Jill was done. For three weeks I'd been force feeding her on a take-no-prisoners march through the restaurants of Italy. I had all but nailed her feet to the floor. And then four days in Rome – dio mio, Roma! If you don’t eat well in Rome, you’re an idiot.
Now she was on strike. “Forgive me, honey, but I have to go light tonight”, she said. “Just a little grilled fish and a salad. And no wine.”
This last was underlined as if to indicate it should have some special meaning for me.
“Just eat what you want, baby” I said, moving right past it. My focus was on the menu, planning my point of attack.
We were in Ristorante Lorenzo in the stylish seaside resort of Forte Dei Marmi, just down from Pietresanta on the Tuscan coast. Versilia is the beautiful name Italians give to this region. Lorenzo is not only the best restaurant in town but one of the most stylish, most satisfying in all of Italy.
What do I look for in a travel experience? The answer is simple: culture, nature,
world-class shopping + food and the best nightlife, parties + events I can find. Sometimes in one day! Like many world-class cities London offers diversity, and my trip there this past fall provides a great example of how I was able to combine my favorite vacation pastimes.
Do you remember Mrs. Gooch’s health food stores? Opened in West Los
Angeles in 1977, Sandy Gooch’s markets served Southern California
hazard-free food until Whole Foods acquired it in 1993. If you remember
it fondly, you’re ripe for the picking. And let’s face it, if you’re
reading this you know its time for an escape. Religious experience or
not, the desert is dialing your exhausted and stressed number. Life can
take its toll, especially for those who spend a great portion of their
day trudging through traffic under the constant sun of Los Angeles,
California. It’s only human to reconnect with nature by departing the
idiosyncratic superficialities that surround you: billboards demanding
you lose weight, drink specific liquor, or watch the latest blockbuster
that diminishes your intelligence. Let a Midwesterner tell you weeks of
nothing but vitamin D infused blue skies can cause disenchantment!
Paris is one of those cities that gets into your system and stays with you. There is something magical. Magical about the lifestyle, the fashion, the ease of movement, and the food. The food is simple, perfectly crafted, and delicious. I ate my share of eclairs, croissants, baguettes, steak-frites, souffles, crepes, ice cream, and croque monsieur’s. I ate whatever I wanted, when ever I wanted. Boulangeries are in abundance and sneaking in for an eclair or a mille-feuilles is a temptation I wasn’t about to pass up.
I think I stopped giving grits a chance many years ago when Lucy became our family pet. She's an amazing bird, a Yellow Naped Amazon parrot that has an unbelievable vocabulary, an infectious laugh, can tell my identical twin brothers apart and eats grits every morning for breakfast. Sounds charming but think about being awakened by a bird with a loud, piercing voice calling my name every morning demanding her grits.
