Rainbow, Ft Collins, CO

Posted on September 7, 2018 by melsmosaic

I was introduced to a well-known breakfast place in Ft. Collins recently, Rainbow.

Went after a morning run, which meant refueling was in order.

We sat at an outside table, which was awesome. Good mix of sun and shade. A few of us were waiting for the rest of the group to arrive and as we surveyed the menu we had to order the first round, aka Bloody Mary’s, in a pitcher. When that pitcher came out, oh wow. Not too spicy and great taste. And the glasses that we got to pour them into had great adornments – olives, pickle, celery, lemon.

It took me awhile to decide what to get after going over and over the menu. Finally chose the Avocado Smash (a staff favorite) — Freshly baked wheat toast topped with avocado, smokey chili marash & lime. Served with one egg, any style. $7.95. (With smoked salmon $10.95) — totally went with the salmon option!

When it came out I was drooling.

So much to dig into. Cut into the bread and made sure to get the guac and salmon in the same bite – delicious. The egg was great and the fruit on the plate (unexpected) was nice and fresh – and you don’t get kiwi that often, so I was thrilled.

I see why Rainbow is well known and loved in the community. Check it out if you haven’t been or go back if you’re a regular. I was told a lady eats breakfast there everyday, and I see why.

Aspen Food & Wine Classic

Posted on July 15, 2018 by melsmosaic

Aspen – many times I only correlate that name with skiing. But every once in a while something else gets partnered with the name. For me this time it was the Aspen Food & Wine Classic. I had heard about it awhile back and it sounded amazing. But when I glimpsed at the ticket price I had no interest in going; costs a little shy of $2,000 to attend.

But this year a company that I work for reached out because they needed some help at their table. So, that meant free entry. Bring it on! I got to experience this at no cost.

This festival is amazing. While I didn’t get to take part in most of the seminars or do as much wine tasting as I would have liked, I still got a feel for all of it. Was able to get some quick sips of wine here and there, little nibbles of during prep time and meet lots of folks. Many regions of the world are represented, so many varietals of wine, so many cultures, so much fun. And you get to see the town all around you. These pictures are just a tidbit of it.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I found out that volunteers at the event get a one day free pass. Going to consider doing that next year…help out the amazing event then enjoy it, too.

Cheers!

Thai Pavilion

Posted on December 23, 2017 by melsmosaic

Was at National Harbor, MD and checked out Thai Pavilion. They have quite nice decor and just the doors to get in the restaurant are intricate — thick and metal with much design. You need to use both hands to open them. Couldn’t wait to get to the food!

The menu blew me away. So many choices! It was very traditional Thai food, too. I flipped through the menu for quite awhile before finally deciding what to get. Went with a soup/salad meal:

AmNat ChaRoen or TOM YUM. Fresh mushrooms in lemon grass soup, galangal and Thai spices with chili paste. Your choice of chicken or mixed vegetables.

This was such a good soup. Just everything the description says. I got it with the veggies. Could easily have enjoyed more.

PatTaYa orSOM TUM MA LA GORE. The most popular Som Tom. Julienned green papaya, roasted peanuts, tomatoes, and string beans tossed with spicy lime dressing.

This was so interesting because the papaya was crunchy. It wasn’t the taste I was expecting (which the waiter warned me of). It was all quite good and was brought together nicely with the lime dressing.

Also enjoyed some Sauvignon Blanc with this. A very nice Thai dinner and this is definitely a place to return to so that more (of the many) menu items can be tasted.

Wrapping up Greenland

Posted on August 16, 2017 by melsmosaic

The final day in Greenland meant there was a lot to do. We took a beautiful boat ride, during which we were supposed to see whales. This was in early June, but whales don’t tend to come out until July. Nonetheless, the scenery was amazing. Can’t parallel it.

That night for dinner we wrapped it up with a meal dinner at Restaurant Ulo, which is in Hotel Arctic. They were having one of their special dinners where it offers pretty much all local fare providing for a true taste of Greenland. What was missing were veggies (unless you grabbed lettuce from displays).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I was able to get pictures of most of the stuff, some labeled, some not. Overall pretty darn good. There was reindeer, halibut, mussels, shrimp, whale skin, snowcrab, dried whale, and much more.

This last night in Greenland, we got to stay in an igloo! So, ok, we didn’t make a big pile of snow, but nonetheless, so much fun!

The next day, we left this amazing island, with view of ice and snow below. I can’t wait to go back and explore other cities. While there, we found out their tourism is growing greatly and I have found/checked out their (very good) website. So much to explore on this island. Add it to your list, and let me know when you go and if you need a travel companion, I’m game!

Tasting & Exploring Ilulissat

Posted on August 15, 2017 by melsmosaic

When we arrived in Ilulissat, there was the need for some quick food before exploring the town on Day 1. The most common thing we had for the few days we were there were the sandwiches at the hotel. They were absolutely delicious and revolved around 3 choices; smoked halibut, shrimp and reindeer. Just simple ingredients and amazing taste.

After fueling, we headed into town. Most things were walkable, though there were quite the hills. If needed, there was a shuttle bus back to the hotel, but it only ran every 30 minutes, and you could likely get back to the hotel by then. There were also a ton of cabs there, for a small town. And, in this town you don’t go anywhere but the town because the only way in/out is by boat or plane.

Some of the scenery, with the video being my favorite:

The houses & buildings aren’t so colorful because of the potentially dark winters. It’s historical and was to help residents identify buildings. The colors ID’ed the function of the building: Commercial houses were red; hospitals were yellow; police stations were black; the phone company was green and fish factories were blue. Those don’t necessarily apply now and residents can just paint their houses any color they like. It just makes the town vibrant!

At one point, sled dogs were nearly equal in population to humans (3,500 to 4,500 humans). But in mid-2016, the was a distemper outbreak and this wiped out a good amount of the dogs. They are working the rebuild the population and this could take awhile, as this is recent.

Welcome to Greenland

Posted on August 13, 2017 by melsmosaic

After Iceland, I traveled a bit West, and North, before returning to the US. I wanted to check out Greenland and visited Ilulissat, which is north of the Artic Circle. And, hey, even got to stay in a 4-star hotel!

Being in the far north right around the summer equinox, the sun never set (see below). And 30 degrees wasn’t that bad for June! It got up to the upper 30s by mid day and the sun was pounding on us (side note, we didn’t see a drop of rain after having it pretty much the entire time in Iceland).

The night we arrived in Greenland, we received a Welcome Dinner. This was with the other tourists, most of which happened to be on the same plane. It was a two-course meal with a quick bite before.

The bite was fish skin with an asian-like flavoring on it. Good to try but not going to add that to my list of favorites.

The first course was halibut, or shall I say happiness. I was pretty much halibut carpaccio. Super thinly sliced with garnish. So nice to have this!

The main dish was Muskox, served two ways. The one on the bottom right was a tenderloin and underneath the onion was some of the meat that just melted in your mouth. Almost BBQ-style. Very nice taste to all of it.

Very nice intro to Greenland cuisine.

Ok Bistro, Borgarnes, Iceland

Posted on June 20, 2017 by melsmosaic

As my trip in Iceland continued, made it to Borgarnes.

The first night there, checked out one of the few restaurants, Ok Bistro. The name comes from ‘Ok jökull in Borgarfjörður which through the centuries has been the smallest glacier in Iceland. In the last couple of decades it has retreated steadily and in 2014 Icelandic geologists removed the glacier status of Ok. The mountain Ok still stands tall at 1200 meters and it´s located to the west of way bigger Langjökull.’

The restaurant was recommended by the hotel and has a high rating. Started dinner with an Einstök Icelandic White Ale. Very nice with a taste of coriander and orange. I was expecting a bit of a hefe-likeness/cloudimess to it but not at all.

We ordered a bread basket (some places give bread free, some don’t). It was freshly baked bread with mixed pepper hummus 890 kr. Tasty.

For a main course, started with the Minke Whale. Had heard about the whale and wanted to try it. Read about it, too, and the pros/cons. The minke is ok to eat. This was a small plate, which is what we wanted so as to just get a sample.

Grilled Steak of Minke Whale with blueberry and brennivín jam, bacon bits and birch syrup, smoked mushrooms in cream sauce (they kindly put the mushrooms in sauce on the side). 2890 kr

This was amazing. They were small pieces and everything else on the plate made it outstanding. Nice and tender and unique taste. Very glad I got to try it!

We then wanted something else simple and the chef was able to made us a basic salad (yes, veggies). It was perfect. Just simple ingredients. And at this point, I didn’t care how much veggies cost.

Great restaurant to check out and you looked right at mountains and water. Glad we went.

And some of the views in the area of Borgarnes include:

BÓNUS

Posted on June 8, 2017 by melsmosaic

I read through a book some friends gave me about traveling to Iceland (Cheap Iceland: How to Travel This Expensive Country on a Tight Budget) and several times it mentioned the store BÓNUS. It’s a discount store, sort of like ALDI. That book was great, but that guy sounded like he had no money. He provided some nice tips, though.

There was one right near the first hotel so I had to go check it out. Helps that I love going to grocery stores, too. Pretty traditional grocery store stock, of course with some local food. Prices weren’t too bad; I was expecting stuff to be very high. We did pick up stuff to use during the week instead of needing to eat out for every meal because I read via the book that it was expensive to do so.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

HVER Restaurant, Hveragerði, Iceland

Posted on June 8, 2017 by melsmosaic

Recently traveled to Iceland and Greenland for vacation. Landed in Reykjavik early in the morning and then starting driving east. The first place we were staying was Hveragerði. Upon arrival mid-day, it was high time for lunch. We opted to simply grab something at the hotel (Hótel Örk) at the HVER Restaurant.

There was a nice sounding soup on the menu — Langoustine soup, garlic marinated langoustine and saffran cream. (2.150 kr.)

Then also the Salmon — Cured salmon tartar, toast and honey dressing. (2.200 kr.)

Adding the prices here because I’d heard Iceland was pricey. Basically these were $21 for the soup and $22 for the tartar.

Apparently the soup was quite good and the salmon was delicious. This was the start of the trip, so I was not yet aware that this was a delicacy to have veggies. Great way to kick things off.

Simple Happiness

Posted on May 1, 2017 by melsmosaic

Some of my friends think I’m crazy, some of them are in complete agreement. Going grocery shopping is fun. And going to Wegmans is even better! There isn’t one near me; I have to drive at least 25 or so minutes to get to one. But once there, it’s just pure, simple happiness. So much produce, bread, cheese, meat, seafood, other stuff. They just have everything, you can’t go wrong…bliss.

I hope one gets built in upper NW DC where the Fannie Mae building is. I was so hoping one was going to come to North Bethesda. I could have walked to it. Though walking home from Wegmans could be tough after shopping. That could also help limit what you buy, I guess.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.