Most every big city has it’s main thoroughfare (or two) where much of the city’s true character is revealed through
the bustle and thrum of the shops, restaurants, clubs and bars situated there. In Oslo, Norway, a place I’ve wanted to
go for years and years, that street is called Thorvald Meyers Gate (“gate,” pronounced GOT-eh, actually means street,
not, um, gate), which is the main street of Grunerlokka, one of the sections of town. Here is
an article in the IHT about Thorvald Meyers Gate
that rhapsodizes about all the great things you can see there. An array of interesting shops and restaurants, beer
halls, museums, and wide sidewalks teeming with interesting local folk, this seems like a very cool place to take a
stroll on a sunny Norwegian afternoon.
Gadling Destination Podcast: Cafe Reggio
We’re going to try
something a little bit new here with our gadling podcasts. We’re calling
them Destination Podcasts, and they are little audio slices of life from various places we
visit. For this one, we started off with
someplace easy: a small cafe in New York called Caffe Reggio that is famous for attracting clientele like the Beats,
Bob Dylan and the poet Joseph Brodsky. Give a listen and tell us what you think!
Host: Erik Olsen.
Format: 4.5 minutes
Vietnamese Food Blog
Fans of Vietnamese food who aren’t aware of this great blog should check
it out. Noodlepie (great name!) bills itself as “a blog about scoff &
swill in Saigon”, which I think means they do food, with a ‘tude, as it were.
The blog is written by the cheeky, but well-informed British journalist
Graham Holliday, and features not only some
superb write-ups on all that is edible around Saigon, but also provides photos and even video. He visits his favorite
restaurants and marketplaces, and dines on an assortment of what we might call odd dishes, but which the Vietnamese
call their standard cuisine. The best thing about this blog is how funny it is. Who knew that
fish porridge could make you laugh.
Wish I Was Paddling Fiji
Well there are several things I can think of that I’d rather be doing right now than sitting down at my desk on a Monday and writing. Let’s see…hmm…Jacuzzi party at Hef’s mansion…diving the Well there are several things I can think of that I’d rather be doing right now than sitting down at my desk on a Monday and writing. Let’s see…hmm…Jacuzzi party at Hef’s mansion…diving the Galapagos…wine tasting in Napa…oh, and how about paddling Fiji. Yes, that would be nice. Waking up and having nothing to do all day but draw quiet strokes across the cerulean surface of the South Pacific. I could do that.
Well, that’s what Robin Stanton got to do recently. Her adventure trip included not just paddling, but hiking, mountain biking and lots of good South Pacific grub. They visited local villages like Malake Village, where they hung out with the locals and dined on fish, chicken, taro leaves, and cassava (sorry, I’ve had both taro and cassava…yuck).
Anyway, as I stumbled in this morning from a searing weekend, I pondered momentarily where I might rather be, and as I say, paddling in Fiji is right up there. And Hef’s place would be cool too.
L.A.’s Restaurant Grading System
This isn’t entirely travel related, but might come in handy on a first-timers visit to Tinsel Town.
For the first couple weeks living in Los Angeles I couldn’t figure out what the heck those letters in
the window were there for and after spending sometime in the city there after I
can’t begin to tell you how many stories have come from these nifty grading sheets. Like the time I ate at a
Chinese hole-in-the-wall restaurant with a big, bold, red letter C, later thinking I was going to die and
also the time I dined at a Mexican spot with a B and actually got food poisoning. Those times and signs are
moments I will never forget. This, my friends, is the best sign spotting you can do while in Los Angeles. The little A,
B, and C letters proudly on display or tucked away in the far corner of any licensed restaurant window in Los
Angeles are compliments of the Los Angeles Department of Health
Services, Public Health and Environmental Health.
The purpose to is to give hungry customers a sense of dining in a thoroughly spic and span environment, reduce
potential for food borne illness and the spread of communicable disease. Gotta love Public Health. But DO NOT, I repeat
DO NOT, let the signs lead you to believe you will be having the best tasting food. You’ll be heavily let down at
a lot of letter A restaurants. I recommend leaving that portion up to Zagat. But
If you’re curious as to how they do the grading and inspections I encourage you all to do visit their web site. It
could save your life.