Category Archives: Out-and-About

3rd Annual Foodbuzz Blogger Festival Welcome Reception

Posted on November 5, 2011 | 4 Comments

Wifey and I looked forward to this year’s Foodbuzz Blogger Festival, as we very much enjoyed attending last year’s Festival. Yesterday late afternoon, we drove to the Grand Hyatt Hotel to check in to the festival and then headed to the Terra Gallery for the Welcome Reception.

Though we live relatively close to San Francisco, we’ve never really explored this amazing city. It’s something that we’ll start doing slowly but surely.

The Welcome Reception, first and foremost, featured fine food.

Where the food were the stars.

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Yes, that’s IPA with my dessert.

Speaking of IPA, what a pleasant surprise to see beers from San Francisco’s own 21st Amendment Brewery.

There was a wide variety of beverages, from Boony Doon Vineyard wines to cocktails and other mixed drinks.

But I stayed with the tasty craft beers from 21st Amendment.

Brew Free! Or Die IPA/21st Amendment IPA (American IPA, 7% ABV).

Fireside Chat (Winter warmer, 7.9% ABV).

Hell or high watermelon wheat beer (fruit/vegetable beer, 4.9%).

The food and drinks were fabulous. But the food and the drinks served a greater purpose – bringing people together.

Like when I had the chance to reconnect with Nam from The Culinary Chronicles; she’s a former work colleague, and we even taught a university class together. And while catching up with her, we met friendly Anjali from the Picky Eater Blog for the first time.

As I roamed around doing my thing and thoroughly enjoying the reception, I spotted wifey catching up with her friend Nicole, the Prevention RD.

And we met lovely Ellie from Fit for the Soul and hung out with our good friend Mimi from Gingersnaps.

Which helped to confirm that this festival is always about people. The community. The camaraderie.

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Per the usual with most of our event outings, we were one of the firsts to arrive and likely the firsts to leave. But that was okay, as we had a fantastic time soaking in the Foodbuzz vibe. Plus, we were pretty sure that we’d be able to experience more of the Foodbuzz Festival the following day.

Always Grateful,

~Andy

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Posted in Drinks, Out-and-About

Tagged FoodBuzz

First Visit to Yard House

Posted on November 3, 2011 | 3 Comments

A Yard House had opened close to us earlier this year in April.

… upscale-casual American fusion restaurant already has 29 locations open throughout the country and seven more locations opening within the next year. One of those seven locations will be… right here in Santana Row! This new addition to the Santana Row family will be opening on April 17, 2011 and will occupy nearly 10,000 square feet of the ground floor in the newest building here… Yard House will have over 130 beers on tap, over 100 items on their menu…

We’d been unable to check out the Yard House due to our schedules and the restaurant’s popularity.

And then we lucked out on a particular Sunday a little over a month ago, when we decided to stop by right after a morning trip to the gym. There was no 3-hour wait for a table. In fact, we got a table right away.

Go Niners!

That day, they did not have bratwurst. But they did have beers. I went for the traditional six pack sampler.

#1. Fire rock pale ale from Hawaii’s Kona Brewing Company (American pale ale/APA, 5.8% ABV).

#2. Longboard island lager from Kona (American pale lager, 4.6% ABV).

#3. Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier from Germany (Hefeweizen, 5.4% ABV).

#4. Peroni pale lager, AKA Peroni Nastro Azzurro (Euro pale lager, 5.1% ABV).

#5. Boont Amber Ale from Boonville, CA’s Anderson Valley Brewing Company (American amber/red ale, 5.8% ABV).

#6. Back in Black IPA from San Francisco’s 21st Amendment Brewery (American black ale, 6.8% ABV).

We enjoyed all the beers, but a couple stood out in particular that day, the Hefeweissbier and the Back in Black IPA.

My order of cheeseburger and sweet potato fries. Delicious.

Seared ahi tuna salad for wifey. Lunch-sized portion, which we also liked a lot.

Switching gears a bit, on the drive home after lunch we drove by a Verizon store to see if we could catch a glimpse of any of the ISA folks, as they were doing a meet-and-greet there while in town for a concert. Unfortunately, we did not, but we did see the long line that had formed.

Thanks to YouTube, these clips give a feel for both the meet-and-greet and the ISA concert:

Pretty amazing to be able to make a living out of making YouTube videos. I’m sure it’s much more difficult than it initially seems.

Anyway, back to the main point of this post: Yard House equals awesome!

Always Grateful,

~Andy

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Posted in Drinks, Out-and-About

Tagged Beer

September Dishcrawl San Jose

Posted on September 30, 2011 | 5 Comments

Wifey and I had such a good time at last month’s San Jose Dishcrawl at the Fairmont, we knew that we had to attend this month’s at the San Pedro Square area as well.

This month’s meeting spot was at The Old Wagon Saloon & Grill.

After meeting some awesome folks, our group headed off to the location of the first eats. The weather could not have been more perfect.

First up: Morocco’s Restaurant.

Sangria. Beet and potato salad. Couscous with chickpeas, raisins, and onions, along with tastings of grilled chicken and meat.

The sangria and the beet and potato salad particularly stood out.

Next: La Victoria.

Chips and salsa. Famous orange sauce.

The watermelon drink was refreshing.

Beef burrito. Quesadilla. Orange sauce. All excellent.

Then we returned to The Old Wagon Saloon & Grill.

Sausage with bacon. Fried wings with two sauces. Potato skins. And veggies.

And finally, last but not least, Satori Tea Company.

Two different teas.

Paired with guava cake from Aki’s Bakery.

The teas were delicious. And the Aki’s cake reminded us of our wedding reception, where we had… Aki’s cake.

Wifey and I had a fabulous time at this month’s Dishcrawl in San Jose. Again, like last month’s, everything was well organized (great job, group leader Julie!). We felt like San Jose VIPs as the restaurants directly welcomed us as they introduced their offerings.

We met and talked with more folks and can’t wait to hopefully see them again at the next one!

Always Grateful,

~Andy

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Posted in Out-and-About

2011 Mountain View Arts and Beer Festival

Posted on September 12, 2011 | 2 Comments

Oh, I know it’s actually the Mountain View Arts and “Wine” Festival, not “Beer” Festival. Just having fun in support of Tied House/Hermitage Brewing’s call to action.

That said, wifey and I unexpectedly found some time to check out by ourselves the 40th Annual Arts and “Wine” Festival in Mountain View this past Saturday. We already had lunch plans, so this festival visit was all about spending some quality time together, as we strolled through all the vendors and tables.

We got a great parking spot, mainly due to getting to the festival before the start time.

Something immediately caught wifey’s attention.

It’s Nothing Bundt Cakes, which we’ve recently heard plenty about.

Cinnamon Swirl samples. I only took one, I swear.

Marble.

Wow. Just wow. And then we overheard that they would have other flavor samples throughout the day.

A nice lounge set up that I’m sure overflowed with people later in the day.

Then wifey and I strolled.

[Haha.]

“Beer – It’s not a beverage… It’s a lifestyle.” So true, I’m beginning to realize.

Already getting noticeably more crowded.

Too early to catch any of my teams (e.g., Bears and Spartans) in action that day.

Foxy’s Toffee sample was delicious!

Basically, the only things we knew about this festival going in were the start time, the location, and the fact that we (read: mostly me) were going to try the Tied House and Hermitage Brewing beers there.

And here they are:

Highway 6 Lager.

Cascade Amber.

Cheers! And both beers were great!

Getting in line for some more samples.

And then we were back at the starting point, at the Nothing Bundt Cakes table. Were there any other samples at this time?

Yes, yes there were!

Chocolate chocolate chip.

Lemon.

Red velvet.

Introducing Nothing Bundt Cakes’ newest #1 fan.

How fitting that there was a Tied House and Hermitage Brewing table right across from the Nothing Bundt Cake table, as these two enterprises provided the highlights for us at this festival.

Though our festival visit was brief, wifey and I had a great time!

Always Grateful,

~Andy

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Posted in Out-and-About

Tagged Beer

Moveable Feast: San Jose, 8/13/11

Posted on September 11, 2011 | 1 Comment

We were able to attend one of last month’s weekly Moveable Feast gatherings in San Pedro Square. This was their Facebook event announcement:

We are rolling out several exciting changes to Moveable Feast San Jose this Saturday. Expanded seating. Shade. Chalk art. Magic for the kids. We even have a band performing out of a truck! Come bring the whole family!
FOOD TRUCKS (Saturday, 8/13)
Chairman Bao – Steamed/Baked Baos
Hiyaaa! – Fusion Sandwich
Little Green Cyclo – Vietnamese
Louisiana Territory – Cajun
Treatbot – Karaoke Ice Cream
The Wow – Filipino
…and treats for your pets from Andy’s Pet Shop!
FREE ADMISSION
MVBL.org

We immediately noticed the new lay out: