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La Golandrina (Cabo San Lucas, Mexico) Observations and Review

31-Mar-08

Our first nice meal was spent at La Golandrina, a pleasant outdoor grill in the Cabo San Lucas area. The weather had been pretty chilly through the day with steady winds and little to no humidity - both weather factors which should be accounted for this time of year. Like most beach destinations, it’s really easy to believe the weather’s going to always be hot but that’s definitely no guarantee for early spring in BCS.

Having made “Trapper’s List” - not sure if that’s Trapper John, MD or some other lesser known Trapper - the strong review and our understanding of the surroundings led us to believe this was going to be a great experience, and it was.

When we arrived, we saw reasonably prevalent entourage of Californians staring at us on our way in (I think Virginians look weird to Californians and vice versa, though we tend to look down more rather than stare). We lack tans, enemas, facial peels, skin (and other body) surgeries but we’re pretty easy to get along with if that can be overlooked in favor of a reasonably cerebral bent.

Once we were properly put away (er, sat down), we were shown the local rules: head down to the giant menu board, and choose from what would seem to be an endless range of options for meat. You’ll see the usual quality meat choices - alone or in tandem - scattered throughout the board, and a few possibilities that we definitely think shouldn’t be overlooked despite their inconspicuous placement.

There are plenty of options up and down the bill, running anywhere from $25-30 for single items to $45-50 for combinations, but that’s not to say that no great combinations can be found in the $30-35 range. My dinner choice was the Seared Ahi Tuna and Shrimp combination, and both were fresh and cooked as expected.

Again, there’s really not much complexity here: you look at the board and return to your table, you order your food, and - if the food quality is good and it’s cooked right - you’ve hit the jackpot in much the same way you would at any grill. With respect to food quality, on a 1 to 10 scale I’d give my Ahi Tuna a strong 8 or 9, the shrimp an 8, and the lobster tail I stole from a neighboring plate a solid 8 (you need to favor warm weather lobster over the cold weather creatures to truly enjoy it, though).

Now for what you need to know… the can’t miss menu item is the caesar salad, prepared fresh at the table. This was without a doubt the best caesar salad I have ever had, prepared with incredibly moist, fresh romaine lettuce and paired with a dressing created right in front of you with the focus and capable results of a fine chemist. I truly have now idea what went into the end concoction - it’s consumed consistency seemed much thinner than a typical caesar despite what looked like a mayonnaise-like substance going into the mix with an egg or two early in the process. This was one of those items on my ’still can taste it’ list, and I’m inclined to see how to import it to the states for several attempts in the home kitchen.

Now that I’ve raved about the first item last, let’s get to what matters… the summary.

Location:

You’ll like it if: you enjoy freshly grilled food in a festive, yet refined outdoor patio environment and aren’t bothered by an occasional West Coast sniff (yes, we know we look pale, misshapen, unblonde, and all that)

You might not like it if: you’re expecting some strong Mexican or Latin-fusion experiment from each of your BCS dining experiences

If you could only order one thing, it would be: the caesar salad

Overall rating: 3.5 to 4 out of 5 stars

Is it on my list of “must eats” in the area? Definitely

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Cabo - The Day Before

16-Mar-08

So I spent most of the day at one point or another trying to get our seats locked up for the flights. You’d think this would have been done before now - I purchased the tickets about eight months ago, so things ought to be pretty locked up at this point. No. Our friends at Orbitz, who will readily pass the blame to the fact that they are working with the airlines to ensure seats are committed, seemed to have the ability to procure seat reservations on an ad hoc, purely random basis. For example, I had reserved three seats in the 12th row of the American 737 we’re flying on, and Willy and Syd’s spots were left intact, mine for some odd reason moved about three rows forward. Can you imagine being the person who gets stuck next to a wife and her child, all by yourself, while that woman’s husband is stuck in another row after reserving your seat? Doesn’t sound like a position in which I’d want to be if I were looking at this from the angle of a business traveler rather than a husband and father. If this in fact isn’t an Orbitz issue, the airlines need to get it together. If it is Orbitz, they’re just plain stupid for making their customers feel that reserving their seats is any different than running around pretending they’re the next British monarch.

Having been promised - in an online way, albeit - that the seats were once again reserved, only to find they weren’t, I wound up calling Orbitz while we were traveling to dinner. After the usual but still annoying 10 minute wait to get a customer service rep on the phone that most likely uses the exact same web interface customers use to assist, a surprisingly American (and southern sounding) woman took my call. After explaining the situation, she attempted unsuccessfully to lock in any seat changes, the said, “Hold on. I am going to try something else.”

Once she returned to the phone to inform me it didn’t work, I asked her to recall my itinerary to tell me what we had. What came next was shock and horror: not just on the other end of the line but on mine as well. “Did you just cancel your flights, sir?” I responded, “How could I? I am in the car, on the phone with you.”

A healthy pause followed, and several passive-aggresive urges hit me all at once. “I have no idea what happened, but someone has canceled your reservations. I am going to need to forward you to a supervisor.” Knowing there were no more than two or three remaining seats on all our flights to begin, and feeling pretty confident that the customer service agent and flight cancelation specialist were one in the same, I reluctantly held the line.

Quick theory: if you’re in this business and occasionally commit such a strong party foul, wouldn’t it be a good idea to make sure there are “holy crap” supervisors just waiting by the red phone to take the call? Here we are, hours from our flight, and I am flopping over mountains with a mobile phone that has a 50/50 shot at even surviving the call. Wait time to talk to the supervisor with zero flights: 10 minutes.

Claudia (Employee ID MAU - by the way, how do you get a three letter code for an employee ID? Can you imagine Bob Segar singing the song “Feel Like A Bunch of Letters”?) was our supervisor agent, and in the customary practice of companies everywhere, apologized for the situation without taking any responsible on behalf of Orbitz for the relative terror thrown our way. Reminds me of Eliot Spitzer resigning… sorry you’ve been let down, now I am going to resign and return to private life for doing nothing that I plan to discuss outside my apartment.

After Claudia told us she was going to handle the situation with literally no specifics, I asked for her name and ID one last time, thinking I could trust that there was an understanding between us regarding the severity of having no tickets the night before a major vacation. As far as her commitment goes, I am convinced there was, but I’m not so sure there’s an understanding regarding the time expectation for representatives in this situation. When someone has lost seats for a flight that begins in 12 hours, they’re thinking 20 minutes is a rough estimate for their remaining non-communicated sanity.

When 40 minutes went by, I called Orbitz back thinking I’d be able transfer right to agent MAU. No such luck, and no way to do that. Wow. Now I’m really blown away. Supervisors handle escalated issues and represent the embodiment of the solution for customers with challenges, and this huge operation doesn’t even get that. This expectation is not excessive: this is how we did it in every customer service environment I’ve been around, whether based on in-person, phone, email, or IM contact.

I did get another supervisor - one that was connected to me via a highly latent tin can / string communications system that sounded like it terminated somewhere in Malaysia. It always makes me chuckle when comms systems are so bad that the callers find themselves waiting 5 seconds to hear the other participant respond. After some on and off chatting with this supervisor, she determined that Claudia was still working the issue and would call me within an hour. I’m sure she was able to figure that out because the sum total of supervisory manpower at Orbitz amounted to three frustrated women sharing a desk and two rotary phones in a cabbage patch somewhere (not intended to offend, rather to point out the ridiculous nature of phonebound customer service here now - of course our sagging dollar will at least give these goofballs a chance to ring their call centers back to America, particularly to Detroit based on newly available workforce).

We finally returned home and I got the call. Though I could barely hear her, Claudia seemed to essentially say that everything Orbitz had lost and I had spent the last three hours attempting to retrieve had in fact been re-reserved. Good thing: when I tried to check alternatives on Kayak, I found one flight out a day and a half later with a 12 hour layover through the night at LAX - grouch material for sure.

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Air travel must-haves

16-Mar-08

Seems like a good time to rehash some things everyone probably already knows (or should know, or should rehash along with me). Here’s a quick list of airplane must haves:

- easy access to items desired on the flight (if your bag doesn’t do the trick, get another freaking bag and save yourself, your family, and everyone around you the pain)

- food and beverage, or at least food you’re going to want to eat… unless those snack mixes really light you up

- two pens - you’re going to thank me on this one, because someday when you take an international flight you’ll be begging one from a neighbor after the one you have stops working (or you’ll just want your flying partner to help expedite all the forms writing

- things that keep any kid in your possession extraordinarily quiet, not so much for you because you’re used to your kids screaming (if it takes professionally administered meds or a hot toddy, please do whatever you can get away with)

- your itinerary if you aren’t going nonstop, and your next transportation or action plans if you are (nothing sucks more than landing and wanting to move things along with no interruptions or confusion, and a bonus would include previous trips to websites which help you know what to expect - things like sitting at Heathrow for 4 hours waiting to get through security instead of enjoying London)

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One flight, one landing, two takeoffs

15-Mar-08

We got out early and right on time. In case you’re unfamiliar with how ‘on time’ works in our family, it roughly calculates to thirty minutes after we say we’re going to leave. I’m generally ready and cocky about it, Syd’s generally ready and easy going about it, and Willy’s generally late and smug.

Thankfully, in this case we were way ahead of the game. Willy likes to get to the airport 12 hours before CONUS itineraries and 24 hours for all others. Just kidding - I guess it only seems that way. Personally I like a good adrenaline pump, so I figure out a time that will get me there 100% of the time under ideal circumstances and 85% of the time otherwise, so if something goes wrong I can still feel my pulse working nicely without the workout I am always too lazy to knock out the day of a flight.

Great thing lately at Dulles has been the ease by which a normal, everyday bloke and his family can make it through security. Since we were flying Dulles’s ‘bastard stepchild’, American Airlines, we had a feeling ticketing would be fairly quick and it was. With both of these behind us within 20 minutes and a 5 minute ride on our favorite 1960s Jetsons artifact, the “mobile lounge” (which most would call the giant, tall bus with a tail wing), we dropped in to one of the many HMS-run dogfooderies: Moe’s. (Honestly, it was kinda uncool for me to say that because the food was surprisingly good.)

Jaime was very nice and gave us what we needed but didn’t crowd us, and the food - a ham and cheddar omelet for me and a breakfast combo for the Willy/Syd biumverate - was hot and fresh when it arrived. I finished quickly and went to grab some cash, then headed to the gate.

Still way ahead of the agent, we sat around and chatted in anticipation of what whacky seating arrangement might be thrown our way. To American’s great credit, they seemed to pick up on the fact that we had a 12 year old in our group and just might want to be sat together. When I arrived at the counter with my seatless tickets, three tickets with seats in the bulkhead awaited and were already sitting on the surface next to the agent. Quick exchange, first ones on the plane (always awesome), and stowing our goods, the FA intercommed to let us know the flight would be full and we shouldn’t get to frisky with neighboring seats or too slow in our commitment to getting our butts belted in seats.

This began to seem odd to us, because no one else was getting on. First inclination was to believe something was going on in the airport, and that perhaps someone had committed a security breach and no one was allowed on to any plane that had not already been dispatched. With a three hour layover we weren’t too concerned, only fascinated. The pilot, who made his way into the breezeway with a few highly kind acknowledgments to the waiting crowd, was now on the mic to entertain the troops and shared the news. Apparently, some “recalcitrant goofball” had breached security as suspected, but shortly we’d start to see the remaining passengers working their way down the aisles.

Finally, everyone was belted, the obligatory notices were shared, and we were first in line for takeoff. Screaming down the runway, all of a very abrupt sudden… “RRRRRRRRRRRRRT.” Brakes screaming and engines shut down, we very suddenly stopped close the end of the runway. The immediate reaction of the passengers was panic, but my thoughts were that whatever might have happened was essentially averted, so while the fearful cries were working their way out of others’ mouths, I could only chuckle a bit. To me it felt like that ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom that climbs the snowy mountain and then suddenly stops and reverses course. Of course that ride killed one more person than this flight, so no worries (of course we’re in mid-flight as I write this).

After a rapid episode of telephone from routed from passenger to passenger, the pilot took the intercom once again. “Ladies and gentlemen, it seems we had a large contingent of birds on the runway and rather than have one or more of them knock out an engine requiring us to return to Dulles we’ve decided to give this another shot. They were the first ones here, but we’re bigger so we plan to turn back momentarily for takeoff. Once the airport trucks took a swipe at the runway to ward off the northbound aviary air force, a plane departed just before us to assure the runway composition would consist solely of intended elements.

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Heading to Cabo on Alaska Airlines

15-Mar-08

When we landed - uneventfully - at LAX I turned to phone on the find that the one hour extra it took to get in would be easily offset by the 45 minute delay going out which appeared in my inbox via Orbitz alerts. At least there’s one thing I really like about having booked on Orbitz!

I wanted to get my barf bag autographed by the pilot as we deplaned - after all, it was empty despite our rapid deceleration from 250 to 0 MPH and he did a heck of a job scaring the crap out of the birds while keeping us from one or more fether-filled, dead engines. It wasn’t going to happen, however, because he and the co-pilot were busy filing reports.

We knew we had plenty of time after getting off, and we also learned we’d be moving from terminal 4 to terminal 3 to reach Alaska’s hub. The lack of signage detailing how to accomplish this task was what surprised us. Anyone changing terminals at LAX needs to know it isn’t necessarily going to be trivial. For us it meant finding a shuttle to the American Eagle departure building and walking to another bus from there that would reach terminal 3. If someone had an hour to transfer and found themselves a little behind schedule chances are good that a terminal transfer would do them in.

Once we made it to terminal 3 we did pick up on some LAX themes:

1. The terminals we were in desperately need an opportunity to make it out of the 1960s

2. Inter-terminal transportation that many folks take for granted at their home airport is in dogged supply

3. Anything you might get at a typical airport in the way of food and drink will likely cost you up to twice as much, and the choices probably won’t be very enticing either

How does LAX get by with what seems to be a second tier facility, despite the heavy movement of international traffic through the airport? Despite having the means to (reasonably) easily get from terminal to terminal at Dulles via mobile lounges which would make early Austin Powers jealous, DC travelers have been all over the WMATA for years about adding an underground train system - which, incidentally will be completed soon.  And international transfers are very simple, with final destination passengers even being split from the continuing ones, assuring they won’t get shuffled out to the curb as we did at LAX before starting all over again.

Once we grabbed an icky $35 meal from California Pizza Kitchen’s “ASAP” (wait - does that stand for “as sucky as possible”?!?) we headed back to the bus, er plane, terminal to settle in until an agent appeared at our gate. I gave the ground personnel my now familiar story regarding all three of us being scattered to the four winds of the airplane seating chart, and despite a packed house received another round of changes which allowed Willy, Syd, and I to sit together.

Takeoff was a good hour behind schedule due to a late plane and a ground delay on the Cabos side, but the much-friendlier-than-American’s-norm staff made a fairly no frills, modern cabin fairly comfortable (honestly, how comfortable can you get in a sealed metal tube?).

These international flights are always kinda funny, in that you see waves of activity through the cabin which are always unique. It’s amusing to me watching hundreds of people navigating bags underseat and overhead, hunting for the passport and pen they knew doggone well they were going to need for the last six months or more. Add to that rolling beverage carts and the occasional duty free and snack box sale, then through in the reasonably frequent 2+ culture mesh already in the mix and you have one of the better prescriptions for ad hoc team dork dancing.

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Blue Duck Tavern

21-Oct-07

1201 24th St. NW (in the Park Hyatt), Washington, DC 20002
202.419.6755
www.blueducktavern.com

We ate at Blue Duck Tavern in DC last night with our friends Kirstin and James. They came to visit after a trip to New York, before heading home to England. If you get the chance to eat here…GO!!! Seriously, make your reservation now. This is one of the best meals we’ve ever had in town. It is connected to the Park Hyatt Washington, and you might almost go right by it if you aren’t paying attention. The atmosphere is dark, cool and not pretentious at all. We were wearing jeans, but you would feel just as comfortable, maybe more so, wearing something a bit more upline than that. We were there on a Sunday evening, Fridays and Saturdays may be a bit more dressy.

The waiter brought a plate of Concord Grapes to try, and I almost forgot about the bread these were so good. And I don’t even normally like grapes. I started out with the Pumpkin Bisque soup, which had a tiny square of gingerbread covered with ham in the center of the bowl. It was creamy and not too sweet. I devoured the whole bowl. We had ordered a bottle of Byron Pinot Noir, and I’m not sure if this went well with everyone’s meal or not but I didn’t care. Pinot Noir is my favorite wine, and this was a very good bottle. SQ ordered the Crab Fritters as his starter and I swiped a bite. They were crispy on the outside and incredibly creamy on the inside, very fresh tasting.

I ordered the Maine Scallops for my main dish and they were perfect, nicely browned on both sides. The side dishes here come family style, so we went a little crazy and ordered Chanterelle mushrooms, Sweet Potato Grits, Mashed Potatoes, and Sweet Potatoes done like wedge fries. I don’t care for Sweet Potatoes, so I can’t comment on those but everyone else seemed to like them. The Mashed Potatoes were really smooth, not lumpy at all, and the Chanterelles were cooked nicely and not mushy. We were onto our second bottle of the Pinot, so I was getting quite full…but there’s always a little room for dessert.

SQ wanted the chocolate cake with flaming bourbon, so I shared some of that with him. James ordered Chocolate Smores Ice Cream. This had all the actual smores ingredients in it, very yummy.

The whole concept of this restaurant is freshness, quality and working with a lot of farms. They source through several in Pennsylvania. The menu changes seasonally, and they even post on the menu where your food is coming from. The options should also make anyone happy. If you can’t find something on the menu you like, you don’t like food.

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Not Your Average Joe’s

12-Oct-07

19307 Promenade Drive (Lansdowne Town Center), Leesburg, VA 20176571.333.5637www.notyouraveragejoes.comThis is my second visit to NYAJ in Lansdowne, I went with a friend for lunch today. Again, the foccacia and dipping oil was superb, but that’s as far as that went. I ordered the Spinach and Pear salad, and asked for them to add chicken to it, an option with all of their salads for an additional fee. When our lunch finally came the salad had no chicken on top and was absolutely swimming in the Maple Vinaigrette dressing, which tasted more like straight maple syrup. The pears were hard and crunchy and the spinach was at the end of its shelf life. Another 1/2 star out of 4 for this experience as well. I don’t think I want to go back anymore.

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Pearmund Cellars

05-Oct-07

6190 Georgetown Road, Broad Run, VA 20137
540.347.3475
www.pearmundcellars.com

I had heard a lot of good things about this winery, but why we waited so long to try them out is still a mystery. SQ and I were trying to decide what to do on this Friday, Syd was at school, and we wanted to get out for a new adventure. I suggested driving here, then heading over to their sister winery, The Winery at La Grange. After a forgettable burger at the Five Guys in Warrenton (I apologize to those of you who worship this now mega-chain), we drove out to Pearmund. The gravel driveway taking you back to the tasting room snakes through what seems like endless rows of grape vines. We were shocked that there were others already there, it was only noon. I took this as a good sign that the wine would probably have some merit. Pearmund offers a couple of tasting options - you can run the course of their ‘Classic’ wines for $5 per person, or you can do the Reserve tasting for $8 per person. We opted for the Classic, but as we stood there talking to Mark, who was doing the pouring, he ended up giving us some of the Reserve wines to taste. Smart guy…we ended up buying several bottles from that list.

Pearmund was voted Virginia’s Favorite Winery this year, and I think with good reason. They have a good selection and the wines are very balanced. They are also producing some really creative wine, most notably the Ameritage, which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Mark was very knowledgeable with the wines and wasn’t afraid to offer opinions and suggestions for food pairings. I would comfortably say that Pearmund is in our Top 5 Virginia Wines.

So, what did we buy? The 2005 Ameritage Reserve was my absolute favorite, consensus of 3 1/2 stars with SQ so we bought two bottles. We also purchased the 2005 Petit Verdot (also on the Reserve list), the 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, 2005 Estate Chardonnay (my other favorite, 3 1/2 stars!), and the 2004 Cabernet Franc. Pearmund also does winery tours, but we opted out for today. If a picnic at a winery is your thing, bring it with you…they have tables under a covered patio, or you can spread out your yummies in the grass. You can crack open the bottle you just purchased, or buy wine by the glass while you’re there.

If you can get out to the Warrenton area, try to stop by…they are open daily, and the visit will really be worth it.

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Clyde’s Willow Creek Farm

03-Oct-07

42920 Broadlands Boulevard, Broadlands, VA 20148571.209.1200www.clydes.comI met up with a friend, Amy, at the newest of the Clyde’s chain in Ashburn this evening. The weather was gorgeous so we decided to sit outside on their expansive patio. The restaurant itself is absolutely huge, constructed of something like three different very old buildings meshed together. The result is beautiful, and very very Virginia.This wasn’t my first trip to this particular Clyde’s, and the first few experiences were just OK from the standpoint of food quality, even to the point of being highly inconsistent. This time, I am happy to say, was completely different. I ordered the ribs, and they were honestly some of the best ribs I’ve ever had. I like them when they are so tender the meat literally just falls off the bone with little assistance, and the sauce is a bit tangy and a bit sweet. I think most places call that “Texas style” barbeque. These were exactly the way I like them. And they came with a side of baked beans in a cute little pot, with chunks of bacon mixed in - delicious! I was drinking a glass of Estancia Red Zinfandel, it seemed to pair well with the ribs.Overall, I would give this visit to this Clyde’s a rating of 2 1/2 stars (out of 4). The service was attentive but not annoying, and the atmosphere was certainly wonderful.

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Blue Ridge Grill

29-Aug-07

955 Edwards Ferry Rd, Leesburg, VA 20176
703.669.5505
www.brgrill.com

I have mixed feelings about Blue Ridge Grill. I don’t like the location, and it’s rather awkward to get to it. The atmosphere is bland and suburban, and people flock to it as if there is no other option in Leesburg. There are other options, there just don’t happen to be a lot of good ones. However, the food here is fairly consistent and good quality. What they are trying to do is certainly a good cut above the TGI Friday’s just down the street.

On this visit I opted for the Luau Steak, which is a nicely marbled ribeye marinated, grilled, and topped with a pineapple-teriyaki glaze. The steak quality was good, and it was cooked rare exactly as I asked for it. This is sometimes very hard to get, grill cooks more often than not want to overcook red meat, regardless of how you order it. The baked potato was fluffy on the inside just like it should be. The food here is not overly creative, but it is fresh and not overpriced. It’s a good casual place to go with your family as it’s very kid-friendly, and much better than most of the options in the area.

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