pilita grill- san carlos, california

it has been my mission to find a good gyro in the bay area. nothing has really come close to the gyro at aladdin's gyro-cery on "the ave" in seattle. the one thing always missing is the the pita. the bay seems to love to turn the gyro in to a wrap. although slightly different in taste, pilita grill's gyro could match aladdin's if it was just in a pita. my cousin and i shared this and the greek burger. the patty was made with ground lamb and topped with feta cheese. very yummy.

bread w/ tomato olive-oil dip

gyro and fries

greek burger

hotaru- san mateo, california

for me downtown san mateo has become a great (and convenient) place for japanese food. one of my favorites is hotaru

cold udon- refreshing on a hot day

inari(tofu skin), saba(broiled mackerel) , salad w/ japanese dressing

ryowa- mountain view, california

on guam one of my favorite places to eat is aji ichi. some of my favorite things to order there are the japanese fried chicken and fried rice. i actually find ryowa's chicken better than aji ichi's. however, i do find aji ichi's japanese style fried rice better but not by that much. ryowa definitely fulfills my aji ichi cravings while i find myself away from home.

happy birthday america

nothing says happy birthday america like food and wine. since flying apparatus was in town i joined him, foodicles and our friend abby for a day out in napa.

bistro jeanty

jeanty started us off with a basket of warm bread. it had the perfect balance between soft and crunchy.

creme de tomate en croute- i could swim in this all day. it was a delicious, creamy tomato soup w/ a flaky, buttery puff pastry that wasn't too heavy

saumon fume au bistro- a carpaccio style salmon. it was very refreshing for such a warm summer day.

moules au vin rogue- these mussels were amazing. i wish i ordered them. i could eat these for days.

next stop- bouchon bakery

i'd have to say the chocolate chip cookie was pretty normal. their signature bouchon, however, was very good. i wish i bought more!

after we eating we went to two wineries for some tasting. our first stop was peju

we were lucky enough to have been with a member. the staff was very attentive at informative. i don't consider myself a wine connoisseur, but i thought the wine here was very good. i would definitely bring people here in the future.

the 2nd winery we went to was silverado. very scenic views. it's the kind of place i would like to wake up in every morning. the wine here was also very good.

overall, it was a great day of food, wine and friends. can't ask for much more.