Playa del Carmen – a really great venue. Far enough from the buzz of Cancun to relax, but close enough to shop and hang out or go for dinner. Even though we were tempted to go to inspect the nightlife of Cancun - we’ve heard of all the famous clubs and places to go to - we decided not to, because we wanted a more chilled vacation this time.

Cancun (behind the shopping mall - okay - not the best photo I've ever seen of Cancun)

And chilled it was.  We spent a day in each of the cool places nearby: Cancun, Playa del Carmen and the island of Cozumel. We had every intention of visiting Chitchen Itza and Tulum, but for some bizarre reason, we spent many hours, (the rest of our holiday) lying in the sun, sipping on cocktails and eating copious amounts of chips and guacamole. Mmmm...what I life.

 

Bad, bad poolbar (okay, perhaps I shouldn't blame the poolbar)

Now I know that it might sound like I'm a total cultural ignoramus, but honestly, I love history, I love culture, I love old buildings and the romance of it all, but in the battle between ruins and the poolbar, the poolbar won. I'm sure it is because it is so relaxing in that part of Mexico, that even my slightly work-aholic husband, could switch off and just relax within 2 days instead of the usual 4-5.

 

The good thing about not going to the ruins: I guess we'll just have to come back - yay!

Viva Mexico!

With Mexico celebrating its Bicentennial Independence Day and news of Hurricane Karl looming, I couldn't help but feel like its finally time for me to write a post about Mexico.

I’ve always had these preconceived ideas of Mexico. I’m not even entirely sure what my ideas were or where they came from, but I never thought I would like it, in fact I thought I would pretty much dislike visiting the country all together.

Last October, I/we finally decided to go check the place out for myself/ourselves, since my hubby has been wanting to go for a while and I received very good vacation critiques from very 2 trusted sources. I did my research, bought a little travel book about the Yucatan, booked a place by the ocean with a great pool great restaurants and fab reviews, packed my bikinis and a few other items of clothing and boarded the plane.

Actually, it was not that simple…we were planning on going to Mexico in May 2009, but thanks to the outbreak of H1N1, all hell broke loose, people started to freak out and our flight to Cancun was cancelled. Thanks to a great blog that I had discovered just after the outbreak of the flu, http://www.cancuncanuck.com/, I soon realised that things weren't quite as bad in Mexico as were first reported in the media. This blog gave me the perspective of some locals who were affected by everything that went on and I realized that cancelling the whole trip would just be a ridiculous thing to do. Not only would I miss out on a lazy beach vacation, but the people of Mexico needed the tourists to go back.

We finally managed to rebook our vacation and 5 months later, we were on our way…I hoped all the hassle was worth it.

Yes...yes it was - it WAS all worth it. What an arse I had been – the place was great!! It was more than worth it. I loved the Yucatan - friendly locals, vibrant colors, beautiful ocean and great food!

Thanks Canuck, your blog convinced us to not listen to the hype and I am very grateful for that, because our "discovery" of Mexico was unforgettable...in fact, we are already planning on going back to Mexico in the next year or so!

THE Atelier...Las Vegas & Paris

I thought about stepping away from Las Vegas for a few months (on the blogging front). Not really sure why, but I thought it was time to move on, and I know that I will be going to Sin City next year (maybe twice), so I'll just pick up then.

That all changed when I watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations".  The whole show was about Paris and how the cuisine is changing from the old traditional classic French way to a more fashionable modern bistrot style. Food-god Eric Ripert (yes, it is my dream to eat at Le Bernardin...one day), accompanied him on the tour and the most shocking thing was to see him defend the Michelin system and his 3 stars to the new up-and-coming chefs. Quelle horreur!

The show ended with Anthony and Eric dining at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon - the modern style restaurant of the man voted/known as "Chef of the century"...the master: Monsieur Joel Robuchon. What a man, what a visionary, what a talent. I say this with 100% certainty, not because I've heard a bunch pompous know-it-all's said so, but because one perfect day, 3 years ago, I had the pleasure of dining at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon at the MGM hotel in Las Vegas. I think it must have been the best meal of my life and well worth the extremely large bill that waived us goodbye at the end of our meal. Every plate was a masterpiece, every bite was perfection. (we ordered 6 small tasting portion plates and the one was better than the other).

The only thing that I regret now, is that I didn't write down the full descriptions of the menu. Oh...there is another regret...I only took pictures of 5 of the dishes - the champagne and general food/flavour/fabulousness-induced high that I was on caused a small short-circuit in the brain.

With this photo trip down memory lane, I present: joy/beauty/love on a plate:

Now I have a new goal...another place that has been added huge list of places to visit/eat at...L'Atelier du Joel Robuchon in Paris. (good thing I love Paris)

PS: Yes, Anthony, I agree...the pomme puree was to-die-for!!!

A girl has to eat...

During my week-long trip in London, I did the unthinkable...instead of going all out and dining at fancy, fancier and Michelin starred restaurants, I wanted to go to a few "regular" establishments to eat some of my favourite dishes. I had a long list of places that I wanted to go to, but with so many places and so little time, I had to pick and choose the most convenient ones to get to.

We went to:

Wagamamas: a girl needs to get her number 42 fix every few years...and no, there is no equavalent here. I miss those thick just-made noodles with all the super fresh ingredients - mmmm I'm imagining the taste...divine!

Number 42 - mmmmmm

Nando's: (a South African Portuguese-style chicken take-out chain that has a few branches in the UK). I actually think that Nando's in England is better than in SA. Its more of a restaurant set-up instead of take-aways, you can order wine (mmm...Spier Sauvignon Blanc), and there is nothing about this food that makes you think that you can/want to/should compare it to McDonalds/Burger King/KFC.

Nandos

Spur: (another South African restaurant group) I had to get my Spur Burger fix, okay. The sauces were exactly the same, but unfortunatley the meat is ground very fine, so the burger pattie is pressed together too tightly. I miss a good SA-style Cheddamelt Spur burger (a burger with cheese and a creamy mushroom sauce - mmmm yum)

Cafe Rouge: Oh how I've missed Confit duck and pomme dauphinoise. You do get duck served in a few restaurants in Colorado, but it can be very few and far between.

Braai: Off course, thanks to our friends, I did have a good few braais during my visit in London. (Braai is a BBQ in Australia or Grilling in America - you can braai with wood, coals or gas)

Nando's lemon and herb chicken and chips

Yes everyone, stop the sniggering and put away the shocked expressions...even a self-proclaimed foodie, goes to the odd restaurant chain every now and then. Afterall...not all chains are created equal. (plus I'm no milionaire)

We didn't only visit chains, but this blog is in honour of my trip down "food-memories" lane. There were quite a few more restaurants that I wanted to visit and some of my top picks that I missed out on are: L'Escargot (and a few of my other favourtie Soho eateries), Criterion, Carluccios, Ask, Pizza Express and Tapanco's in Wimbledon...next time. (there are a few more that I can't think of right now.)

Biggest food shock...I didn't visit any Marco Pierre White restaurants (my ex-employer and food god)

Even bigger food shock...I didn't eat a single Curry! Not exactly sure how that happened, but oh well...next time. (In the meantime, Patak's cooking sauces will have to do)