On Thursday, I was invited to a Don Julio Tequila Tasting Lunch at Sable Kitchen. The master distiller, Enrique de Colsa, presented the story of Don Julio in front of a small group of us, and described the entire process of making the tequila, which I found fascinating. The añejo, 1942, and Don Julio 70 were some of the best tequilas I've had.
I can't say the same about the food at Sable Kitchen. They seemed to have a hard time paring the food with the tequila, and the veggie burgers and flat bread pizzas were pretty weak dishes.
We are filming a new episode of Flavor City this week, and going on location to one of Chicago's iconic food companies. I will leave you guessing for now, but I promise you won't be disappointed!
With Enrique de Colsa and Dessi
Tasting Flight of Don Julio Tequila - Blanco, Añejo, Don Julio 70
Food: I had dinner at Untitled in Chicago the other day, and while I really like the decor, and prohibition era cocktails, the food menu is overpriced & overrated. Charging $15 for small plates is just absurd, but not as absurd as the amount of salt they put on every dish, especially the bison burger! I am increasing disturbed at this growing trend of small plates with not so small prices.
Travel: If you have some Amex reward points lying around, there is currently a 35% bonus transfer to British. That is not the best deal, but much better than the standard 1:1, and I do have 100,000 points thanks to a sign-up bonus from the platinum card. B.A. is also a thrifty way to book American Air miles for less miles since B.A. is distance based. So, I only used 15,000 B.A. points to book my Chicago-Montreal tix in June, instead of 25,000 if I did it directly on AA.com.
New Episode Alert: We are currently working on editing our next FlavCity episode. from Rome! Easily one of my favorite cities in the world, and I got the chance to cook at a relatives house in the waterfront town of Anzio!
The latest episode of Flavor City is out. We hit up sunny LA and eat some incredible sushi, and do some not so incredible surfing...WIPEOUT! Here is a recap of our trip.
Flight: I actually paid for my ORD-LAX tickets, but before you get disappointed, I was able to get $200 off thanks to my Amex Platinum Card. I got this card back in January, thanks to the heads up from ThePointsGuy and was rewarded with 100,000 points! I was more than happy to pay the annual fee of $450 because the bonus points were huge and the card has many benefits. One such benefit was a statement credit up to $200 for any AA purchase (baggage, lounge, on-board snack), including the purchase of gift cards. So, I bought a $200 gift card and viola, a $200 credit was on my next statement.
Accommodation: For the first time, I tried www.airbnb.com and was very happy with the outcome. For $89 per night, I had my own room at an upscale condo right near the beach in Santa Monica. A great value, and I saved some hotel points for next time!
LA Food: I was really blown away by the quality of the seafood, especially the sushi, and the Asian fusion food. This was some of the best sushi I've had outside of Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo..if you've never had a sushi breakfast there you're missing out! One place that was local, and had great prices was Tsukiji Sushi Sen in Santa Monica. I'm sure you can find more expensive sushi that might be a little better, but the quality, size, and price was unbeatable.
For Asian fusion you must try A-Frame in Culver City. The flavors are off the charts and so is the creativity. Roy Choi, of top chef fame, knows what he is doing, and DO NOT miss the lychee granita for dessert..you will never want an ice cream sundae again!
Here's the full episode, back in Chicago I create an LA inspired dish: Miso Marinated Cod with Braised Bok Choy and Coconut Cashew Jasmine Rice.
Miso Marinated Cod with Braised Bok Choy and Coconut Cashew Jasmine Rice
Since I flew to Aspen for free using my United points, I was able to splurge on some prime spring skiing and dining. I spent a few days skiing at Aspen & Snowmass mountain. The skiing was fantastic and the weather even better, 55F and sunny. Flying down the mountain in just a sweater, ski pants, and shades is too sweet!
I also did some hardcore hiking while there. The vistas and terrain are beautiful this time of year. The food is very pricey in Aspen, and somewhat over-rated, but I was fortunate to co-host dinner parties almost every night with an Aspen local, and get my hands on some Colorado Buffalo meat, hello bison burgers & chili!
It was a great trip, and I can't wait to film the cooking segment for the episode very soon.
Let me know if you have any tips or ideas for the flavors of Aspen!
We just released the SoBe episode this week, where I head down to SoBe, check out the local flavors, hit up the Wine & Food Show, and talk with lots of Food Network celebrity chefs. After a week down there, we headed back to Chicago to make our SoBe inspired menu of sweet potato biscuit crab cake sandwich, with mango chutney, and mojo cream sauce.
Fresh citrus, seafood, & spice were the main flavors that all the chefs associated with SoBe, so I kept that in mind with my recipe, but had to add the comfort Chicago aspect with the sweet potato biscuit.
Definitely try this recipe and message me with any suggestions or questions about it.
Sweet Potato Crab Cake Sandwich with Mojo Cream Sauce
Flight: I used 25,000 United miles for a Round-Trip ticket from Chicago. Now this flight normally costs well over $700, so I was happy to use my miles and save the money to splurge in Aspen, because it ain't cheap there!
Lodging: I stayed with a friend there, so I will save my hotel points for another city. There was a Hyatt & St. Regis slope-side on Aspen Mountain, so those are good options for next time I have a bunch of United Miles thanks to the Chase Ink Bold card I recently got, and the 50,000 ultimate reward points that came with it. With Chase, you can transfer those points 1:1 with United and many other carriers. Check out www.thepointsguy.com for more details on this valuable card from Chase.
Just finished a beautiful day of skiing Aspen mountain. I've really been impressed by the game here, had a great bison chili last night, and am thinking this will be part of an Aspen inspired menu when I get back to Chicago.
What usually is a very expensive direct flight into ASE was free thanks to United points, giving me more money to splurge here bc Aspen ain't cheap!
More to come...
Wild Fig Restaurant - 315 E Hyman Ave, Aspen - Pre fixe 3 course dinner $33!
.JPG)
