sistinas

But an exceedingly bland appetizer followed by an equally bland entree was not worth the $40 I shelled out. I was really surprised that the vegetables I got were actually old and stringy in both dishes – for any higher end restaurant that’s already pretty bad, but for a veg place that’s just appalling.

On the other hand, my dining companions were mostly happy with their food, though some of them were equally leery of the price tag for their meals. Maybe I just had some bad picks, but I don’t think I’ll be going back anytime soon.

We stopped here on our way up to Portland from the California coast. I wasn’t expecting much, but it was a pleasant town with views of the mountains, rivers, lots of bike lanes (!), and friendly locals who gave us great recommendations on what to eat. The Wild River Brewery has surprisingly good food and beer for being in such a small town – check it out.

Great selection of beers, but they seemed to be out of a lot of things on the menu when I was there. The food is reasonably tasty as well for being typical bar food. Try the sage beer!

There’s good drinking and all right eating at the North Coast Brewery, which is right along Main Street and impossible to miss. We stayed at an awesome little llama farm (which also offers llama treks and has pygmy goats) a bit out of town, which I would definitely recommend if you are going to be in the area.

... which is a welcome rarity in Vegas for me. Definitely worth staying at to get away from the bustle for a bit.

Beautiful cathedral – I’d say I almost liked it better than the nearby York Minster, and it was lacking a lot of the super touristy crowds as well.

The cathedral shopkeeper was having an amazing conversation with another Brit about how half the American tourists came in wanting to see Harry Potter. He wanted to bludgeon them all.

For a year, working at a bike store in Palo Alto. Even, with the highest median home prices in country, I managed to live in a nice house (ridiculously overvalued at $1.6 million) for $650/mo. It always smelled nice outside, and getting out for a bike ride in the hills every day was pretty amazing. Sure, the town itself is pretty vapid but it’s definitely a pleasant place to live.

right now than a plate of oysters and a bloody mary from Zuni. The other food is fantastic too.

Though it’s a nice (and pretty much the only) place to kayak or do anything water-related in the immediate area. The jogging paths along either “shore” provide a good vantage point for all the “waterfront” loft/office development projects.

I ate lunch at the cafe about a month before moving out of the Bay Area and I have serious regrets about not trying it sooner. Friendly service, comfortable atmosphere, and amazing food. The lunch menu seems a bit cheaper than the dinner menu – I scraped out of there paying about $30 for an appetizer, an entree, and half a dessert.