Even though Bertha's has become a tourist magnet in the heart of Baltimore's yuppified Fells Point neighborhood, it's still got enough junk hanging from the rafters and no-nonsense waitresses to call it, at best, a down-home spot. And we mean that as the highest compliment.
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by pbb
Without a doubt, heading to the Santa Monica Pier is one of the top tourist attractions in Santa Monica. Made famous in countless films, the pier was originally built in 1909 which is defined as the pre-historic age for Los Angeles.
It's considered the final stop along Route 66, as anyone who saw the movie Forest Gump knows, and it houses a historic carousel ride, a ferris wheel *, a small aquarium, carnival games, tourist trap souvenir shops, a pub and a few restaurants.
Now, dining on the pier is not something we would ever do unless it was like on a triple dog dare or something, but if we had to dine in the vicinity of the pier the only place to do so is The Lobster.
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by juliana
Nello on Madison Avenue is a storied restaurant for the rich and famous. It's one of those places that always pops up in gossip columns and, when the weather's nice and celebs are chewing away on the sidewalk, the paparazzi-driven tabloid magazines.
In fact, its restaurateur, Nello Balan, is perhaps just as well-known in Manhattan as some of his customers. First, there was the incident about an alleged bribe to Page Six (hence the gossip column presence.) Then there was the incident with the model who took his limited edition $1,000 umbrella and didn't return it, thus prompting Balan to publicize it in Page Six. (Full circle?)
With all this sort of superficial, lives of rich people in Manhattan type of drama, does anyone even know what the food is like? We table-crashed the place to find out.
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Confession: We first heard about Angelini Osteria on Giada's Weekend Getaways on the Food Network about a year ago. Then it popped up again on our radar when it hit the Best 75 Restaurants in Los Angeles list at number 17.
So we decided to make an early reservation at 6:30 pm on a Friday night. The restaurant is on a unassuming block of Beverly Boulevard just east of Fairfax Avenue and close to The Grove shopping center.
We got a table towards the back but it turned out to be the second best table in the house. Why's that? Because it was next to the best table in the house and guess who showed up for a 7 pm reservation? Big-time movie producer Brian Grazer and Paramount honcho Sumner Redstone. They were dining with two ladies and didn't do much of interest. Except Grazer carries around a Volcom backpack. Weird.
But on to the menu.
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What the world looks like when you get off the Palazzo tasting tour.
We were fortunate enough to get invited to the Palazzo Las Vegas last week to check-out the hotel scene. But as with most hotels these days and especially in Las Vegas, the hotel is often not about the hotel. It's about what else is at the hotel.
And aside from the gambling, the Palazzo has a ton of other distractions and ways for you to spend your cash, whether you won it at the blackjack tables or whether you're just burning your paycheck.
While the Shoppes at the Palazzo definitely caught our eye (hello, massive Barneys department store!), there are 12 restaurants to indulge in. We tested a few of them out. Be prepared to leave your calorie-counting ways behind.
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A friend of Jaunted just got back from an oh-so-trendy "destination wedding" down in Aruba. While the whole traveling-for-a-wedding thing wasn't his favorite, he did manage to scare up some good eats.
Matt has a full report for us on the Flying Fishbone:
Unfortunately, downtown Oranjestad is littered with Taco Bells, Dunkin Donuts and cafes that don't even take the time to grill their grouper sandwiches. The high rises (like the Westin, Riu and Hyatt) have some decent food, but those restaurants are littered with pesky Boston Red Sox fans and tourists alike.
Only three restaurants in Los Angeles were awarded two Michelin Stars in the 2008 guide for the city and several were awarded one-star, including another Table Crashing fave, CUT.
So we decided to test out the one nearest to our abode--La Botte in Santa Monica which earned a one-star. The restaurant's location is a few blocks from the touristy Third Street Promenade, thankfully, as anything on the Promenade should be avoided.
Yet it's in the ground level of a modern-looking apartment/office building. This is both good and bad--good because you get a sort of tucked-away feeling but bad because who eats in the ground floor of an apartment/office building?
Nevertheless, La Botte has a cozy atmosphere once you step inside. Indeed the Michelin guide agreed:
It is difficult to imagine a warmer interior than in the homey yet fashionable place, which pays homage to Italian wine with its hardwood floors and walls crafted from the staves of oak wine barrels (a nod to the name, Italian for "wine barrel").
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The Spur may have an address on Main Street, but the door is down this sinister alleyway, which we'd like to think keeps yuppies away. (As this is Park City, it probably doesn't work too well.) Still, this live music-and-cowboy cookin' bar is a nice place to warm up after walking up and down the main drag.
At the bar, a couple of TVs had college basketball on, though one was tuned to a Fuel TV show about skateboarding in Israel. When we stopped in, the music act hadn't yet taken the (small) stage, but judging by the number of banjos, fiddles and guitars, it promised to be a wild night.
We weren't feeling too famished, so we opted for a peppered beef quesadilla off the small plates menu. Not much later, an itsy plate appeared. Maybe we shouldn't have been surprised--they did say "small"--but most Tex Mex/cowboy places we've ever been to serve up enough food to feed a family. Portion disappointment aside, it was a really good quesadilla.
The Spur has live music on the schedule for every night of Sundance, so if you're looking for more cowbell, this is the place.
Related Stories:
· The Spur [Official Site]
· Sundance Film Festival coverage [Jaunted]
· Sundance Field Trip [Jaunted]
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