Gula Gula, Ipanema, Rio de Janiero, Brasil

http://www.gulagula.com.br/

My epic day is coming to an end and I'm tired and hungry.  This day has brought 3 flights over 24 hours and upon arrival in Rio I'm headed straight into a 2 hour meeting, with only time for a quick change into my pro-duds prior.  No hotel, no shower, no nada except for fresh clothes.  Now don't get me wrong, all of this and more is well worth the discomfort to bring me to my first trip to Rio.  Beautiful Rio.

Strewn along the beach are endless stalls selling fresh coconuts.  The water inside is what the locals use to freshen up after a long day in the office, plane, or on the beach.  Machete'd by hand, refreshing and revitalizing to say the least.  

The next plan of action is food, and then bed.

Gula Gula

No idea the meaning (if there is one) I only know that the food will be great.

A standard salad is my starter.  It is fresh and light, a solid base for whats to come.

This is the special of the day.  It's a sirloin steak that was named something like "chorizo" but the explanation and translation told me that there was to be bone marrow melted on top.  My vision and sense of smell told me that it would be delicious.  

This is half a baked potato with Parmesan cheese shredded and melted on top, including a bit of melted butter beneath.  A new one for me and it was terrific. Who wouldn't like a cheesy potato? 

Now, I didn't see, and still don't, any evidence of bone marrow.  But this absolutely was one of the best steaks I've ever had.  Texture was firm but not tough, big meaty flavor (which is good because it's a steak  :-O) and hot and juicy.

The dessert was weird.  Delicious but weird. 

It was ice cream and a tart with molten dolce de leche cream inside.  The cream was the weird part. To me it tasted like beef.  Not super strong but definitely a meaty hamburger fat/grease flavor.  Not at all appealing, and kind of unsettling.  It is also very possible, dare I say likely, that I was the weird part in the equation.   Maybe I need some sleep.....Maybe I need to re-set.  It's been a long day.

From the Two-Brothers at the beach to the Christ Redeemer on the mountain, Rio is a beautiful and enticing city.  Bustling with people and culture, this is a city that is alive.  You can feel the pulse wherever you go.  I felt it griping me with it's claws as I snuck out the morrow, like a thief in the night.

I'll see you again Rio

Wait for me.

I'll be back

DVA

Cubana Cafe - Brooklyn - USA

http://www.cubanacafenyc.com/

Nestled in the Carroll Garden neighborhood of Brooklyn there exists a wonderful little gem of a restaurant providing not only authentic Cuban cuisine, but an authentic look and feel as well.  Maybe nestled is the wrong word to use in reference to Brooklyn?  Sounds a little to cuddly, but I'm going to go with it anyway.

As you can see from the above photo, this place catches your eye from either side of the street.  It has the look and feel of Cuba, as I imagine it.  And this is by no means a Cuban or Latin part of town.  This is full on white bread.  Nail salons and barbershops, corner grocery stores and sandwich shops.  The Cubana Cafe is a one of a kind gem in this neighborhood, except for the second location about a mile away...

Even though fall is in full swing and the storm outside has brought rain and temps in the 50's, as soon as you sit down you feel the beach and a sunny day just beyond your gaze.  

The decor makes you feel as though you've been transported back in time and space.  As if this restaurant had been dis and re-assembled right here for your and your pleasure.  I have no concept of whether or not the decorations are authentic or not, but I feel it, and I love it.

It's been a long day already, and it's just lunch time now, and we spy a bar, and we're on vacation,

so let's enjoy a refreshing beverage!

The waitress recommends what she claims is an authentic Cuban drink, the Mojito....

I'm not an expert on the local beverages in Cuba, nor am I at all positive on the validity of our server's claim, but this is refreshing and delicious.  Tart and light, minty and clean.  A good starter for sure.  We are mainly here for the food though.  It's after midday and we are ready to eat.  Let's do it!

Cuban chips and salsa, i.e., fried plantains and a cuban version of a sofrito and salsa.  It was OK.

It's hard to get excited about this complimentary offering when what we really want is on the way. 

Agreed, not an appetizing photo.  But what a great bowl of soup.  I love black beans.  Everything about them.  The health benefits, the versatility, the ease of cooking with them, the price (when I'm cooking them at home), and especially I love them in soup.  

Potaje Soup

Cumin, oregano, a floater of garlic toast on top.  It definitely has a very black bean forward taste.  They are not trying to hide what this is at all.  It's served very hot, so be careful.  Blended to a smooth consistency, no floating things (other than the garlic toast).  Light yet thick and hearty at the same time.  The two of us killed this in just a few ticks of the clock.

Palomilla Hanger Steak Sandwich

Pounded hanger steak marinated in garlic, lime and onion with chimichuri sauce.

Let's take a closer look...

A beautiful sandwich.  The steak was pounded and seasoned and cooked soo expertly that you can easily bite right through.  The bread was crisp on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside, soaking up any and all of the juices from the meat and chimichuri.  The sides were nice too, not flashy or over done, just there when you needed/wanted a different texture or a break from the sandwich.  

Nicely done Cubana Cafe.  Now I'm Super Duper looking forward to the next plate....

Cuban Sandwich

Roast pork, sliced ham, Swiss cheese, sliced pickle, chipotle mayonnaise

Ohhhhh ma-ma, this looks and smells amazing.

Roasted and pulled pork resting inside all of the traditional flavors of a cuban sandwich, i.e., Swiss cheese, ham, pickle, toasty bun.  Smashed flat from the panini press, warm and delicious.  I could eat many of these, and often.  If I lived near this place they'd see me every day.  Heck, I'd probably even have my name on a booth, permanently reserved just for little ol' me.

CUBANA CAFE!!!!!!!

Sofaking good

Whenever you are near, anywhere near, NYC you gotta check this place out.

After our food rested a bit we decided to have one more beverage before braving the rain and wind outside to make our way back to the hotel.  And what do we spy on the menu?  Caipirinha!  The national drink of Brazil!  

Hello again Brazil!  See you next week......

Stay tuned for the next post, coming soon!

DVA

Rip Current Brewing and Sublime North Park Take 2!- Beer and Food - San Diego - USA

Another short and sweet post for your pleasure  :-)

I'll start by saying that it's been at least a month since this visit took place, I'm kinda busy these days...  And any who, I'm glad I waited because in the meantime Rip Current has won it big at the Great American Beer Festival, see following link for details.  

Conratulations RCB!!!

http://sandiego.eater.com/2015/9/28/9408663/rip-current-san-diego-breweries-great-american-beer-festival

Yes, this is still where our favorite local beer is made.  I can't say that it's our favorite brewery to hang out in though, mainly because the logo and schwag are not super awesome, at least to my keen eye.

The main priority with this visit is to try more of Sublime's food.  If you'll recall from the first go-around, it tasted great but it looked awful.

HG has ordered the Southwest Burger.

I think she ordered this without really knowing the flavors of the southwest (at least Sublime's interpretation of the flavors of the Southwest), and I don't know them either for that matter, at least not in burger form.  The patty was good, nice flavor but maybe a little too underdone for my liking but not bad.  Bun = soft, but not too soft. It was certainly up to the task of supporting all of the stuff inside.  The problem was the stuff inside, aka the southwest flavors, which are kind of stupid to complain about if that's what you ordered, which we did. 

Apparently I don't like southwest flavors  :-O and I can't even describe them well, so I won't.

If you do, please have this burger.  The next visit I'll HAVE TO TRY a normal burger, because I think it'll be killer, or at least it won't suck.  here's big potential here for a decent burger.

This one was all on us, a bad choice for our taste.

How were the fries?

AWESOME

In the photo they look burnt and small and crispy, but to me they were delicious.  Not greasy or over fried at all, nicely lightly seasoned.

Sublime Mac and Cheese

Roasted chicken, mushrooms, applewood smoked bacon, truffle oil 

Baked so that the top has a beautifully crispy crunchy crust on top.  The smell of the truffle oil hits you about a minute before you even see the waitress bringing it by.  Cheesy and stringy, the pasta was cooked perfectly, the chicken and bacon are also a nice behind the scenes team.  

I'd order this again in a sec.  Heck, I may order this EVERY time I come here.

We like you Sublime, and we like that you're inside the place that makes our favorite beer.

Award winning brewery

Taste bud winning food

Walking distance for EVERY ONE

Check 'em out

DVA

The Red Door - Mission Hills - USA

http://www.thereddoorsd.com/#the-red-door

If the statement to the right of the above photo doesn't give you a sufficient enough hook to try this place, then launch to the inter-web and look for something else that's more to your liking, cause this is just too awesome for you.

A farm to table restaurant that evolved to a FARM that provides food to it's TABLEs.

I love that so much.  I tried to delve a bit deeper into their webpage to find where the farm was, but alas I was unsuccessful.  In some ways I think this is probably intentional on the part of The Red Door because they obviously wouldn't want a bunch of obsessed people, like myself, just showing up at their farm and saying hi, looking around and telling them how cool they are, while really just disrupting the work that they're trying to do.

Back to dinner.

We are a foursome tonight and as such we enjoy a meal and drinks from time to time when our travels have briefly ceased, allowing us to commune and share our goings-on over the past weeks and/or months, since the time of our last respite. 

As we're pretty darn hungry from the get-go, our cohorts, we'll call them K-Dub and EASE to keep the privacy to a maximum, especially after that Ashley-Madison fiasco...anyway, we all select some nibbles to begin with.

The ubiquitous Shishito Peppers

A more than standard fare at most restaurants these days.  All the cooking that these little buggers really require is to just keep it simple.  Just don't F it up.  The Red Door nails it pretty well.  I was concerned when I saw the plate and the lake (lake not lack) of sauce below, but all was well.  The sauce was light and was there for you to enjoy or not, the peppers weren't drowned.  It's also quite possible that they weren't cooked at all, which for me worked, and HG agreed, but I think K-Dub was looking for more, searching, trying to understand exactly what the heck was going on.....  

Sweetbreads

These were yummmm.  Sweetbreads are the thymus gland of a cow.  Normally they are poached and then fried and then sauced, and these (I think) followed that exactly.   A light batter, some small greens, and then an asian sauce things below (the menu states Fig Gastrique, but whatever).  My only complaint was that I wish there were more.  These were soft but still had a firmness that relented when bitten.  They also seems to have been cleaned perfectly, no stringy uglies running through the meat or outer skin stuff.  Just pure gentle loveliness.  Meaty and delicious.

Vegan Nachos

K-Dub's mortal enemy is gluten.  This includes breading, chips, cakes, obviously anything made with flour or yeast or blah, blah, blah.  Basically it = boring, but we work with it cause she's pretty darn awesome and we dig hanging out with her.

So, hence the vegan nachos that would never be on our table otherwise, guaranteed.  But before we can enjoy them (this photo is of the replacement nachos) HG is so drunk that she knocks her wine over, into the nachos, and then into K-Dub's lap (none of that is actully true.  I handed HG the hot plate of peppers and she had to set it down fast, and then everything tumbled.  Toats my fault).   The nachos were meh.  You can see what's on them, no need for further explanation.  Not bad, I'm just not inspired to further eloquence.

Yes, please, more wine.  It's so fricken hot outside that we need to re-hydrate!

And then someone EASEd in and grabbed the big one, no fear, just takes it....

I'm sure it's not his first  :-O

OK, dinner photos.  At this point the sun has set and we are working with man-made luminescence, so there is a golden hue to all that you'll see hence forth.

This is the "special of the night" Short Ribs (I think)

Honestly, truly, I can't remember, and this was my meal  :-O--------  I remember it being good and all the flavors going well together, but it might have been chicken for all I can recall.  Sorry....

Fresh Catch

This was tuna and as we EASEd into this it was room temp, and that seemed kind of weird to all of us.  It also could have been intended to be that way, but we don't know because we didn't ask.  We were on our second bottle and we just wanted to eat.  It's cool.  Sometimes you just want to roll with it, and we did.  Overall I don't think it was bad (EASE?) but not great.

I am always cautious when the waiter recommends the most expensive thing on the menu.  And I often will ask just to see what they say, even when I've already made my selection.

Cook's Ranch Pork Tomahawk

This was the most expensive thing on the menu. It was also the most delicious thing we ate at The Red Door.  Cooked perfectly, seasoned well, glazed with a very light sauce that complimented the meat well, letting the meatiness shine through and be the star while contributing a subtle gentle lingering flavor in your mouth.  The meat was soft and easy to eat.  Delicious.  The Mac and Cheese was also a terrific accompaniment to this dish.  It could have held up on it's own if this was a brewery or bar, etc...

One perfectly composed dish.  Bravo.

And then we blinked and it was over.

There was a last photo of desert, some sort of peanut butter tort thing but by the time I thought of taking a photo it looked like a pack of wild dogs had attacked it and dragged it through the bushes to finish the kill.  Not a very appetizing photo, so we'll skip that. 

Evaluation?  I like The Red Door, I always have.  I also like The Wellington, right next door for a drink before dinner here, or anywhere nearby (The Wellington and The Red Door share the same ownership group.  They even share the same kitchen) .  

The Red Door

It's a great neighborhood spot to slowdown your life and linger over a meal and/or a your beverage of choice while talking with family, friends, even random strangers.  Try it, it can be a good thing.

Linger

Let's do more of that

DVA

Burnside - Normal Heights - USA

http://www.burnsidesd.com

Located on the ever expanding/evolving/diversifying, food-drink-entertainment street (Adam's Avenue) in the heart of Normal Heights is a fresh new eatery, with an older brother two doors to the east, that you should be checking out soon, very soon.

Burnside is sandwiched between The Ould Sod and The Rabbit Hole just east of Felton street on Adam's Ave.  It's a smallish place offering a menu focused on sandwiches and small bites. 

A second amazing creation from the same dudes (or dudettes, I'm not at all sure) that brought you Sycamore Den, just two doors to the east.  All offerings from Burnside are available via delivery (by them) to you at Sycamore Den.  Yeah, super cool.  What is Sycamore Den?  A bitchen drink spot that you ALSO need to try.  Leather, wood, possibly a Jack-a-lop mounted on the wall, maybe, maybe not...  who cares, it's not important.  What IS important is having great food, near by, at a reasonable price, in NOT an over cool setting, not pretentious over overdone (did I say Craft and Commerce?).  Both of these places have these things but they do them in the appropriate amount, with just enough kitsch, but not too much.

Have I beaten this one to death?  I agree, let's roll!

BEER!  They have a few on tap.  It's hard to find bad beer in SD these days so I'm sure they'll have something you'll like.  If something stronger meets your fancy then roll to Sycamore Den.  Easy.

You'll find no mandatory suspenders or curled mustaches here

just the occasional posing cock

The main purpose for this visit is food, and we hit it hard.

Everything we ordered was good, however our favorite is presented last, if you care.

Kimchi Ribeye Buns

The buns were soft, the meat was flavorful and sliced thin enough to keep it from becoming stringy.  I also liked the presentation.  They were easy to handle and get to your mouth.  The kimchi was fresh and light, very very new kimchi, it could have even been made that day, tossed to order, that's how light it was.  If you either don't like kimchi or just a touch or if you've never tried it then I completely recommend this.  A great introduction to the veg.  If you are a seasoned kimchi vet then you will be disappointed, just move on.

This was a decent start to our lunch.

Juicy and delicious.  Crisp and fresh.

Banh Miho

Hoisin Pork, cucumber, carrot, cilantro, jalepeńo, soft nice bread.  A good balance of flavor and a decent banh mi.  They named this the Banh Miho because the sandwich is offered with a dipping sauce best known as the pho broth from the Miho truck (a hugely famous SD food truck).

Again, I liked this but the carrots were either not pickled much or at all.  A significant flavor within a traditional banh mi is the pickled carrot/radish, and this just didn't have that.  I also recall that my only experience with the Miho truck was their banh mi and it ALSO didn't contain pickled carrots, so they may have given some pointers to Burnside.  Man, I hope not cause it kills this sandwich.  A banh mi without the pickled flavor just seems a little empty to me.  Like a california burrito, but made in a bowl instead of burrito style.  It just wouldn't be the same experience, taste, anything,  It would probably be good, but not amazing.  This was good, but not amazing.

Tots

I'm not a huge tot-freak, just a freak.  But I digress.

These tots killed it!  Crispy and flavorful, just the right seasoning, and just salt, and maybe a little more "something", but not chili powder or anything too different.  I don't want chili powder on my tots, fries, or anything except in my chili, or bbq, etc... You get where I'm going, I hope.

These killed it and they look it.  Enjoy.

 Porchetta Cubano

This was the overwhelming star of the meal.  If you missed it let's start again.  This is a cubano sandwich, made with porchetta.  House made porchetta.  There are obviously as many variations on porchetta as there are with everything in life.  A common variation is to gut and bone and roll a pig around various off-cuts of pig and fat and pig, baked in an oven for many hours eventually crisping up the outer fatty layer, leaving the inside porky and juicy and incredible. Slices are cut from the log providing a cross section of all types of meat together, along with crispy crunches. A version that I think Burnside uses is pork belly wrapped around a loin of some sort and baked, etc...

Burnside chops the pork and adds mustard, cheese, a sliced pickle, all "sandwiched" in-between soft bread and panini'd till crisp.  Cuban.  Magnifico.

Also served along side was a sauce that I forget the name of.  I forget it because it simply wasn't needed.  This sandwich had so much flavor that nothing else is necessary.

I really have no more words.  These photos are/should be enough.

The only criticism I can offer is that I want MORE COWBELL!  Wait, no, I want more pickling on the kimchi and carrots.  Dear Burnside, please just bite the bullet and make a few extra days of both and let it sit, give it time, let it develop, please.  If you don't believe me just try it, a personal sample size.  You'll be blown away, I guarantee it.

Come on in and check this place out, you won't be disappointed.  

Better yet, let's meet for a drink at Sycamore Den and share a bite. 

Sound good?

See you there, soon I hope.

DVA