If I’m being totally honest, my favorite dining experiences over 7 trips to Japan have not revolved around sushi, ramen, or tonkatsu, but around wagyu beef. Yes, a sushi omakase can be absolutely sublime, but the environment is typically a lot more subdued to pay respect to your sushi master. A premium yakiniku experience with …
I’ve been incredibly grateful to do 3 separate five-day trips to Niseko, a world-class ski and snowboarding destination in the Northern Hokkaido prefecture of Japan. It’s known as the powder capital of the world as they get insane amounts of light, powdery snow every season. Besides the idyllic conditions for winter sports, you’ll find some …
I’m pretty much always late to these trends, but I finally tried out this viral upside down puff pastry technique inspired by a traditional tart tatine and I understand why it became so popular! It’s definitely the easiest way to build beautiful and delicious puff pastry tarts, where you place all your toppings (in this …
Whenever you travel to Italy, you should always focus on eating the dishes native to that region. Carbonara and cacio e pepe in Rome. Bolognese in Bologna. Bistecca alla Fiorentina in Florence. Spaghetti al limone made from famous Amalfi lemons in the Amalfi Coast. But since I have yet to actually make it to southern …
We spent 4 days in beautiful Lake Como, where you can travel between resort towns by boat across the Y-shaped lake with stunning mountain backdrops thanks to its location at the base on the Alps. We started the trip with a day in Como City, but since we went for a wedding, we spent the …
We’re in Lake Como for the very first time to celebrate two of our friends getting married. This gorgeous lake is at the foot of the Swiss Alps, so you have a combination of lush mountains and lakeside views. Here’s everything we ate and everywhere we explored during our first day in Como. Getting to …
I’ve been going to Vegas on an almost annual basis since I turned 21 back in 2010. And yet even after over a decade, I can still remember every ridiculous story behind the inside jokes written in one of my early blog posts recounting a trip from back in 2011. After all, what happens in …
There is a category of Filipino dishes that truly feel like a warm hug. Not just because these comforting dishes bring you literal warmth from their hot temperatures, as is the case with sinigang (a sour tamarind soup) or arroz caldo (a soupy rice porridge), but especially because they remind you of home. My mom …
It’s simply not a Filipino party without a tray of the addictive, deep-fried spring rolls, better known as lumpia (pronounced LOOM-pyah). Lumpia is a catch-all phrase for any Filipino spring roll. For example, lumpiang gulay are fried vegetable lumpia, while lumpiang sariwa are larger, fresh lumpia made with soft wrappers that are not fried. Lumpiang …
If there are 2 things that were MADE to be eaten with loads of butter, it’s lobster and mashed potatoes, so why not combine them into one decadent dish for the holidays? We’re upping the ante by not just using regular butter, but a nutty brown butter seasoned like the Viet-Cajun crayfish and shrimp boils …
