by Luba on August 3, 2011
Summer in the City brings tunes, booze, and a whole lot of fun to Philadelphia.
In this City of Brotherly Love, you will find great parks, relaxing spas, lavish shopping & dining, and Center City Sips (Center City District’s summer in the City program).
Center City Sips is Philly’s famed, highly-anticipated summer happy hour. From 5 to 7 p.m. every Wednesday, from June 1 through August 31, Center City’s best bars and restaurants invite crowds to join them in sips and bites. City Sips offers $4 cocktails, $3 wine, $2 beers and half-price appetizers, with some establishments even offering a 15% dinner discount after 7 p.m.
Read More »
Quail Roulade
You may have enjoyed the warm, earthy flavors of Moroccan cuisine before, but you’ve never experienced the likes of it at the Michelin-starred Aziza in San Francisco, a short drive from the Laurel Inn San Francisco.
Read More »
Rose Pistola Restaurant, San Francisco
There’s no denying that North Beach has to be one of San Francisco’s most touristy neighborhoods. But it’s also full of enough charm, vivacity and quality Italian food to continue draw locals as well. That’s one reason why after 15 years Rose Pistola, a short hop from the Hilton San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf, is still going strong. The Ligurian-inspired restaurant recently got a face-lift with a new, softer color scheme in grey, burgundy and brown. The tile floors have been restored and the rich mahogany gleams.
Read More »
Barbuzzo, Philadelphia
Famed for several fantastic taste-bud twisting restaurants in Philadelphia, chefs Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran have done it again. Best described by The Posh Review as a place for ”savory, urban dining,” Barbuzzo offers creative Mediterranean-inspired dishes based on the flavors of Italy, Portugal, Spain, and France.
The restaurant itself is a welcoming space, not large, but encompasses a bar, wall shelf cubbies with glass jars full of colorful herbs and dried veggies, and outdoor seating in a comfortable 13th street setting. Tables for two are perfect for an intimate conversation — complete with lit candles for a romantic ambiance.
Read More »
Oysters Five Ways
In a decade, the always chic Fifth Floor restaurant in the Hotel Palomar in downtown San Francisco has had an impressive roster of top-tier chefs rotate through. George Morrone, Laurent Gras, Laurent Manrique, Melissa Perello, Jennie Lorenzo, and now, David Bazirgan. Each has put their own stamp on this sumptuous dining room with its soft, white leather chairs; floor-to-ceiling, glass-fronted wine cellar; and terrace herb garden that can be viewed from tables by the windows.
Now comes Massachusetts-native, Bazirgan, who took over this year, following his stint as Executive Chef at Chez Papa Resto in San Francisco, and five years as Chef de Cuisine at No. 9 Park in Boston.
Read More »
California halibut
You know you’re dining at a hot new place in San Francisco when on a chilly Sunday evening, it’s jam-packed with a well-known socialite at one table and a Euro-fashionista in neon pink fur vest and billboard-screaming sequined jeans at another.
Prospect is not just a place to be seen, though. It’s also a place to dine very, very well.
Read More »
It’s never easy replacing a chef who has been with a restaurant since inception, especially one as talented as Nick Balla.
Balla opened the Japanese izakaya-style restaurant, Nombe in San Francisco, but departed at the end of last year — but not before creating quite the impression. Balla, who visits Japan regularly, is such an astute study of traditional Japanese cuisine that his techniques even impressed a group of visiting Japanese chefs at a conference in St. Helena last year.
Balla, who also lived in Budapest for three years, is now at Bar Tartine in San Francisco, where he’s putting his own spin on Eastern European food.
Replacing him at Nombe is Vince Scofield, who most recently cooked for Ebb & Flow in San Francisco. He also was the opening executive chef at Kabuki Kitchen in San Francisco. In addition to Nombe, he’s involved with Darwin Cafe and Taco Libre, both in San Francisco.
Whew! Talk about a lot on his plate. But Scofield is giving it a valiant try at Nombe in the Mission District, a short drive from the Holiday Inn Civic Center San Francisco.
San Francisco
Read More »
LGBT popular shows such as Real World DC (with the overexposed token queer, Mike Manning), Real Housewives of DC (party crashing anyone?) and Top Chef DC (highlighting the city’s growing foodie scene) have helped peak a global GLBT travel interest in our nation’s capital. Much like its new TV persona, DC is a happening place for the latest and greatest hotel, restaurant, nightlife, and overall social trends.
Sou’Wester. The gay-friendly Mandarin Oriental DC recently welcomed acclaimed Chef Eddie Moran to partake in the growing regional trend of mid-Atlantic comfort food with Sou’Wester, a decadent eating extravaganza celebrated by power brokers, policy makers, and DC socialites. This is one restaurant where the gay boys don’t count carbs and fat grams; in fact, they shovel in the cornbread, the oysters, the Grilled North Carolina Shrimp Cheddar Cheese Grits, and the Sautéed Chesapeake Bay Rockfish like a gluttonous Kirstie Allie captured binging on a tabloid cover (pre-Dancing with the Stars, of course).
Read More »
1300 on Fillmore will transport you to another time, another place.
The glamorous San Francisco supper club greets you like a contemporary Southern belle with attitude from the moment you step inside its massive, heavy doors.
All warm, chocolate brown leather and polished wood, the lounge features a dramatic wall of back-lit black and white photos of the historic Fillmore Jazz District that surrounds the restaurant, a short drive from the Hotel Kabuki San Francisco.
There’s live jazz in the lounge regularly, and even gospel performances during Sunday brunch.
Recently, I was invited to be a guest of the four-year-old restaurant to try Chef David Lawrence’s singular take on Southern specialties. Lawrence owns the restaurant with his wife, Monetta, who greets guests in the dining room as if welcoming them to her own home. He is English-born, of Jamaican heritage, and French-trained — all of which shows on his plates. The food has the comforting quality you want in Southern cooking, but here it’s done up with far more flair and refinement.
Read More »
Visiting South Beach is easier than ever with some new, budget-friendly transportation options that will have you out of the airport and basking in the sun in no time! While images of celebrities and socialites cavorting in the surf give the city a posh reputation, a number of dedicated discount transit services make Miami Beach a truly affordable family destination. Discover the Airport Flyer, the South Beach Local Shuttle Service, Swoop Miami and the new Miami Beach Deco Bike Sharing System.
Read More »
