Waking up the morning after a wedding is always difficult, especially when you had a pants splitting, both literally and figuratively, good time the night before. The wedding was held at the Calamigos ranch, which was one of the most beautiful wedding venues I have ever seen. I had the fish for dinner which was a California Halibut and it was hands down the best wedding dinner I ever had, the texture and tempature were perfect. Congrats to my friends Erica and Tim and I wish you many happy years together. When I finally was able to shake the cobwebs from my head, I realized I still had two full days left in Los Angeles and all I had left in my tank were fumes. Luckily for me though, as my brother said, my fumes are like a full tank for some others. My brothers, friends and I headed over to the Farmshop in Santa Monica for brunch. The restaurant had a very rustic feel meets Rich Kids Of Beverly Hills style to it and …

I woke up from my nap in my new room at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, a supposedly haunted hotel where the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable have lived right along the walk of fame and across the street from the Chinese Theater. I was rejuvenated and I wanted to see my buddy who was now living LA. I went out to JR’s place in Santa Monica planning on staying there for a little and then coming home and making it an early night. We hung out with his dogs ate some pizza, watched the Clippers blow a huge lead and listened to a torrential down pour, which was weird since they were in a monumental drought when I got there. It was great catching up and after the game it was time for me to head back to the hotel.    I returned back to The Hollywood Roosevelt and it was pretty dead, I figured I would sit down at the hotel bar, which was a dark lonely place and have a few …

LA, LA, LA what can I say, I came out to visit and fell for you like a one week crush. It was like I was the alcoholic and you were the fridge full of a variety of booze that I had to finish in six days, every morning I woke up, full, tired and hungover and decided the best idea was to follow the same pattern as the day before. Open the fridge grab the next bottle and continue on my journey down the yellow brick road.    1200 hours EST Wednesday May 13 This was my 33 rd birthday and I was supposed to be working, but due to some unfortunate circumstances I was unable to get to work so I got to the airport 8 hours early and hoped to get the 1:40 pm standby plane to LA. Luckily after some maneuvering and cutting of some red tape by myself I was able to change flights to the 1:40 pm flight. I was also able to drink for free at the Admirals …

Opa is a fantastic Mediterranean restaurant that allows you to experience some of the tastes of Greece from the heart of Center City Philadelphia. While Opa now hosts the Drury Beer Garden in their backyard, which is a fun time but always packed. I would rather have had Opa kept their outdoor dining seating instead of the beer garden because of the ambience you get from that area, but unfortunately they did not and the outdoor seating they have now is on a slant with a view of the parking garage, so if you decide to visit Opa I would suggest you sit inside for the best experience. Opa has just hired a new chef and he has introduced his own twists on their menu which overall I found to add to the excitement of eating at Opa.  I started off the night with a refreshing Hell or High Watermelon from 21st Amendment. Even though I am not a huge wheat beer fan, on a warm night this beer is a great way to kick …

Waking up Sunday morning after a long day of drinking the day before I felt the need for food and some Hair of the Dog. If you have never had Dim Sum I suggest you try it hungover because it is an instant cure. I decided to check out the new offshoot of the New York classic Dim Sum location Nom Wah Tea Parlor. Nom Wah is not a cart dim sum location as some are, rather their food is cooked to order. As soon as I sat down I ordered their $3 Yuengling special.  Then after looking at the menu I decided to start with the Shanghainese Soup dumplings. These dumplings were instant flavor, as soon as you bit into the dumpling the pork flavored broth coated your taste buds with deliciousness. Eating soup dumplings as an adult is the equivalent of eating gushers as a child, the best part is the surprising amount of flavor that comes out of that first bite. The soup dumpling is a such a simple yet flavorful dish, …

The Han Dynasty is known as the Golden Age in China and if you have ever been to Han Dynasty you know it’s the gold standard of schezuan style Chinese food. I have ordered food from Han Dynasty many times before, it is an awesome place, you can order your food from spice levels 1 through 10. My favorites are the Dan Dan noodles, dumplings in chili oil, and any type of hot pot. It’s a great place to go with a large group so you can try as many things as you want. Han Dynasty was my introduction to non Americanized Chinese food and for that, I thank you Han.    But tonight was a different night, Han brought back an old employee who now runs the food truck South Philly Barbacoa with his wife. The food truck is looking to start a restaurant sometime in the near future when they are able to find the right place. But tonight South Philly Barbacoa took over Han’s private dining room and served all you can …

On what felt like the first spring weekend day of the year, I decided to head out to the wine bar Zavino. It was a logical spot to go to on such a beautiful day, they had the doors open and the outside seating was available, but because it was Master’s Saturday I decided to cozy up to the bar to begin my feast and watch Jordan Spieth dominate.   Zavino’s has a wonderful wine selection. It really has options for anybody and allows a non-discriminatory wine drinker like myself to try out a variety of wines to see what I enjoy the most. My two favorites that I tried were the Dolcetto, ricossa 2013 and the Primitivio, mottura 2011. The Dolcetto was dry and had a nice nutty finish while the Primitivio had more of a fruity taste, but really if you like wine it’s hard to go wrong with any choice on this wine list.      I started the afternoon with the tasting board, included in this was Hot Coppa and Sopressata, …

The day that hope springs eternal. The day when I wake up giddy like a school kid. Baseball’s opening day to me is everything that is great about life, for this one day you look at everything with a glass half full perspective. It is also a day that I have turned into an event. It is my favorite day of the year. The Phillies game was scheduled to start at 3:05, so I awoke at 8 took a shower and headed down to the Italian Market for some coffee, pastries and quiet time. I went to Anthony’s Italian Coffee House and ordered up a triple espresso and a fresh sfogliatelle . The espresso is some of the best you will find in the city, and the sfogliatelle’s sweet citrus ricotta filling wrapped in flaky pastry hits the spot to start the morning on a beautiful day. Not to mention sitting outside in the Italian Market will make you rethink the whole idea of technology and fond for a time when life was simpler.   …

Philly wine week, as a wine enthusiast there are so many choices to pick from, I am like a kid in the candy store and I can only hope I choose the right ones. My hope turned into reality with the choice of Brigantessa. Brigantessa worked with Italian wine importer Banville and Jones to provide their guests with a spectacular variety of wines that worked in perfect harmony with each and every dish served by the brilliant Chef of Brigantessa, Joe Cicala. The atmosphere was special and as each wine was poured we had the advantage of an explanation of the history and description of each wine from the Banville and Jones representative. Also, this was not one of those wine dinners where you get 4 oz per dish, you were able to get refills of your wine until the bottles were finished, usually it was about two or three glasses per dish. Yes, you could say I felt pretty good after this dinner. The spuntino (snack, first dish) was a steamed turbot with clams …

As a man who will do almost anything to not have to experience the pain of regret, I felt the need to visit Bibou on a Sunday night while they were still serving their Prix Fixe menu. I have heard a lot about this restaurant in the past, but I had never been, I have been to the owners other restuarant in Rittenhouse, Le Cheri, which is excellent but never to their original “masterpiece” Bibou. Bibou Sunday Prix Fixe menu is only $50 (unfortunately this is only until March 31 when they will close down and redo the concept), which along with the fact that it is a BYOB makes it a perfect opportunity for anybody to try some of the highest quality French food on this side of the Atlantic for a comparatively speaking extremely cheap price. I brought two bottles of French red wine to enjoy this occasion with a friend of mine, as I knew, due to the circumstances this would be a once in a life time experience.   After seating …