Esquin 2011 Summer Sampler Case

This past summer, yea I know this post is super late, for Emi's Dad's birthday we surprised him with a case of wine. Not just any case of wine, but the Esquin Summer Sampler Case. As you can see it came with a great variety of wines from around the world to enjoy with the warmer weather.

Emi's Dad is not a wine snob by any means, but enjoys wine with meals, so we knew he would enjoy the gift. The best part of about the case is you get to try a lot of wines specially selected by the professionals at Esquin. Also the wine is very affordable, 12 bottles for $80. Next time you need a unique and fun gift, make sure to head down to pick up one of their seasonal cases.

Emi and I love Esquin. She can't wait to have a glass of wine later this summer after the baby is born. It sounds like I might have to invest in the Esquin 2012 Summer Sampler case.

- Kyle

Athens Part 2: Exploring the Plaka and in search of a Greek gyro

After finishing up our lunchtime feast, we decided to walk it off by exploring the Plaka. One nice thing about traveling with our parents is we didn't have to lug gifts back to them. Instead we did some shopping for ourseleves. When one thinks of Greek cuisine, gyros, olive oil, and ouzo are usually the first things to come to mind. Lucky for us olive oil shops were on every corner.

We never knew how much of a difference a quality olive oil's taste could have in comparison to a cheap American olive oil. We probably never knew because we were so used to the flavorless American variety. Also what's nice is that in Greece the olive oil is relatively cheap. The same bottle that would run $20+ in the US was half the cost in Athens.

Of course they had tons and tons of Ouzo. We brought back a few bottles as gifts for friends. A light, affordable, compact gift.

Steve ran into a pistachio vendor and needed to buy a bag for all of us to enjoy. They were amazing! Oven roasted and salted. Much more savory than their weaker California cousin. They had a smoked flavor to them.

Ice Grill was recommended to us by our tour guide. We asked for an authentic sit down eating experience along with a place we could find a good simple gyro. 30 minutes earlier we had finished our sit down feast, but I was NOT leaving Athens without a gyro!

Emi's mom thought this picture was funny because I was so excited to get started on lunch #2.

mmm, the first bite

Even though I was somewhat full, I found a second stomach in order to enjoy this tasty gyro. I noticed everything in Greece is either stuffed with fries or comes with them. They love their fries. I could have gone without them, but in general great gyro and another checkmark for my food eating To Do list.

In the hot, humid, July, middle of the day heat these sweetened ice coffees were a welcome reprieve from our dry, hot mouths.

Kanafeh/Katayifeh or whatever you want to call it as some of you may remember from my memorable meal at Ala Turka in Singapore is one of my favorite desserts of all time. This one proved to be super sweet and a little soggy. Not as amazing as the one in Singapore, but something I had to eat in the Mediterranean.

This baklava was in a cylindrical shape. Different. I usually enjoy the layers of philo. In this shape it was a giant, sweet mass. After enjoying a salty, savory gyro the sweets were a nice change of pace.



Some of you may not know, but Emi's dad has spent a good amount of time in Greece, so he wanted to show us how to deal with the locals.

Little did we know, but we were still in for some amazing, life changing meals during our travels through Greece.

- Kyle

Authentic Greek Food - A memorable meal in Athens

After spending the morning taking a bus and walking a tour through Athens which included a visit to the Parthenon we were ready to eat. I had been waiting all morning to get to the Plaka so we could find some authentic Greek food.

The idea behind our cruise started with my passion for Greek food. Probably three years ago or so, I decided I wanted to go to Greece. After doing some research I knew I wanted to visit all of the amazing islands Greece had to offer. Diving deeper into my research, I determined Turkey and Croatia would be pretty amazing to visit too and from there we were hooked on a Mediterranean cruise. It was surreal to finally be a world away in Athens and ready to enjoy real Greek food!

Nothing goes better on a hot, humid day with Greek food than a nice ice cold Greek beer; Mythos in this instance.

And of course Ouzo! Not necessarily a favorite of mine, but something Emi's Dad has always enjoyed and introduced over the years to Emi and myself. Think harsh, Jagermeister. Jager is probably sweeter, where ouzo has a tongue numbing aftertaste and that strong licorice flavor. Not a favorite of mine, but when in Greece you have to drink ouzo.

The best way to enjoy ouzo is with a few ice cubes and a little water to dilute it. The ice and water turns the ouzo a milky color.

Cheers!

We started the meal with a loaf of bread, olives, and a cod roe butter. The butter was a little fishy as expected, but the olives and house olive oil made up for this first taste of the meal. A common theme throughout our trip was how amazing the olive oil was everywhere we went.

Smoked babaganoush or eggplant dip, which we enjoyed with our bread. This smoked, olive oil infused, tender eggplant concoction was amazing.

The best dolmathes I've ever enjoyed. These warm grape leaves were stuffed with rice and ground meat and covered in a thick lemon sauce. Very tender and also a little tangy and salty.

A true "Greek" salad, with sweet juicy tomatoes, cucumber, olives, and red onion. Similar to Kotor the fresh Greek feta was soft and not too salty, but still very flavorful.

Our chicken souvlaki with fries. Everything came with fries in Athens. The chicken was a little crispy and even though I'm not a huge fan of chicken breast was still very good. I was disappointed they didn't have gyros on the menu, but this was a classy joint, so I had to wait till later to check that off my list.

Our waiter prepping our giant grilled squid.

He squeezed fresh lemon juice over the squid, which made a great sauce when combined and mixed with the natural juices from the grilled squird. Tender and delicious. Not as good as the grilled octopus we enjoyed in Kotor, but still very tasty.

Happy couple after a great meal. My favorite memory of Athens was this meal. I couldn't get over the fact that we were finally in Greece eating authentic Greek food! Amazing and made me realize how fortunate we are to be able to fulfill our crazy wishes and dreams.

- Kyle

Beautiful and Boozy Kotor, Montenegro

After departing from Venice, Kotor in Montenegro was the first stop of the cruise. To be honest, Emi and I had low expectations. Probably because we didn't know what to expect. We had originally signed up for a 4x4 excursion through the hills and valleys of Croatia and Montenegro, but not enough people joined in so the excursion and our plans for Kotor were canceled. Instead of signing up for something else, we decided we would wander through the city to see what piqued our interest and especially our appetites.

Kotor is a beautiful city. Everything I imagined a Mediterranean port to be. Colorful and warm, surrounded by the mountains and blue sea. We knew this place was special, but didn't know at the time this would be one of our favorite ports of the entire cruise.

What made this port special for us was the amazing experience we enjoyed at a small family owned restaurant called Restoran Mediteran outside the walls of the city.

We were hungry and tired after walking around in the hot, humid heat so the shaded outdoor dining area covered by grapevines provided a much needed hiding spot from the hot Mediterranean sun.

Emi read before we left the ship that the specialty wine of Montenegro is Vranac. Vranac is a bold red that comes in 1 Liter bottles, no wimpy 750 mL bottles, but a whole Liter. Also it comes sealed like a beer bottle with a bottle cap. This was a great wine and with the heat and little to no food in our stomachs the beginning of a fun day.

One of the patrons of the restaurant came over and told us our waiter didn't speak much English, so he could help us order. He told us his brother ran the restaurant, but he wasn't paid to work there. We were definitely a little skeptical, but he ended up being our guide for the meal and really added to the experience.

We started with their crumbly olive oil cheese, with their variation of Prosciutto, tomatoes, and olives. This delicious meze provided us with a great sampling of their local cuisine. Also salty cheese, meats, and olives always pair nicely with a glass/Liter of wine.

Our first "Greek" salad of the trip. The feta cheese was amazing. We had never tried anything like it before. Not as salty and dense as the American feta we are used to here in the States. This cheese was softer and less salty. I felt I could eat a whole block of it. The tomatoes, cucumber, and even the red onions were sweet too. Emi usually avoids red onions, but even she enjoyed them. A perfect salad.

This amazing bowl of deliciousness is olive oil with parsley and slivered garlic. It was amazing, sooo garlicky, yet without that overpowering raw spicy taste fresh garlic can leave behind. We dipped our loaf of bread in this amazing olive oil and also used it to garnish our main courses.

Emi was convinced to order the local fresh Dorado and I went with the grilled octopus. Both were brought out fresh and grilled up right in front of us. Fish is semi expensive in the Mediterranean because of over fishing in the region, but octopus and squid are more affordable and just as delicious.

My octopus was served with grilled vegetables. The best recommendation of the meal was my new friend's recco to drizzle the garlic olive oil over the octopus. I can still taste this tender, slightly charred, BBQ octopus. It wasn't chewy at all and had such an amazing flavor. Maybe it was the Liter of wine, but this was one of my favorite meals of the entire trip.



Our friend deboning Emi's Dorado

Emi's Dorado was served with soft grilled potatoes. This wasn't quite as tasty as my octopus, but a good opportunity to try the local catch. We had a great time because of the amazing food, great affordable wine, and conversations with our new friend.

Emi as some of you may know has a soft spot for animals, especially kittens. Everywhere we travel I feel as if she's buying canned fish or storing away her leftovers to feed cats. I call her the cat lady. This was a sickly kitten she adopted and named Monte, short for Montenegro. We saw him earlier in the day and Emi decided she would pack up her leftover fish for him.



"That might not be his momma"

After lunch we decided to walk off the feast and took a hike up the mountain. It was a steep and hot climb, but well worth the walk for the beautiful view. When we were done we had some time to kill and I noticed how most of the bars in the city had really cheap booze, so decided that's how we would utilize our remaining time in Kotor. I miss being on vacation!

We ordered their local beer Nicksicka which came in a dark and light variety. After a few of those, which were nice, cool and refreshing we decided we should try their other well-known local specialty, Loza.

Each drink was around $2. The cold, clear Loza was super strong, 90 proof, but went down surprisingly smooth. It didn't have a strong aftertaste, so it sort of reminded me of vodka. After sipping a few of those we were ready to stumble back to the ship.

I guess Emi didn't think the Loza was as smooth as I thought it was.

Later that night we ended up having a few more drinks and paid for it the next day, but at least it was a day out at sea so we didn't miss muich. Kotor is a port we'll always remember for its beauty, amazing food, and cheap drinks. The city seemed pretty hard to get to unless by boat since it was tucked away, so this may have been our one and only opportunity to visit this amazing port. Maybe we need to start planning a return cruise.



- Kyle

Prosciutto di Parma pizza - Dinner in Venice - Venice Part 1

After fattening ourselves up in Paris we were ready to flaunt our bikini ready bodies on an 11 day cruise through the Mediterranean. Our port of departure was Venice, which we had been told to expect "OK" food, so we weren't as focused on finding food in this city. However in the end maybe because of lowered expectations or sheer luck we found some truly great Italian food.

We met up with my parents in Venice and for our first evening went on a gondola ride through the "streets" or rather waterways of Venice. An amazing experience made even better with a bottle of Prosecco. After finishing our gondola ride we were ready to hunt down some pizza!

Venice like many stops on our cruise was a beautiful and unique city just waiting to be explored by us. We made it our goal to eat local cuisines for every stop of the cruise. If it said "hamburgers, pizza/pasta (outside of Italy)" we avoided the place like the plague. We wanted what the locals would eat.

We went back to a restaurant my parents had discovered earlier in the day by the Academia Bridge in the heart of Venice. We started with a Caprese salad which we dressed ourselves with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. The fresh mozzarella and tomatoes were spectacular. We were soon to see the fresh cheeses and tomatoes across the Mediterranean were like nothing we had ever enjoyed before.

My dad went with the melon and prosciutto which was even better than the one we enjoyed in Paris primarily because the prosciutto was amazing.

I ordered the prosciutto di Parma pizza which came with a slightly spicy tomato sauce and caramelized onions. Emi and I discussed if we had been to Italy back when we were in grade school, (pre-California Pizza Kitchen which then turned into wood stone oven, gourmet, thin crust pizzas) we may not have enjoyed this pizza. Knowing only thick crust, greasy Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Little Caesar's, and Godfather Pizza we were not necessarily pizza connoisseurs. Good thing food has changed and improved over the years.

This pizza was not perfect, (the dough was a little chewy, even though the crust was thin) however still one of the best pizzas I've ever enjoyed. Maybe it was the environment and sitting by the Grand Canal in Venice that made this pizza memorable, but more likely it was the amazing prosciutto di Parma. I've enjoyed it before, but for whatever reason this creamy, rich, salty, melt in your mouth prosciutto was the best I've ever tasted and truly made this pizza extraordinary.

Emi's mushroom and ham pizza.

Even though the city shut down completely by around 9:30pm and we almost didn't make it back to the cruise ship (long story), it was all worth it because of my vivid memory of this amazing pizza.

- Kyle

Romanticizing Paris - Sidewalk Cafes - Paris Part 7

When Emi and I think of Paris scenes out of movies always come to mind. Think fashionable Parisians seated at a sidewalk cafe with a newspaper in hand, designer sunglasses, one leg crossed over the other showing their designer sockless loafers, all while an enjoying an espresso with a buttery croissant on the table. The espresso could be interchangeable with a glass of wine, the newspaper with a cigarette, but the constant would be the classy, sunny sidewalk cafe.

We told Emi's aunt when we arrived we could spend our whole time drinking wine at one of these imagined sidewalk cafes. The people watching, the great weather, the beautiful sites, tasty wine, and amazing food was all we needed.

We stopped into many a sidewalk cafe and wine bar in Paris to rejuvenate and to soak in the city and people of Paris. It was interesting to see that people watching was a common interest of Parisian locals and tourists alike. They even turn their chairs so that people can sit together and look out on the streets.

Like most of Europe, no one drinks what we classify as coffee, unless it's an Americano. Everyone enjoys the stronger espresso, which is quite bitter, but with a dash of sugar this is the perfect pick me up after an afternoon of walking through the city.

One of our favorite cafes was located across the street from Notre Dame where we stopped in for a drink before dinner at Ribouldingue. We ordered their seasonal "summer beer" to enjoy while looking upon Notre Dame.

Right across the street from our hotel was a nice wine bar that specialized in the wines from the Bordeaux region. They take their wine so seriously in France that you can find places that only serve varietals from one specific region! Also a common and welcome pattern was the fact that you could enjoy good wines at great affordable prices.

Fouquet's located on Champs de Elysee supposedly was a well known Paris restaurant. The food was super expensive, but since we had already eaten we dropped in for a late night glass of wine.

Emi with her glass of French rose.

Even though we had romanticized the sidewalk cafe experience in Paris, each one lived up to if not exceeded our expectations. Food, life, and love is always better in a place as beautiful as Paris.

- Kyle