Day 4, Continued Fattoria Dianella and Montecatini

You saw Ern and I just as we were observing the pretty hillside view of the vineyard in the previous post.  This was our Dine at Home experience.  Which means a local invites you to dine in the home...in this case her Mediciean villa.  Veronica welcomed us and told us a bit about her family, and the vineyard.

We had a tour where a member of her staff explained the process of making wine.

The types of grapes they use: Sangiovese, Colorino, Vermentino, Malvasia, and Sabernet Sauvignon.

Then we settled in to do some wine tasting and have a delicious meal, that seemed like it would never end.  One course after another paired with appropriate wines.  Fantastic meal, and lots of fun.

 Lots of folks having a good time.

In a beautiful setting, with good food and wine.

This group was paying attention!  This was an included item in our tour, not an optional pay extra item.

Can't take credit for this lovely photo, it's from their website.  We walked around outside for a few minutes, while some were in the wine cellar (yippee my hubby Ernie was) buying wine.

Wonderful photo of Veronica and her husband Francesco.  Also from their website.  Please take time and visit their page.  It's a B & B.  You can stay there, you can go taste wine, you take cooking classes there, and you can buy wine!!

This is me...excited as our case of wine from Dianella winery arrived yesterday!  We opened one last night at dinner.  Naturally we were having a pasta dinner!

Hanadi' Restaurant in Tangiers, Morrocco

This was probably the highlight of trip/tour to Tangiers, Morocco in Africa.  It was the ONLY place where we weren't bothered by beggars and panhandlers.  It was clean and I think probably specifically for the tourists...how close this was to the "real" Tangiers I don't know.  The restaurant is Hanadi'.  The music was fun and spirited.  Click to enlarge the photo and notice the musician on the far right.

That's hubby on the left looking at the menu.  We were all crowded into a designated spot by our not friendly or well liked tour guide, Pedro from Julia Tours.  Thus the name tag on hubby. I will blog in detail later about them and why you should NOT take their tour.

The people on our tour friendly, but we all mumbled about the tour itself.  It was a learning tour, it was nothing but sales, sales, sales.  Most of which became very uncomfortable.  The restaurant however fake it might have been was fun!  The decor full of detail and interesting and very colorful.  The meal was good, and the service was good.

Looking towards the ceiling.

Notice again the musician on the far right.  He became my boyfriend during lunch.  Seriously he never took his eyes on me.  Hubby and our travel companion Jane noticed it too.  He was cute wonderful smile, but .....hey I'm just hear for lunch and clean bathroom break.  By the way, the ONLY bathroom break in a 13 hour tour from Marbella Beach via tour bus without a bathroom to immigration to high speed ferry to Tangiers and back.

Interesting that they served beer and wine.  We felt drinking it was probably safer as it was opened at our table and we didn't have to worry about bad water from the tap.

The meal was Harira (a moroccan soup), chicken cou-cous, pinchos morunos, hot mint tea, and chaparquila pastry.

Lunch was included in our tour fee, but not the drinks.  The tea was hot tea in a glass which was hard to even hold due to the heat; but I did manage to taste it as least.  I think it was to accompany our desert, but just as many of us were served our desert our terrible tour guide decided it was time to march out of the restaurant?  He'd made an announcement about 5 minutes prior, so I made a bee-line to the bathroom, not wanting to get left...cause he really never checked to see if we had everyone which was a bit un-comfortable.

It was a warm day there in Tangiers, I got some sun on the noise if you notice.  The tables are quite low, so you sit well above the table level which wasn't very comfortable but, manageable.  Hubby and I with our stickers.  One must not loose that important sticker, Pedro was very nasty about that.

As I said very spirited music.

If you find yourself in Tangiers and want a cool, clean place for lunch...this is the place.

There official post card which my friend Jane picked up on our way out of the restaurant.

Blogging a-z in May, my focus is Spain Click the drop down box to leave your name and url of your blog post, not profile page.

El Tunel Del Port, Olympic Port, Barcelona

 El Tunel Del Port in Barcelona.  That's hubby looking European with his black.  When we toured we did not dress like Americans with sloppy t-shirts, tennis shoes etc.  We dressed nicely and conservatively.  Those were the guidelines we read about before we embarked on our 12 day tour of Spain.  It's a way to show respect I believe for where you are, and to represent our country in a nicer manner.  There were several times it seemed like we got better service then folks dressed like Americans who'd been working in the gardens...maybe my imagination, maybe not.

Our private tour guide in Barcelona, Patrick Ducher (look how well he and his group are rated HERE), walked us here...right to our table after speaking with the host/manager of El Tunel Del Port.  How's that for service?  We had toured half the day with Patrick and he asked if we'd like him to find us a spot for a late lunch.  The restaurant is right on the beach as you can see.  It has several rooms up and down, and an outside patio area.  Lunch was fantastic, but apparently I was too busy eating to remember to take pictures of the food.

You can see by the menu it's Port, theme and of course the olives which are served before every meal in Spain along with bread.

I did remember to take a photo when we were taking our coffee and desert.  We shared the desert because we were so pleasantly stuffed.

El Tunel Del Port (link is at the beginning of the post), was founded back in 1923 on Ample Street, but moved to Olympic port in 1992 after the close of The Barcelona Olympics.  This location is perfect with something for everyone.  You can stroll the beach, the shops before or after you eat and enjoy the sites of the Olympic Port.

Moll de Gregal, 12
Port Olympic
08005 Barcelona

I highly recommend this restaurant and hope to go back next trip to Barcelona.

**REMINDER, please leave the url to your actual blog post, NOT your google+ page, NOT your blogger profile/dashboard page. Use the name and url option, or leave a hyperlink. **After the close of April's A-Z, I plan to continue to write a post a day in the month of May using again the A-B-C's as my guide. My focus for the month of May will be Spain.

Scotts Brats on Palm Beach, Aruba

Meet Scott and Leslie.  Scott and Leslie formerly of Wisconsin here in the United States now make their home in Aruba, One Happy Island.  After vacationing in Aruba for a good number of years, they got married on the beach, and the rest if history.  Scott and Leslie serve up an awesome breakfast, and lunch right on the beach in Aruba on Palm Beach.

They're located at the Playa Linda Resort, a very popular spot on the beach.

You can have a quick bite without breaking the bank.  The food is good, the service is fantastic, the  people are friendly, and the prices are reasonable.

You can walk right up and order and take it with you, to the beach, or the pool area.

You can eat while you're walking on the beach.

For breakfast and or brunch, you can enjoy the Bloody Mary Bar

I highly recommend Scotts Brats and Leslie Bunz (take another look at the pictures), for breakfast and or lunch.  We would have eaten here more then twice, but only found it on our last 2 days...this trip.  We will be back, and we will visit with Scott and Leslie and enjoy both breakfast and lunch with them.

AND as a bonus, folks they play great music.  Check it out and tell them Sandy and Ernie (Buckeye's) sent you.

Pop in Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.

Braves All Star Grill in The Atlanta Airport

 When you get up around 3 am to catch an early morning flight, having a Bloody Mary with your breakfast seems totally in line.........by this time we'd been up about 5 hours already.  Braves All Star Grill in the Atlanta airport is a must.  Good food, good Bloody Mary's and a really fun atmosphere.  Everyone was upbeat and fun........and they were far more awake then we were.  Hubby and I both had an omelet, toast, and fried potatoes with our coffee and Bloody Mary's.  Somehow a Bloody Mary for breakfast always signifies the beginning of vacation from our perspective.

 Braves All Star Grill is located in concourse D.  If you're tight on time, not to worry Carolyn and the other wait staff will get you in quickly.  Things were hoping with people coming and going.  We had some time to kill before our next flight so we got to relax and enjoyed the friendliness and efficiency afforded to all.

This was our wonderful, fun, and super waitress...Carolyn.  Please look her up she'll make your day.  Generally, you make do in most airports grabbing whatever you can; this was not such an occasion.  We enjoyed our breakfast, and we will return on our next flight through Atlanta's airport.  Have your phones powered up when you get there, they have a deal for you using your phones which results in your getting a discount.

Thank you Carolyn and Braves All Star Grill for a great start to our vacation!

Pop in Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.

Cafe Terigo, Park City, Utah

Cafe Terigo, 424 Main Street, Park City Utah.  This restaurant is always our choice for our last night vacation dinner out in Park City.  Hubby, Darling Daughter and I all love it here.  The service is superb, the atmosphere is wonderful, and food is something we look forward to each and every year we vacation here.  In fact, we've even had the same waitress several years in a row.  Having the same waitresses work at an establishment year after year speaks very well, in my opinion, of the restaurant.

We've always chosen to eat outside on the patio that is nicely decorated and lite with white Christmas style lights.  We've been there 3 years in a row in July and while it might be in the high 80's during the day, it's quite comfortable having dinner outside in the evening.

 Darling Daughter had this beautiful dish.  Almond crusted Salmon and she said it was divine.  Beautiful presentation too!

 Ravioli's with a light lemon sauce and fresh veggies.......perfect for a summer meal.  I wanted to lick the plate.  Now you don't know how significant that is.  I rarely, truly hardly ever eat the whole meal; as I hate to be full.  There wasn't anything left of this awesome dish.

Hubby had a fish special over paste that he thoroughly enjoyed.  We brought 2 bottles of A-Z Pinot Noir Wine that paired nicely with our meal.  They do serve wine you bring with a minimal corkage fee, and or you can purchase there.

There are known for their Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce which was yummy, though a large enough portion to share.  Hubby had Tiramisu and Darling Daughter had The Trio Gelato.  We're looking forward to our next meal there when we return to Park City.

Though Cafe Terigo's is celebrating it's 25th year, the building had previously been a newspaper operation.

The newspaper, The Park Record was owned and operated for 63 years by Samuel LePage Raddon son of Henry George and Judith LePage Raddon.  Sam was born in 1858 in Guernsey in Great Britain and immigrated at the age of 10 with his parents, who were converts to the Mormon Faith.  His family didn't remain with the Church.

He learned his trade working in a variety of jobs in both Salt Lake and Park City, until he became the owner of this establishment.   He out lived 2 severe depressions, 3 competitive newspapers, slumps in the mining industry which caused significant financial change in the community and a fire in 1898 that burned his plant.  Even with those difficulties he continued operations of the paper for 63 years, a remarkable record.   At one point he even operated his Paper from a tent!   He retired in 1948 and turned over the operations to his son, LePage.  Samuel lived to be 89 years old dying a short time after retiring.

It's note worthy that since his family left "The Fold" business was harder as they weren't supportive.  He later, as an adult was fairly outspoken about some of "their" practices and wrote openly about them in his paper.  For more interesting information on this man, click HERE.

I highly recommend this restaurant for a special night out,  particularly recommend it for adults.
Do make reservations, as it's quite popular.  Cafe Terigo serves lunch from 11:30-2:30, then closes to prepare for the dinner service which starts at 5:30 pm.


Pop in Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.

Nicola Columbus Ohio

 Nicola's located agt 4740 Reed Road, Columbus, Ohio  43220.  Sorry for sorta self portrait here, with the sun we got a reflection, but you can see the hours this way.

 This is a very nice small, family owned Italian Restaurant in NW Columbus, Upper Arlington area.  My SIL and I had a nice lunch and really enjoyed the outdoor patio.  As you can see it's quite pretty, landscape nice and even though it's right off the parking lot, there is a wall and nice separation.

 The bar area looks most inviting and through the door you can see the private room where yo can have a private gathering.

 Moving up you see the bar area and get a glimpse at the nice wine selection.

 White table cloths, covered charis in the main dining room.  Quite pretty, well appointed and the tables aren't teeny tiny on top of each other.

 We enjoyed our wine and lunch salads and breads.  Giving you a glimpse of the enclosure and landscaping.  Say hi to my SIL, Jan.  She was working on final details of a book she's written.  She's a published child's author.  Check out her website.

I highly recommend Nicola's and look forward to returning.  I think it's better suited for adults given the menu, pricing, and atmosphere vs a family with children.

Pop in Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.

Vacation Ravioli's

It's time for another Menu Monday.  No I'm not telling you about a restaurant we liked during our travels, rather a good meal you can prepare..........perfect for when you have a kitchen in your travels.  We don't eat every meal out when we travel, we like to eat in; but we don't like to prepare things that take a lot of time, use a lot of ingredients.  We like to travel light.  The bulk of the time we travel we stay in villa/condo that has a kitchen.  Not only is it comfortable, but you save money in the end.  Eating out all the time is expensive!

Store bought ravioli's (these were 3 cheese), and a few fresh veggies, and you've got a yummy meal with minimal prep and cost.  Prepare the ravioli's per instructions on the package (except I've learned that it's best not to bring to a hard boil, a soft rolling boil is best, and I turn them off just before done and let them sit 30-45 seconds in the hot water before carefully removing.

Saute onions in a skillet with olive oil, add several hand fulls of spinach leaves, and once the spinach leaves reduce (about the same amount time your pasta is setting in the water), add sliced tomatoes (Roma's worked best, but any type will do)...stir lightly and add  ravioli's to mix...again softly.  Plate it, add pepper (fresh ground best), shaved walnuts or almonds or pine nuts, and serve with your favorite wine.  Pretty, tasty, and easy.

Enjoy, this is a favorite traveling meal.

Pop in Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.

Cafe Osage in St. Louis

 Doesn't this plate make you want to pick up a fork?  Mixed grain pancakes with bananas foster type compote.  It was absolutely yummy.  Darling Daughter and I had a fantastic brunch at Cafe Osage in the Central West End in St. Louis. 

 Now that most interesting thing is...when you first walk in, you're in a nursery.  See seeds!

 A nice gift shop, both of garden and non garden related items.  During warm months you can dine outside on their patio among the beautiful plantings.

 Shop before or after you dine, there's plenty to pick from.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner is served. I highly recommend Cafe Osage and hope to return.