After doing weeks and weeks of research and shopping, I finally decided on my weapon of choice - The Shigeru Kawai SK3.




Say hello to my new baby :


6'1" Conservatory Grand
Handcrafted by one of the twenty Kawai Master Piano Artisans
Ezo Spruce body and soundboard
Flawless Action (Millennium III )
Hand-pressed hammers and
Hand-rolled bass strings

To me, they are comparable to Steinways, and better in certain aspects.

Now I gotta practice at least one hour a day to break it in!

Wine Tasting in Paso Robles Wine Country

Joe and I visited the Central Coast in 2008 and had a blast doing some wine tasting at several wineries and touring the Hearst Castle. We had so much fun that we returned this past weekend with our good friends Clarence and Ifong. We stayed at the quaint and comfortable Bed and Breakfast at Dunning Ranch (affiliated with the Dunning Vineyard). It is definitely well tucked away and a little hard to get to. We drove down on a stormy Friday night and the off-roading adventure in pitch darkness was quite nerve-wrecking. Nevertheless, we got there safe and sound.

We spent a good 5 hours visiting wiineries and do tastings on Saturday, starting with the furthest winery "Justin", and made our way towards downtown. What I love most about Paso Robles, besides how beautiful it is, is that we almost always get to meet the owners of the wineries and vineyards. They are so passionate and proud of their products, and I think that's why I enjoy Paso Robles more than Napa.

 This entry is about the wineries that we visited and the wines that we purchased. We started with the furthest winery - "Justin" and made our way towards downtown Paso Robles


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Justin Vineyards and Winery
11680 Chimney Rock Road
Paso Robles, CA 93446-9792
(805) 238-6932

Tasting Room Hours: 10am - 5pm
Tasting Fee: $10, includes one logo glass. They do not waive tasting fee if you purchase bottles.

 

What a beautiful vineyard. It's way out there but so worth it. Wine from Justin is on the expensive side. Their flagship wine is the "Isosceles". We tasted the 07 Isosceles and all fell in love with it, unfortunately they're not for sale for another two months. That's how passionate they are about their wine, if it's not ready, they won't sell it. A bottle of the 07 Isosceles sells for $62, and you're suppose to let it sit for another few years. We spotted a bottle of 05 Isosceles selling for around $200.

The Viognier was on the spicy side, which I wasn't a big fan of. But I loved their 08 Chardonnay for $19, so I bought a bottle

I didn't want to splurge at the first winery we visited, so I will wait to get the Isosceles. Another wine that stood out was the 07 Justification for $45. It's a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot, a little fruity and tannic, but would be perfect with a big juicy steak.

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Tablas Creek Vineyard

9339 Adelaida Road
Paso Robles CA 93446

805.237.1231

Tasting Room Hour: 10am - 5pm

Tasting Fee: $10, includes one logo glass. Fee waived with bottle purchase.

 Tablas Creek serves Rhone style wine. Much more mild and smooth compare to California wine. Tablas Creek was probably my favorite winery from this trip.Very nice and informative tasting host.

(Left to Right)

06 Esprit Beaucastel Blanc $40

we actually tasted the 2008 and I loved how it was sweet, mild, and floral. The 65% Roussanne content really stood out. The host suggested that I go for the 06, especially they were selling for the same price.

07 En Goblet $40

Earthy and fruity. LOVE!

 

06 Vin de Paille SacreRouge $45

The dessert wine was not on the tasting list, but we asked to try it. They offered three different dessert wine, two white and one red. I've had a lot of white dessert wine so I thought the red was very unique. The grapes are from the last harvest of the season, and they are grown at the estate vineyard. Tastes like sweet figs and is a bit chocolately.

I'm suppose to wait for 5-10 more years to drink these...

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Whalebone

8325 Vineyard Drive

Paso Robles, CA 93446-7613
(805) 239-9020

Tasting Room Hour: 11am-5pm

Tasting Fee: $5, Waived with wine purchase

Really friendly people here! We met Jan, owner of the winery with her husband Bob. They only produce red wine at Whalebone, and their flagship wine is the Bob Wine. I actually wasn't too big of a fan, but I did really like the 05 Cabernet Sauvignon. Dark, oaky, fruity, and peppery, with a small percentage of Petit Syrah blended in. They were also offering a 05 Cabernet Private Reserve for $45.

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon $35

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Opolo

7110 Vineyard Drive

Paso Robles, CA 93446-7684
(805) 238-9593

Tasting Room Hour: 10am - 5pm

Tasting Room Fee: $5. Waived with bottle purchase.

I have heard a lot about Opolo, but I guess all the hypes raised my expectation, so I was a little disappointed. Nevertheless, they had a great white wine selection. More on the sweet side.

The above picture is 

07 Fleur de Paso, $16

It was raining hard on Saturday, and we were so glad to see that they offered a covered area for picnics! They were also grilling a variety of sausages outside. We packed and enjoyed a lovely lunch there.

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Dover Canyon

4520 Vineyard Drive

Paso Robles, Ca

(805)237-0101 

Tasting Room Hours: 11am - 5pm

Tasting Fee: $5

Dover Canyon specialize in Zinfandel, Syrah, and Rhone blends. Their wine ranges from $20-$35, not too overpriced, yet I didn't find one that stand out. Out of all the wine they were pouring that day, Barbarian, Osso Seccho, and the Tre Noce were my favorite. They are all from 2007. Really cute surroundings and tasting room, too bad the lady host weren't very talkative and informative. If you don't seem that interested in the product you are selling, then I am not going to be interested either.

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Peachy Canyon 

(tasting room location. )

1480 N. Bethel Road

Templeton, CA 93465

Tasting Room Hours: 11am - 5pm
Tasting Fee: $5, Waived with bottle purchase

This was my favorite winery during my first visit to Paso Robles during the zinfandel festival. Friendly tasting room attendants, great zinfandel selection, and we even met the owner. I loved the zinfandel port dessert wine so much that I bought another bottle on this trip. 

08 Viognier $25

Fruity and sweet. 

07 Westside Zinfandel $19. 

Fruity and oaky. A little hint of smokiness as well. This is apparently available for purchase at Costco for $15.

Port VII $25

sweet sugary fig and a hint of caramel. SO DELISH!

I also highly recommend the Especial Zinfandel, I bought a bottle of the 05 last time and it was yummmm.

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Windward

1380 Liveoak Road

Paso Robles, CA 93446
(805) 239-2565

Tasting Room Hour: 10:30am - 5pm

Tasting Fee: $10, for 4 vertical tastings of Pinot Noir. They do not waive tasting fee with purchase.

2008 Pinot Noir Monopole $38.00

They are an exclusively Pinot Noir vineyard. I sampled 05, 06, 07, and 08 Estate Bottled Pinot Noir. Because I tend to like wine on the fruitier side, I bought a bottle of the 08. All of the Pinot Noir I sampled at Windward were really amazing.

Beautiful surroundings!

They are one of the vineyards that participate in the Pinot and Paella festival. It's going to be on 6/6/2010, $65 per person.

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Dunning Vineyard 

1953 Niderer Road

Paso Robles, CA 93446

(805) 238-4763

Tasting Room Hours: 11am - 5pm

Tasting Fee: Free

We stayed at Dunning Ranch, and the tasting room was five steps away. Read a lot of good reviews about the wine at Dunning, but again, I think I was expecting too much. The wine was good, but was a bit too oaky and spicy for me. I did, however, loved the 07 Private Reserve Zinfandel. ($35) We met with Jo-Ann Dunning, who was so nice and friendly. All wine are estate bottled.

San Diego December 2009 Day 4-6

Day 4: 12/27


Brunch at

Bread & Cie bakery
350 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 683-9322

chocolate croissant, cinnamon roll, medium latte and chocolate milk (for Joe the kid)

Heard so much about this bakery, and was sad that we were only able to try just a couple of things. The chocolate croissant was pretty amazing, but the cinnamon roll did not live up to its reputation. Excellent coffee. They sell all kinds of pastries, bread, cookies, sandwiches and even soups. We thought about buying some stuff for a nice picnic in Balboa park on day 3, but went to Hash house instead.






Snack at

Moo Time Creamery on Coronado Island (the Hotel del Coronado location)
1500 Orange Avenue (in Shops at the hotel)
Coronado, CA 92118
619-435-2383

Peanut Butter mixed with Heath Bar in a freshly made waffle cone. It was like $7.95 or something ridiculous like that, but was soooo good! It was nice to walk around the hotel, window shopping, while eating yummy ice cream.











Dinner at

the linkery
3794 30th Street
San Diego, CA 92104-4535
(619) 255-8778

chorizo flat bread $16.50
house cured Spanish-style chorizo, queso fresco, jalapeños, garlic sauce, pastured quail egg

YUM!!

Picnic Plate ($16.50) with coleslaw, potato salad, Winchester Gouda, house baked beer bread (YUM!), and two sausages of our choice.
We chose-
Alsatian Christmas: Duroc pork, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg
Swedish Potato: Duroc pork, grass-fed beef, potatoes, onion, mustard, marjoram, caraway.

We both loved the Alsatian Christmas more, but the Swedish Potato was very good too.

They also infused their water with sage. It tasted weird at first, but it actually enhances the flavors of your food throughout the meal and I really liked it!




The Linkery is a Farm-to-Table gastropub. They change their menu every day. Would love to go back and check out what they have to offer.







Desserts...at WHERE ELSE??
Extraordinary Desserts
2929 5th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92103
619-294-2132

Chocolate Chai.

this balboa park location is fairly small, and it was jam packed at 7:30pm. We had to sit outside in the cold, and none of the heat lamps were working. This really warmed us up, it was rich, chocolatey, and the chai wasn't too overwhemling.

Frasier Triple Berry Torte.

 forgot how much these items were. A slice of cake was probably between $6.95-$9.95. I love how they decorate the plate with the fresh fruit purees and chocolate sauce. Everything is so fresh! They didn't have the cake I wanted to try because some of the ingredients are not in season, and we were only able to choose from 5 different flavors that night because everything else was sold out. This was delicious and not too rich. Love the berries.

Very content!




















Day 5: 12/28

Breakfast at extraordinary desserts again..

We NEEDED more sweets from extraordinary desserts, so we walked to their 2nd location, which was closer to our hotel than the Balboa park location. ~1 mile walk.
1430 Union St
(between Ash St & Beech St)
San Diego, CA 92101

matcha latte


 I really loved matcha latte. They make theirs a little bit too sweet, but still so yummy and satisfying.

Decaf Kyoho Grape black tea

This was very good. A little bit of sugar really accentuates the kyoho grape flavor. They make and sell their own tea leavestoo, at a whopping $38 for a tin can. This is too pricey! I think Lupicia sells equally good tea.

For the life of me, I can't remember the name of this pastry. Chocolate Pa-something. It's a rich buttery pastry, filled with dark chocolate ganaches and buttery almond paste..sitting in a pull of vanilla anglaise and chocolate sauce.

La Bete Noire-
Dark chocolate cake, dark chocolate mousse, will vanilla creme brulee filling.. 











I know i know...desserts for breakfast????? We had originally walked there with the intent to eat brunch there, but after walking for 25 minutes and finding out that they don't serve savory dishes until after 11am. How can you resist a completely empty Extraordinary Desserts? We "sucked it up" and ate desserts for breakfast! =P Hey! we walked one mile both ways, gotta get some reward for that right??



Lunch
Las Cuatro Milpas
1875 Logan Ave in Barrio Logan
San Diego, CA 92113

Chicken tacos and chicken burritos.

We lined up for a good 30 minutes for these heavenly treats. This is a hole-in-a-wall joint in a not so great neighborhood, but my friend Jeryl visits this place at least once everytime he goes back to SD, and Joe and I were so glad that he took us here! Freshly made tortillas, and freshly fried tacos. The chicken pieces were cooked in a stew so flavorful that you don't really need any extra condiments, just some lettuce and cheese (cojita?). It's simplicity at its best. (We did add some awesome freshly made chili sauce. I will be thinking about this for a long time, and sad that nothing up north even compares to this...  








Happy Hour/Early Dinner at

South Beach Bar and Grille
5059 Newport Ave
(between Bacon St & Abbott St)
San Diego, CA 92107
(619) 226-4577

Happy Hour Special $4 Jose Cuervo Margarita. I had two of these..

Calamari Strips.

Baja Taco (Left) and Mahi Mahi Taco (Right)
$2.50 each


Best. I. Ever. Had!!


You know it's good when I even ate the cilantro on top of it.

half dozen oysters on half shells $7.95












Thanks to Ifong's recommendation! Hands down the best fish tacos ever. Very fresh oysters too! and usually I'm not a fan of tequila or margaritas... but those little devil concoctions were so well mixed, I had two of them and wanted more! I will be craving this meal for years.. But anyway, go during happy hour because all appetizers are half off, there are drink specials, and the tacos were $2.50 each. 1/2 dozen oysters were $7.95 during HH. This is a very popular sports bar so it's crowded all day long.





Day 6: 12/29
Rei Do Gado Churrascaria
939 4th Avenue
(between Broadway & E St in Gaslamp)
San Diego, CA 92101

Caipirinhas and some food from the salad bar



A really huuuuuuge salad bar: varieties of lettuces, fruits, soups, rice, meats, and etc etc etc...

Some cuts of meats that I got. There were 9 different kinds total for lunch.All you can eat, baby!
Picanha: Top sirloin
Picanha No Alho: Top Sirloin in Garlic
Filet Mignon: Wrapped in bacon

Costela de Boi: Beef ribs
Costelinha de Porco: Baby back ribs
Linguica:  Pork sausage
Coxa De Frango: Chicken drumticks with cheese
Lombinho: Pork loin
Presunto E Abacaxi: Ham with pineapple


At dinner time there are king crab legs, hump of brahma bull, lamb leg, chicken hearts, turkey wrapped in bacon, skirk steak..etc. 


I thought lunch was around $30 so I ate a lot to get my moneys worth, but turns out that it was only $16.50 each. Must be a week day lunch special or something! Totally worth the money.

Joe = happy
















 Thanks San Diego for a wonderful trip, so many great restaurants and eateries, wonderful beaches and places to visit. See you again soon =)

San Diego, December 2009 Day 1-3

San Diego is filled with countless amazing restaurants. We were visiting for 6 days and stayed at the Hilton Gaslamp Quarter, which was very convenient to shopping and dining. We stayed within a 10-mile radius, and there was plenty to do already! Next time we will visit further North of La Jolla!

Day 1: 12/24
arrived at SD at 7:30, had a late dinner at Lou and Mickey's.
Read on yelp that they have the best bone in ribeye in SD.

Lou and Mickey's

224 Fifth Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 237-4900

Coconut Kiss: Coconut Rum, Kahlua, and Pineapple Juice. $11.50 (never would have though about kahlua and pineapple juice combo. pretty tasty!)

  Roasted beet salad with goat cheese  $11.95  (this was so good. I love the earthiness and the sweetness of the beets. Joe, however, is not a fan of beets.)

cowboy steak (bone in ribeye)  $39.95  (super fatty and delicious. But I've had better, especially with the price you pay)

Mac and cheese as a side dish. $6.50  (this was really delicious. Cheesy with a sauce that's almost like a bechamel. Slightly garlicky. Very tasty)











Conclusion: Great place to hang out, but overpriced because it is situated in the Gaslamp Quarter. Great service, and they don't charge extra fees to do split plating. Didn't think the steak was as great as all the hypes, but definitely tasty. They have lots of other meat selections as well as a duo plate like surf and turf.



Day 2: Christmas
Lunch at Seaworld: 

Smokehouse cafe in Seaworld - sample platter. $14  (Brisket, chicken, ribs, baby back ribs, bun, fries, and corn. Almost everything was juicy and good. It costs a lot but is the only thing we bought at the park all day.)











Dinner: Candelas on the Bay on the Coronado island.
Candelas on the Bay
1201 First street #115, Coronado CA 92118 (at Coronado Ferry Landing
619.435.4900

Freshly baked bread, choose from plain, jalapeno, or cheese. spread it with compound butter mixed with garlic, anchovy, lime, chili, and 10 other ingredients that I forgot.

Strawberry Basil martini
NON-Alcoholic mojito

Calameras Candelas: Stuffed calamaris with tomatoes, rice, onion, morta chili. Served with a chili pepper, tomato, bleu cheese sauce, topped with spinach.  $11.50   (Comes with 5 pieces. The server split it for Joe and me. Tender calamaris! The sauce was very good and different. I wish it was a little bit spicier. )

Pasta Uxmal - Linguini with lobster and portobello mushrooms in guajillo sauce. $16.50

Pechuga de Pato Lucrecia - Baked duck breast over potatoes, veggies, with a passion fruit sauce $24.00

Dulce de Leche with strawberry. (we butchered this in 5 minutes. It was THAT good! )

Conclusion: Great service- our waiter Rodrigo was very attentive and informative. Even gave us great advice on where to visit. Beautiful view of the SD downtown, especially at night, with all the lights. It's a very trendy restaurant but very romantic as well. Delicious food, the portion was just right. wished we had try some of the Mexican appetizers. Lots of reviewers complained about $$$, but I think they were comparing it with a regular tacos joint or something... Candelas is categorized as "Latin Fusion" cuisine and is pretty upscale, but I don't consider them to be over priced at all.

 There is one other location in Gaslamp Quarter as well.

Day 3: 12/26 (Balboa Park and SD Zoo)

Breakfast at Hash House a go go | Twisted Farm Food

Hash House a go go

3628 Fifth Ave, San Diego, CA 92103

(619) 298-4646

Lemonade with watermelon juice and kiwi syrup.$5

(so pretty to look at, no? Yummy too. Too bad we had to stir it up so it didn't look this pretty when we were drinking it)

Corn beef hash with crispy potatoes, homemade biscuit, and 2 eggs over easy. (Don't remember how much this was. around $12?)

this comes in a heavy cast iron skillet, can easily feed 2 people with this. They also have a homemade berry with apricot jam on the table, and I couldn't stop smothering the biscuit with it. We later on took the leftover and ate it for lunch at the zoo.

The tractor combo: buttermilk flapjack the size of the moon, with bacon or sausage, and eggs. (also around 12 bucks? for $1 more, you can substitute for other flavor flapjack)

Just to show you the size of the flapjack. Joe ALMOST finished it.

Conclusion: Yes yes! worth the wait and every penny spent. Great service, awesome food, GIANT portions. Would love to try different flavors of the flapjack next time. They also had some specialty espresso drinks like "toasted marshmallow latte" and some other fancy drink combos that I forgot. Those are quite pricey at $6.00+ each.

Dinner: Sloppy Joey/Nicky Rottens.

Sloppy Joey

548 5th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101

Nicky Rottens

560 5th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101

These two places are connected in Gaslamp quarter, and you can order from either menu at either location.

Jeryl ordered the Sloppy Joe Pizza $12.95

Thought it was pretty unique so I took a picture o it. Jeryl said it's very good.

Veal cutlet sandwich with homemade marinara sauce $9.95

Conclusions: Good selections of food since you can pick from both menus. (Pizzas, burgers, pasta sandwiches...etc.) Joe got a burger from Nicky Rottens, they're all $9.95 each. As a burger aficionado, Joe approves of Nicky Rottens! Anyway, it's a great place to get a quick bite and hang out. Food is about average, if not, somewhat above average, but you can't beat the price. Both restaurants were packed! We ate at the bar because we weren't sure how long we had to wait, but the bar was very spacious and comfortable.

Bar hopping at

Mister Tiki Mai Tai Lounge

560 5th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101

Voodoo Lounger (Left) $9

skyy passion fruit vodka, peach schnapps, mango puree, pineapple, lime juices, & splash of cranberry

and Strawberry Mai Tai (Right) $9

bacardi superior & appleton special rums, strawberry nectar

Conclusion: This place was really empty compared to all the other restaurants and bars in Gaslamp. It was definitely a great place to get some drinks. The food menu looked expensive - they serve sushi rolls and fusion entrees. They advertise for their "pokes" but I actually didn't see any on their menu, kind of weird. Average price for a small sushi roll is $11+. Yummy drinks though! You can get some of the mai tais by the pitcher, and the people next to us ordered a drink for 2 - it came in a big bowl with the middle lit on fire!


Anyway, after mai tais, we then proceed to the Yard house for beer (they have an amazing selections of beer on tap), then some hookah at Fumari ($19 per hookah. We got 2.). I forgot that the legal age for smoking is 18+, but some of the kids in there looked like they are 15!!

Plenty more of food pictures for day 4-6 to come!

Okinawa food fair

helloooooo dessert!

On sale now at Mitsuwa until Sunday are these delicious and scrumptious cream puffs with pudding, aka "flan". $2.50 each and so worth it.

Also they are selling a roll cake with flan inside, made by a bakery from the famous Iron Chef Sakai. It's around $11.

Get them while they last =)