HOT BROWN!

Stella's Kentucky Deli

143 Jefferson Street

Lexington, Kentucky

COUNTRY SIDE EATS

 KIWA JIP, WONJU KOREA

A small family run restaurant out of their home, surrounded by fields and ceramic barrels full of fermenting cabbage and mountain vegetables, where locally sourced meat and vegetables are a way of life. 

YUK KAL

YONGSAN, KOREA

When I thought yuk gae jang (spicy beef soup) and kal kook soo (handmade knife cut noodles) couldn't get any better, this little restaurant combined the two. The result is so awesome that that's all they serve. You hunker down at a table, seat still warm from the previous customer and in seconds, bowls of steaming hot soup and noodles appear. You feast to a concerto of slurping and sniffling noses from the intense heat of the yuk gae jang. Your mouth will hurt, your insides will burn, you'll complain about the pain, you'll sweat profusely but you won't stop til every noodle is gone. Clutching your belly you'll stumble out into the cold, insides on fire and writhing on pain, yet with the happiest, most content stupefied grin plastered on your face.

NORYANGJIN FISH MARKET #2

SEOUL, KOREA

HODDUK

HONGDAE, KOREA

Pillowy crispy doughy goodness stuffed with cinnamon sugar syrup then tossed in crunchy bits of peanuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. 

CACIO E PEPE

What good are appetizers if all you want is a giant barrel full of cacio e pepe?

Roma Sparita

Piazza di Santa Cecilia 24

Rome, Italy

TRUFFLE GOUDA

If heaven came in the form of cheese I think this is what it would taste like. 

PETITE CREPERIE

Tiny, cozy, intimate and bustling. One woman chef and one woman waitress serving the best crêpes EVER.

Des Crêpes et des Cailles

13 Rue de la Butte aux Cailles 75013 Paris France‎

PLUS DE FROMAGE

PARIS

BABA AU RHUM

BOUILLON CHARTIER, PARIS

A.K.A. DANGER

EMMENTHAL FRANCAIS

Don't you just want to smush your face into that wedge of awesomeness?

PICNICS IN PARIS

Take me back!

LE VERRE VOLE

We knew our chances were slim as reviewers warned to make reservations in advance. "Lines around the corner!", they cautioned. "Booking is imperative!", they advised. We threw caution to the wind and went anyway and were turned away. As we shuffled our feet very slowly out the door, shoulders slumped, head hanging low, a waiter bolted out (ok, more like walked, appreciate the dramatic effect), and jovially beckoned us back to the restaurant. I don't recall much of the meal except for the pork and chard meatballs which I hoped would somehow regenerate themselves after consumption. But they didn't. Which is probably a good thing. Maybe. 

Anyway, can't wait to see you again Le Verre Volé.

LE VERRE VOLE

67, rue de Lancry

PEARL DIVE OYSTER PALACE

Crazy identity crisis name aside (who are you? A dive bar? A chinese restaurant? YOU MAKE MY BRAIN HURT) this was a boisterous seafood shacky restaurant in the rapidly gentrifying 14th Street area. I gently persuaded my companions that they had to try the oysters (OK, maybe forced. Yielding a threatening dull edged butter knife. What asians don't eat oysters?) and I think they "enjoyed" the experience more so for the plethora of dipping sauces than the actual taste of the oyster. I ordered the C.E.B.L.T (catfish, egg, bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich) and while I understand the bacon here is singular there should always be more than one slice. Always. Every single bite should be exploding with bacon flavor. And it wasn't.

But I still ate it all.

Pearl Dive Oyster Palace
1612 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20009
(202) 319-1612

BIRTHDAY CAKE

COCO PUFFS

LILIHA BAKERY

WAIOLA SHAVE ICE

BUN BOWL / HALE VIETNAM 

AVOCADO POP

LOBSTER TACO VS. LOBSTER ROLL