syrah girl

We love the chocolate milkshakes at Moonstruck Chocolate in the Nob Hill area of Portland, really yummy candy here, also!

Thanks Carlsbad, we walked by Dizz As Is when we stayed at the Casa Laguna Inn, looks like a nice place. 230 Forest might also work, have you been there?

We'll probably stick close to Laguna, we may go into San Clemente for some surfing if the waves are good there. Any opinions on Mozambique Steak House?

We have been to both The Studio and Sapphire, love both places! Cafe Zulu sounds fun, what about 230 Forest or K'Ya at the Camino del Real, the kids love Sushi!

We will be spending the 4th of July weekend in Laguna Beach and would love suggestions for great, casual places to dine. A couple of dinners and lunches. I was thinking the Mosaic Pool Bar @ the Montage one night. Thanks!

Thanks, I think we will drop by Shuckers for those oysters! We did have a very nice dinner at Etta's last night. The Copper River Salmon was amazing, we loved the Clam Chowder and the Caesar Salad. The coconut cream pie was amazing, just as everyone said! This am we did dine at The Georgian, a very elegant dining room and my Smoked Salmon Benedcit was perfectly prepared. I loved the apple-mango juice served at breakfast and the papaya and mango on the fruit platter was really good. Our service was top-notch, also. Our town car driver suggested Quinn to us last night, maybe we will try them tonight. I think Cafe Campagne sounds very cool for breakfast tomorrow morning. The weather in Seattle is beautiful today!

We have been to Dahlia Lounge, Six Seven, Salty's and Flying Fish in Belltown, I wanted to try some new places this visit. I have always wanted to try Matt's @ the Market, we love seafood, especially salmon and crab!

It's been awhile since we have been in Seattle and are planning our meals. So far we have Union, Matt's @ the Market, The Georgian, Etta's and Restaurant Zoe on our list. What do you think Seattle foodies?

Looks wonderful! We were in Carmel a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed meals at Demetra's Cafe, Christopher's on Lincoln, Terrace Grill and the "the C" at the new Clement Intercontinental. We'll have to try Aubergine next time, we did dine at Bouchee awhile back and loved it!

Any opinions on Union and Restaurant Zoe?

The new hot spot in Carmel Valley is Citronelle at Carmel Valley Ranch, we dined there this past Dec., it's amazing! For our rib fix, we love Bigfoot Pub & Grub in Seaside, Oregon where we spend several weeks a year at our beach cottage.

Hi, we were just in Carmel this past weekend, I would not miss a meal at Demetra Cafe, a fairly new venue with great food. We enjoyed Christoperh's for dinner, Anton & Michel is also very good. For a nice fine dining experience, go to Citronelle @ Carmel Valley Ranch, a gourmet food lover's heaven! There is also the Terrace Grill @ La Playa where we stayed, very nice ambiance here, you will have oceanviews from the patio and a peek of the ocean. In the Carmel Highland's area, both the California Market and Pacific's Edge are very nice. Katy's Place for breakfast, Casanova and Bouchee are also wonderful. If you are there on a Sunday, Mission Ranch has a very nice Jazz Brunch. If you go to Monterey, we had a lovely dinner at "the C" at the new Clement Intercontinental this past Sat. night. Have a great time!

Yes, Casanova is wonderful, we have enjoyed lunches there out on the back patio.

This past weekend we spent the night in Carmel at La Playa, a lovely historic hotel in the heart of Carmel. For our first lunch we dined at Demetra's Cafe in downtown Carmel, right on Ocean Ave. Our lunch was very good, I had the Lamb Wrap that was full of perfectly seasoned Lamb and served with a really great salad with a Pesto dressing. Our service was a little slugish, but other than that it was a great little find, we will return again to try some new things. For dinner we went to Christopher's on Lincoln, a fine dinin venue with very good food. Fried Green Tomatoes, Salmon from Scotland was served with white wine, brown sugar, meyer lemon, capers and some little Red Creamer potatoes. After dinner we went over to the Grill on Ocean for some choclate cake for dessert, really good! Breakfast was at the Terrace Grill at our hotel, a fantastic restaurant where we had beautiful views of gardens and a peek of the ocean. White linen tablecloths and yellow roses were a nice touch on all of the tables. We shared the American breakfast which was scrambled eggs, English muffins with jam, sausage and Oven Roasted potatoes. Perfect! That evening we went to the "C" at the new Clement in Monterey. We had the Clam Chowder, the Caesar Salad was beautiful on presentation and served with White Anchovies. I had the Abalone with Angel Hair Pasta for my dinner, very good! Dessert was complimentary for my birthday, the Chocolate Fondue which was fun and the Chocolate was rich and decadant. Marshmallows, strawberries, apricots and Madaleine cookies were served for dipping. We will return again here, the oceanviews were gorgeous and the ambiance is formal and contemporary. We always enjoy our time in this area and still have so many great places we want to try in this area. French Poodle, Cantinetta Luca and L'Escargot at the top of our return list. Still want to get to Fresh Cream in Monterey some day and Aubergine at L' Auberge in Carmel.

Whats good at Clyde Common?

Check out Dahlia Lounge, Six Seven @ the Hotel Edgewater, Flying Fish in Belltown and Salty's on Alki Beach.

We just returned from a two night stay at the Westin Mission Hills Resort in Rancho Mirgea near Palm Springs. The restaurant at the resort was called Bella Vista which was very good. We dined outside for lunch and breakfast, both meals were great and the ambiance was perfect. The first night we dined at the BluEmber at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort. I highly recommend this place, we had a 3 course meal for $35/pp which included a starter, entree and German Chocolate cupcakes for dessert. I had the Butternut Squash Ravioli and the Short Ribs which were perfectly prepared and paired nicely with the bottle of Firestone Malbec we brought in. The weather was warm and there were little twinkle lights everywhere, live music also. We will definitely return here. Our lunch at Tommy Bahama's Cafe in Palm Desert was very good. I had the Fish Tacos that were served with a side of coconut dipping sauce and some Fried Bananas. The cafe is very casual, we dined outside on the back patio. For dinner that evening we chose Wally's Desert Turtle which is a very formal, fine dining venue. I had the Mixed Green Salad and the Shrimp Fettucini which was wonderful and served with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. We wanted to try Spencer's in Palm Springs but had to leave a little early to close a business deal. This was our first time in the desert and we loved it. Will definitely return for some more great places to dine in the desert!

We are going to Mammoth for the first time, any places not to miss? We will have a group of 5. How is the Tamarack Lodge or the Whitebark @ the Westin? Thanks!

We just spend a wonderful weekend in the wine country and enjoyed meals at The Grill @ Meadowood in St. Helena, Cyrus in Healdsburg (again wonderful, this was our third time here!) Willi's Seafood and Wine Bar in Healdsburg and dinner at Bottega in Yountville. Everywhere was excellent, we stayed at the Inn @ the Plaza in Healdsburg where you could walk to everything from there. Let me know if you have any questions on any of the places I mentioned! Cyrus has done away with their 3 courses for $65, you now have to order 5 courses for $103/person, I was sad that option was taken away.

Where did you end up dining in Portland?

If you do go to Pig n Pancake, they have very good Swedish Pancakes here. You may also want to check out Maggie's on the Prom at the Seaside Inn for breakfast with pretty views. Shilo does a nice brunch buffet in Sundays, pretty views here from the dining room, also.

Hi, I would go over to McKeown's in Seaside, about 10 minutes away. The have some amazing Crab Cake Benedicts there, it is a cozy little restaurant in the historic Gilbert District in Seaside. Pig n Pancake is OK, McKeown's is much mroe unique. If you want oceanviews, check out Maggie's on the Prom in Seaside at the Seaside Inn. Don't miss sampling some of the fantastic food at Yummy Wine Bar on Broadway in Seaside, also.

What did you have?

We just returned from the Cliffs Resort in Shell Beach and had some really great meals. Lido at the Dolphin Bay Resort was fantastic for both lunch and dinner. Mirasol @ The Cliffs did some really nice Monterey Bay Crab Cakes with Poached Eggs and Hollandaise for breakfast, I had this twice! We also enjoyed Steak and Lobster at Steamers one night and I loved the Halibut Fish Tacos at the Cracked Crab in downtown Pismo. I'll try get a full report out on Lido later on in the week. We found our coastal "gem" here.

We have been to Cyrus twice, it's amazing! Also in Healdsburg is Dry Creek Kitchen was is very good, located at the Hotel Healdsburg. In Yountville check out Ad Hoc, REDD and Bistro Jeanty. Terra in nearby St. Helena is good for fine dining, for something more casual there is Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen next door to Terra. We will be trying Farm and Bottega this trip. Farm is located at the Carneros Inn in Napa, Bottega in Yountville. In the Sonoma area: girl and the fig, El Dorado Kitchen, Cafe La Haye, the Swiss Hotel and Carneros are all very nice places to dine. Enjoy your trip!