maybe one more

we did manage to squeeze in one more 2016 meal out - today off to the market to get provisions for NYEve....

last night we revisited Pomona and had another lovely evening- not a lot to say- Phil had the antelope (new prep) we shared the charcuterie and I had scallops with lobster ravioli and then we had the mousse cake for a sweet.... all tasted very good. The wines were from us- and both showed really well... and I loved the white while Phil favored the red...

so now off to get our meal to welcome the new year - can hardly believe it is 2017 but there is no denying the passage of time... and oddly enough my blog has now gone over 100,000 views... I think that in the last month or so I have been getting hits from Chinese spammers who must just send to any web address they can make up...LOL- because in the past a regular month would be 2500 hits and this month I had something over 10,000.

so for those of you who are not Chinese spam programs please stay tuned - the new year brings many plans and so the calm of the last two months will be a thing of the past - starting January 5.... there will be more to say see and do along the way this spring... my Uzbekistan trip is a GO and there is much theater, ballet, opera, concerts, symphony etc... to keep up with... happy New Year!

away for the holidays

so holiday meals can sometimes be a challenge on the road- I remember one meal we had on Christmas Day in Cincinnati at Steak N Shake...why? because it was the only place open on Christmas Day... so we were pretty thrilled that we seemed to have a decent amount of choice in Miami for this holiday.  The only thing we really missed was Phil's favorite La Cameronera... we ended up at Garcia's which has the disadvantage of not as good food but has the advantage of outdoor dining.

We got to see brother Larry's new digs on Miami Beach - having left the Grove after three decades! And we basically just hung out and relaxed one bar or another LOL-

On Friday night after our arrival we went to Pascal's on Ponce - an old favorite which is still and excellent choice for continental food!  Saturday we ended up at Garcia's for lunch more out of habit than anything and because we didn't have massive numbers of options that weren't located in hotels which had to remain open for their clientele... Then Saturday night we headed back to Toscano Divino and again had a terrific meal (way better than you would think given their location!) Sunday brought our real find in Bellmont Spanish Restaurant for lunch which lasted nearly three and a half hours! and for dinner that night we did La Mar (a Gaston Arcurio place where the menu mimics our fave  Peru in Chicago at Tanta)

On the way out of town we stopped for Cuban "burgers"- fritas with shoe string potatoes and a fried egg on top of a beef chorizo patty or two...at El Mago de las Fritas- good but not "to-die-for" but since we hadn't ever had them it was worth the small detour...

my favorite shot of the weekend

the weekend in order-

Pascal's with the wines we brought- starting with the amuse

 

then on to Saturday afternoon- Garcia's and Monty's-

Sunday afternoon and our long long long lunch!

Sunday dinner LOL sorry not much in the way of photos

then Monday rolled around and we rolled out of town after the fritas stop -

so back at winter home and planing for a quiet new year's eve- Dom, caviar, foie and some other goodies to tide us over to 2017 and I have to say I have not looked so forward to the end of a year since 2010 - the year my mother and sister died.... so on we go- live as much in the present as we can and count our blessings of which there are many more than the challenges.... may not be another post for 2016 but stay tuned the new year has much in store for us ----