The rejuvenation downtown is an ongoing evolution of businesses rising to the occasion. But one thing that’s been missing is a good steak at a great price. Steakhouses the way steak houses were meant; an elegant dining experience with great meat that leaves you wanting more. Yes, I know there’s Morton’s at 7th and Fig, and LA Prime atop the Bonaventure, but those have always been the staples for business dining and expense accounts. But now a steakhouse for the masses has emerged. Lala’s Argentine Grill is fast gaining a reputation for fantastic meat and a great spot to grab a great steak for a great price. In a landscape overwhelmed by vegan this and organic that, carnivores can join the downtown scene and look forward to some prime beef.

Lala’s operates out of a locale previous under South American ownership, the old Wooden Spoon. This Brazilian restaurant was a novelty back in the day of modern eating, before foodies ran Bravo TV. Now it’s in the hands of another South American standard, the ‘Gaucho’ restaurant. The Argentines are famous for great meat. Whereas as Americans are famous for huge hulking cowboy steaks, South Americans are famous for meat being served as a refined meal. In Los Angeles, more and more meat palaces have been opening. Churrascaria’s have been popping up around town, and when we head over to the Pantages, Los Balcones is always one of our favorite pre-show stops, with their Peruvian take on a great Ribeye dinner.

We had the opportunity to enjoy two incredible steaks. My Ribeye comes out smothered in onions and garlic and an Anaheim pepper. A perfect char stands up to this onslaught of sauces, and the steak is just thick enough to be a vertical mouthful. The plates is completed with a chosen salad and pommes frites. Honestly, I normally would prefer huge steak fries, but soon enough, I realize I’ve eaten them all.

Nancy pairs her steak with salad and veggie kabob. These guys are doing some serious grilling, and that flavor sticks in the veggies and pairs perfectly with the wine.

As impressive as the steaks are, the wine list is equally tasteful and accommodating. On our dinner was joined by Mendoza terriored Cabernet Sauvignon form Los Heraldos Vineyards. Tasty and elegant, this wine was a perfect blend for our dinner, and one that was equally budget priced, but luxury flavored.

The interior of Lala’s is a clean and modern. A nice take on the small downtown diner look. The booths are backed with head high bars that let in space but also give a sense of privacy, so you don’t feel the people sitting behind you. The wait staff is attentive, fun and friendly, and the overall dining experience was just wonderful. I can’t wait to return for more great flavors. I must try the chicken next time, the Pechuga de Pollo looked so tasty, but steaks first, chicken second! And the Empanadas are great. The ham and cheese was the perfect starter.

Lala’s Argentine Grill

100 W 9th St, Los Angeles, CA

Lala’s has 3 locations: Downtown, Melrose and Studio City.

And here we are once again at the Delano hotel. I don’t know if you remember what happened last time, we wound up at the Mandalay and the largest suite I’ve ever stayed in, 1,705 sq ft in the Horizon Suite. But to be honest, we really wanted to stay away from Mandalay, and hopefully we were going to get a nice room here at the Delano.

We walk up to the desk to check in, and since we drove up during Christmas break, we were able to drive during normal business hours and arrive at the hotel just after 8:00pm. I calmly ask the clerk, Mario, if they had an upgrade available to a junior suite. He tickled the ivories of the keyboard, and came back with a yes! Awesome! But he had to get managerial approval, whatever that means.

When we arrive to the 60th floor, yes 60th floor, we got that feeling once again. Walking towards the room, we see the number is at the end of the hall, and that’s always a good thing. We step inside the room and are greeted with a marble minimalist design marble console. Wow, impressive so far. I turn to my right and I see the door, and now I get happy, a second bathroom! Yay! I don’t know why this thrills me so much, it just does. I love having two bathrooms in a hotel room.

We step through the foyer and we come across, a second foyer? No, more a simple open space with a large mirror leaning against the wall and a chair with the round carpet. It had a very Zen minimalist modern art installation feel to it.  I could just sit here for a good long time.

We step into the living room, and Oh My God! The interior windows have a gold tint to them, so in the evening under the room lights, the whole room is just reflective gold. Huge! A large sectional couch, flat screen TV, separate dining table with new age design chandelier and full bar with Kuerig coffee maker.

We  check out the bedroom and we have to walk all the way across the room to the bedroom. And by “all the way”, I mean all, all… all the way! Past the Zen chair. Past the business desk. Past the second full size couch in the bedroom, and finally to the final resting place. After all the suite is 1,400 square feet so this place is massive!

The bed has the Delano tufted headboard, same design we had in our previous Delano room. I guess this is a Delano theme, cool. We step in past the bed and the hallway closet, yes hallway closet. As close as you’re going to get to walk in closet in Vegas. Hmmm… wait, I’m sure there are walk-in closets in Vegas. Wynn suite?

Anyway, the bathroom is nice: Double sink vanity, large soaking tub, separate water closet (toilet), steam shower! Yes, a steam shower for those mornings when you need to sweat that Tequila out. But then in Vegas, it’s never really morning as its just a rollover from the previous night.

I just love the clean modern design of this suite and effective immediately this is my new favorite suite. Let me take that back, because that suite at The Cosmopolitan, although not as fancy as this suite, it did have that double balcony! And on a beautiful spring or summer day a balcony trumps all. OK now that I think about it this is my second favorite suite but it’s my favourite Mlife suite, how about that!

Oh here we go! Hell’s Kitchen Las Vegas. We finally get to taste some Gordon Ramsay speciality food. Our memories fade back to days of The London and that awesome Beef Wellington. And even more, London held two of my favorite culinary memories: The last time we ate there, we saw and met with Neil deGrasse Tyson, the solar systems most stellar name since Carl Sagan. And then there was the food porn picture incident, where some lady asked the waiter to tell us to stop talking pictures because the flash was bothering her. I mean, yes, its annoying when people do that, using flash in restaurants for Instagram food shots, but we were the only two tables in the place! Whatever!

Anyway, this was Vegas and this was going to be one hell of a party! Wrong! The hostess tries to be as cool and nonchalant as some nightclub hostess. Whatever, you see me you insolent little prick. And then, instead of some cool Vegas waiting area, we’re forced to stand in this lame ass cheesy little roped off line. We could have walked around the lobby…foyer…area in front with a life size video recording of Ramsay saying some weird obnoxious stuff, but it was unclear if our name was being called or if we were waiting in line in the order of arrival. I didn’t want the newcomers to jump us, so we waited in line like the little sheep that we are. Lame.

As we’re being shown to our seats, the kitchen is laid out in huge Red Team Blue Team manner. quite impressive, but unfortunately, that’s the most impressive thing about that space. Just a big hall of a space ala Cheesecake Factory with half the seats removed. And pitchforks. Lot’s of pitchforks. Everywhere pitchforks! I get it already, its Hell’s Kitchen! I know, I just spent purgatory waiting for the place. Oh well, at least when I meet my demise, I’ll be able to look up and say, “I know. I remember this place.”

Good thing though, we are seated in the antechamber, the back room so to speak. At least it’s a little darker, more quiet and you don’t feel like you’re on display. The waiter comes over, finally, and…I don’t know why…but just makes me feel so uncomfortable. Just a real shark-snarkiness about him. I think he or someone must have said something to put me on edge, but either way, I was and he was not making it any better.

Oh well, so much for the Ramsay swag, the menu is rather plain, typical restaurant. Fish, steak, The Wellington, chicken. We start with the Scallops, and for some reason, I love Scallops. And I say that like, I don’t know why I like them, really not much to them, but I always want them when I see them on a menu. Weird, yep, and it’s actually been awhile since I had a good order of them to make it worthwhile.

Well this time, I got it right. First, there’s five to a plat, so plenty to have. Most of the time, there’s only 2 or 3, but with 5, Nancy lets me have a whole one, so I get 3 plump, tender and flavorful. They have just the perfect consistency, the celery root puree blandness was corrected with a touch of bacon fat flavor. The little scallions on top were gone on the second and third pieces, no need, and too sour to not annoy that subtle bacon taste.

So once the food starts coming out, first on the table was the Mac and Cheese. Truth be told, I’m on a MnC pilgrimage. Trying to feed the perfect, or at least something that comes close to the Truffle MnC we had for our Christmas dinner with friends at The Belvedere in The Peninsula years ago. OMG! That let me know MnC is in fact a grown dish that has been watered down for kids, and not the other way around. And so Gordon hits a high note here with his Gouda heavy noodle-rific wonder. But what drives it home is the crispy prosciutto on top. Yes, packs as much flavor as bacon, but in a lighter, crispier dissolves on your tongue manner. And this time, the scallions play the correct role in providing just a tippy top touch of acid. Heaven!

Finally, the Beef Wellington arrives and the presentation is just wonderful. Light and fluffy is the view with the whip potatoes, and I do mean whipped. Oozing with cream, the potatoes are light and delicate as can be. And then it happens…the first bite. And bam! Turns out I was in hell after all. The crust, light and flaky…on top. Gooey down below…please hold your jokes until the end. the meat was cooked to perfection, the mushroom sweater was perfectly uniform. And the flavor, was…gone. Both of us just stared at one another. Where was the flavor? the Scallops. Perfect. Mac and Cheese. Delicious. Beef Wellington. Check please. But of course we powered through it. I’m not that crazy. But it was just so flat. If you’re a carnivore, nowhere beats Vegas. The steak houses here are insane! One of the few places in the world were if you order Kobe, you get Kobe. But this was bland. Perfectly bland. On well. And with that we head out. Not even wanting to try desert, the MnC did us just fine. I miss that original London Wellington. I know Satan, I know.

You know how much I love BBQ! From San Diego’s Phil’s to San Mateo’s Willy’s, whenever i travel, I’m on the look out for BBQ. But what abut at home? Don’t I have it covered. And when I’m in downtown LA, there’s always one spot I love to check out: Sprint Street Smokehouse BBQ.

The food is great, the locale is low key, and the beer is a perfect selection of local and far out brews that compliment the BBQ.

What makes Spring At unique, other than a BBQ spot in LA, is that its in actually Chinatown. At one point, downtown LA actually technically four BBQ spots. Besides Spring St, and sorry if I don’t remember the names, but there was Lee’s(?) on the corner of Figueroa and Sunset. The owner actually had a second satellite location on 7th street, and then there was a spot in Grand Central Market which closed years ago, but now a redesigned front space at GCM has been re-purposed as Horse Thief, a store front of sorts BBQ spot.

So that leaves Spring St. as the only place you can grab some ‘Bones and Brisket’ in a neat sit down spot with TV’s and music. Interestingly, they actually used to host a comedy night here, but no more.

What catches your eye as you enter is the selection of beers available. Of course they feature Angel City, the localest of breweries, but they also feature San Fernando Valley and Ventura County in addition to San Diego and San Marcos brews. But don’t worry, it you feel only foreigners make the good stuff, England, Belgium, Canada and New York are represented. Hey, they might as well be from another country – no one can understand that accent!

Although there are plenty of BBQ spots surrounding Spring St., I’m sorry, but Korean BBQ does not compare. Pork Ribs, Beef Ribs, Brisket and Burnt Ends are what we mean when we say Barbeque!

And in no BBQ spot is worth its Salt Lick if they don’t have their own BBQ sauces to compliment the meat. I normally wait until about half way through the meat before I start adding extra sauce. That way I get to enjoy the flavor of the meat, and then BAM! I kick it up a notch!

And fear not, it’s not all meat. There are plenty of healthy dining options to join the meat elite. Their sides are just awesome! Slaw, mash, the mac and cheese is killer! And yes, the roasted veggies hold their own as a star with the chili being some of the best you’ll taste anywhere. Honestly, I’d order the chili over most menu items in other restaurants. But here, BBQ is king!

Spring Street Smokehouse

640 N. SPRING ST. 
LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
213.626.0535

So a Travelzoo deal comes across the wire and it’s an “Eat and Greet” opportunity to have some fine Italian cuisine and meet chef Scott Conant of Chopped and pretty much every Food Network show. My wife jumps at the chance to do so and we’re off to Beverly Boulevard restaurant row for some celebrity chef Italian fare at The Ponte.

Most of the restaurants along Beverly Boulevard have rear or side entrance due to the fact that Beverly is a high traffic volume street and there’s really no way to just simply pull up and park. That’s just car culture at its finest. Cool enough, we pull around to the back of the restaurant and drop the car off at the valet. The entry is a classic Italian Villa door. Stepping inside, you are transported into a lovely courtyard dominated by huge, I believe this to be Magnolia, tree. It gives a nice alfresco feel to the dining experience. 

Stepping into the restaurant you step into a maze of fast and frantic servers scurrying about serving the patrons. The back of the restaurant, which is actually the front of the restaurant, you find a large bar with low level Edison lighting. The overall design is slick modern, but a little cramped and claustrophobic. We let the waitress know that we would prefer to sit outside in the patio.

Our waiter, ironically, his name is Chris also, comes over with a huge smile on his face. He walks supposed to be this special tasting menu and we order up. Our amuse-bouche comes out, followed by an appetizer tasting of pasta. Spaghetti al Pomodoro, swirled into a stack that looks less like an appetizer and more like a small entrée. But the pasta is perfect al dente, the sauce tender and sweet and fresh. If this is what the rest of the dinner going to be like we’re in for a treat tonight!

At this point, I will make note of how many times I’ve gone to a celebrity chef restaurant, and in the end, we are thoroughly disappointed. Not tonight. My sirloin comes out and it is fabulous. Sitting on a bed of potatoes and squash, the smile on my face was from ear to ear. The steak was a perfect medium, and so tender and tasty. The squash and potatoes were tender yet firm and full of bright sunny flavor. This Scott guy really knows what he’s doing! Nancy had the Branzino and she was equally pleased with her tasting.

Dessert was a yummy caramel treat, a Caramel Budino. This is basically pudding in a small jar with a caramel layer on top, topped with cookie crumbles. Tasty and a perfect wrap up to the meal. Sorry, I didn’t get any pics, as Chris brought this out just as we were speaking with Scott, and I was pre-occupied so I just started eating. It was soooo good, and by the time I realized it, it was too late.

This was a wonderful dinner, full of character, charm and flavor. The restaurant was interesting, the service impeccable, and the food was fantastic! This rates very high and demands a revisit. Maybe we should just move back downtown to be closer to these restaurants. Just sayin’!

The Ponte Ristorante

8265 Beverly Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 746-5130

In many ways, the New York, New York Hotel and Casino  in Las Vegas represents the true essence of New York: It stands as a gateway to a new world, it’s crowded, and full of Germans and French tourists. C’est bon! 

For many years, New York, New York was the gateway to either Bellagio Hotel if you’re headed north, or Mandalay Bay for those who are southbound. You see, when you’re at either one of those hotels, walking from one to the other, the tram does not cross Tropicana Ave. You can catch a tram from Mandalay Bay to Excalibur, then you have to exit the tram, walk across the bridge to New York, New York and proceed to the Monte Carlo tram stop, or walk directly to Bellagio to enter from the front. And vice versa, once you’ve lost all your money at Bellagio and need to walk back home, because cab fare is out of the question now, to Mandalay Bay, you reverse the trip, and walk through New York, New York to the Excalibur stop. Or you can walk the strip along the outside and take pictures in front of the Statue of Liberty, but one way or another you’ve got to go through New York if you want to get to Europe or Asia. 

I walk through the casino of New York, New York, and I am amused by the kitchy-ness of the Time Square decor. On the outside, as I stated before the Statue of Liberty is there, the buildings are designed as the New York skyline. This is no easy feat when you think how do you build a hotel and make it look like a skyline. Hats off to the architects and engineers, and once again, this is my true passion about Vegas. The engineers that take what seems to be unbounded imagination and bring it to life. The Chrysler building, the Empire State building, the big Hershey sign from Times Square, they are all here, including my favorite, The Coney Island roller coaster. 

After all the years of visiting Las Vegas this is actually our first stay at New York, New York. All the years of walking through the casino, past the lobby, pass by Nine Fine Irishmen, I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. The rooms are well appointed, spacious, and practical. No fancy-schmancy stuff, just a good solid room to hang out in. And like New York where you walk everywhere, you do have an interesting walk to the rooms. Full of twists and turns like an Agatha Christie novel, this is what is needed on the inside to get the effect of the skyline on the outside. Pretty cool actually. 

The casino is classic Vegas. It has all the bells and whistles, slot machines and card tables. There is a more popular center bar, main floor and a back floor off to the right-hand side as you come down the elevator from the rooms. I really like the walk through the back alleys of New York over to Bleecker Street where the pizza shop stands, then over to Broadway and Greenwich representing the village.

We enjoyed dinner in the village Sunday night at Nine Fine Irishmen. Stepping up to the entrance, hopes were high after that awesome Irish breakfast back in March at the Rí Rá Irish Pub in Mandalay Bay. Would the Irish food superiority would continue? As we all know, if you want the finest cuisine, go Irish! All joking aside, my short rib dinner was wonderful, and it gave me one of my favorite dining features: Alfresco. I was actually relieved at the relative comfort we were able to dine on the front patio of Nine Fine Irishmen. We didn’t feel as if we were on display with thousands of people walking by us. OK, maybe hundreds. They weren’t hovering over us and drooling on our food like in the real streets of New York. It was actually quite nice and gave that outside dining feel to an indoors restaurant. Then again, maybe it was the fact that I was keeping an eye on that slot machine that seem to be playing paying off right across the walkway that made everyone else fade to my peripheral vision. 

Dining options at New York,  New York span the full range of cuisine choices. From Nathan’s hotdogs in the Village Street Eateries to casual at Nine Fine Irishmen, to diner style breakfast at America, to upscale Italian dining at Il Fornaio and fantastic steaks at Gallagher’s. But one of my favorite spots to grab an afternoon bite is just outside of New York, New York, Beerhaus, along the MGM Parkway. The boardwalk of sorts lies between New York, New York and the new Park MGM, which was the old Monte Carlo, and runs from the strip back up to the new T-Mobile arena. And halfway up is Beerhaus, a German inspired brew house that sports great beers and a great indoor/outdoor setting. Sometimes, I just want to get out into the warm sunshine and fresh air of the Las Vegas wilderness.

But to cram all of this into a single hotel, and then add a roller coaster! You had me at “keep our hands inside the car.” Of course, I didn’t, and snuck a little video. Maybe I should’ve just talk to management so I could do a full shoot on the ride, but I think sneaking this adds to the covert excitement of it all. The pool area is quite nice as well, it sits under the roller coaster and looks up at the skyline. Pool side service is good, and it does offer a relatively large amount of shade for those super-hot summer afternoons.   

I have to admit I was a little apprehensive when my wife said let’s stay here. I was imagining tiny New York sized rooms. But since this is one of three or four hotels on the strip we have not stayed, and my bucket list is to stay at every hotel on the Las Vegas strip, I knew at some point we were going to have to pull the trigger. And now, next time I’m at Bellagio, I’m going to look forward to walking back through New York, New York, and will reflect with fond memories. I think I’m going to have to visit that Nine Fine Irishmen for yet another Smithwick’s Irish beer and short ribs. And maybe this time I’ll go ahead and grab some extra cotton candy for the roller coaster ride. Aye, fuhgeddaboudit!

 

Memphis Minnie’s stands out as a weird spot for a BBQ joint. In a residential neighborhood of drab gray and cream coloured, densely packed housing, here’s this bright red ‘Bar-B-Que joint’. But even more, Haight Street is famous for it’s hippies and vegan food culture. Good thing for me, that Haight Street is a mile or two up the road. The is lower Haight, low low lower Haight. And this is meat!

Inside the eye catching red is a meat factory of the highest order. Memphis Minnie’s has been in San Francisco for decades, written up all the time in the SF Chronicle mag and various other article about the other San Francsico treat: BBQ.

The meat here is simple, yet effective. The meat seems a little thin on the bone, but makes up for this in flavor. The smoke comes through clean and smooth, like a fine shot of Johnnie Walker Blue. I do like the fact that they offer classic BBQ sides: Collard Greens, Slaw, Fries and Mac and Cheese head the menu. Various other side are offered, but why?

You’re encouraged to eat on-site as this allows you to hand pick your sauces. Again, I like starting off with straight meat, and then work my way up the sauce chain. The Mustard and Texas Red were good choices. The Vinegar, not really my style, but not bad. The Beelzebob Breath is a jalapeno infused, and is more hot than flavorful. it detracts more than enhances. But it is fun with friends seeing who can put the most on the their meat.

The fun of the shop are the old school self promotion walls. This was all the rage back in the day, pictures, posters, magazine articles and City Hall certificates take up what ever space is not already filled with various t-shirts. Some are actual souvenir shirts, others just funny stuff from over the years, joined by a huge Memphis Minnie piggy picture. Good fun spot.

Memphis Minnie’s BBQ Joint and Smokehouse

576 Haight St,
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 864-7675

I look out the plane window and I see this beautiful terra-cotta red roof landscape ordering the Mediterranean Ocean and I think, “Wow, Lisbon?” As the plane lands, I realize I know nothing about Lisbon. I’ve read nothing about Lisbon. And I have no idea what to expect. Sometimes that’s simply the best way to approach travel. While some people like traveling the path less traveled, I like traveling the path that I have no idea where I am. Except it’s in some vibrant city with some historical background.

Off the plane, I am quickly reminded where I am, another major metropolitan area with an airport where you stand in a cattle line waiting for the next cab. Oh well, welcome to Lisbon! We hop in a cab and a friendly driver take us to our hotel, just a mere 10-15 minute drive through a slight interchange of some semi-rural landscape. The hotel is a medium sized property, not as fancy and luxurious as a Hilton Barcelona that we just left, just a simple, nicely appointed Radisson. We check in and head out on our first day of adventures in Lisbon and it suddenly occurred to me what the city is about. Simplicity.

The reason for venture to Lisbon was twofold: First, visit another location close Barcelona. The second point is to scout out a location for our upcoming retirement. Not really an upcoming retirement, still rather far off, but the thought of getting into a region early seems to be the position that we find ourselves in now. To be honest, I wanted to go to Madrid. Maybe we could’ve done the Barcelona-Seville-Madrid tourist run. However, we decided instead to check out Lisbon as a step off the beaten path. The city is quite simple and yet, very creative. The people are warm with the sly sense of humor. A majority of the buildings are decorated with tile. Not decorated as in a little tile block here a little tile block there. Decorated as in the entire façade of the building is made up little 4 x 4 or maybe 6 x 6“ tiles with intricate designs. As I learn the one of the tours we take, most of these are in fact, hand-painted. Can you imagine the man hours it takes to hand paint a building? Well, this is what Lisbon is famous for throughout Europe, if not the world.

Our first adventure into Lisbon is an ode to Anthony Bourdain. Ironically and sadly, and I say that with the classic Bourdain voice-over, Anthony passed away just a month after we visited one of his spots in Lisbon, Cervejaria Ramiro. It’s a deli-style, lobster-seafood house where you can order plates of the freshest seafood without going out and catching it yourself. The place is a madhouse of waiters running orders, people smashing lobster, screaming over crab legs and consuming fine Portuguese green wine. It was a crazy cacophony of life, both sea and human, with some of the most tender, succulent and tasty garlic sautéed shrimp I’ve had. It is actually quite fun with everybody sitting at these long communal tables, sharing their stories of how they came about the location.

After a quick lunch, we head into town. Lisbon is a small town, and this spot is a quick walk from the Intendente metro stop, but we decide to keep walking in the opposite direction and take in the street scene while heading to the Martim Moniz metro stop. We exit at the Parca da Figueira, a small square filled with tourist busses, local shops and a ton tiny cabs waiting to scuttle tourist around the city. I look down and I see the entire square, and flat and smooth as a summer lake, is completely tiled. Now I’m talking little 2 inch octagonal tiles that make up the entire city scape. This is incredible. The amount of work that goes into setting all this up throughout an entire city, not just the local neighborhood or square, the entire city. Tens, hundreds, thousands of millions of man hours to do all of this. It is just amazing.

Touring the city, you see it is a combination of the old and the new, as we’ve so often with European cities, and Lisbon in braces this as well. From the antiquated streets of the Fado district and its hilly, antiquated streets, to the financial district, to the ultramodern Oriente District, and everything in between, Lisbon is alive and vibrant. Traveling to the north side of the city you see a large orange bridge that is identical to San Francisco Golden gate Bridge. And then it hits you, Lisbon is the sister city to San Francisco. The older sister city. Identical in nature. Steep, narrow, winding residential streets. Well adorned buildings, and this great big orange “Golden Gate” bridge. The bridge is called interestingly enough, Ponte 25 de Abril. The name of the bridge celebrates the Carnation Revolution, where the Portuguese people rallied to overthrow the authoritarian regime in 1974. No shots were fired, instead, Carnations were placed in the army rifles standing guard, buy a local woman, Celeste Caeiro. Cable cars run up and down the streets, people hopping on and off. Parks and museums are all around, with great old churches , open for hundreds of years are around every corner. Tons of statues celebrating Portuguese heros dot the landscape and adorn city gateways and government buildings.

Lisbon, like San Francisco, has a large developed Harbor inlet with tons of restaurants and museums along the harbor front. I highly recommend visiting this beautiful area, see the museums, walk along the waterfront and enjoy a day of open sunshine and great food. One really cool spot, if you like the buzz of the city contained in a single cavernous hall, is the Time Out Market. A modern up-take on the food court concept, here’s where the young hipsters mingle with old tourists in a fun ‘Are we in a Seattle fish market’ feeling spot tucked inside a previously abandoned warehouse. The energy here is just awesome, and everyone is so excited about being here. The lines for food are filled with warm smiles and cold beers. And they have cooking classes for those wanting to up the ante on cooking at home what they’ve tasted here. And speaking of beer, although the selections may not be as extensive as the bars of Belgium, what they have is tasty in deed. And two places to learn more about Portugal’s beer history: Cervejaria Trindade, the oldest beer house in the country since 1294, and the Museu da Cerveja are 2 places you should for sure make a stop. If you want to see the city from a birds-eye view, head over to Amoreiras. Once in the shopping center, head on up to Barrio Alto. However, a word of caution, there is no bar here. Whereas barrio alto is simply “top of the city” and sits atop the name of the Amoreiras mall you actually have a 360° view of Lisbon sprawled out beneath you. It is quite exciting, but somebody really needs to put a bar up there. That place would be standing room only 24 hours a day.

Just down the street from Amoreiras is the landmark of the City Father, Marquês de Pombal. The large roundabout is centered by a large obelisk topped with the statue of the Marquês, the hero and savior of the city. The Marquê was responsible for rebuilding the city after the 1755 fire destroyed almost 75% of the city. When you think about that, you realize the aristocratic nature of old Lisbon. Remember, the Portuguese, one of the smallest European countries, also had possibly the longest naval reach of any European country. The Portuguese were settling South America while the Spanish and English were taking the shortcut and settling in Central and North America.

Another fantastic birds-eye view is the Castelo de St. Jorge. This fortress/castle stands as testament to the building of old world fortress and gives a view into old world castle life. One of the cool aspects of the castle is not the castle, but the village beneath it. Walking through this little neighborhood is walking through the classic small European seaside village with its walls of pastel colors and the flowers sitting on the window ledges. Then once you are at the castle, that walk can be satisfied with dining at Leon, the restaurant of the castle. There is both inside and outside dining on two sides of the restaurant. One side has seating overlooking the city, the other side is internal to the castle, where the peacocks put on a daily display of their colorful feathered prowess.

From a historic point, Lisbon is a researchers dream. Plenty of history remains intact and in place to time travel. Lisbon does a great job maintaining its historic quarters. Which undoubtedly leads to the future being developed just outside of downtown. The northeast harbor front has the Santa Maria dos Olivais neighborhood, home to the central train station, Estacao de Oriente. This futuristic looking tribute to Logan’s Run designed by Calatrava, connects to the ultra modern fashion shopping centre, Centro Vasco da Gama. The Oriente neighborhood also is home to the Casino Lisboa, a neat little in town casino. Modern slots, some card tables and a couple of restaurants round out the location, providing a chance to try your luck to pay for your trip. Hint: it never works out like that.

Lisbon is a wonderful city to visit and I only wish we had more time to visit more of the city, and then venture to the outskirts and the surrounding Portuguese countryside. As we were landing, we flew over large stretches of beach and that would’ve been awesome to visit as well. As I’m starting to realize our European visits are simply too short and that anywhere from a week to two weeks are truly needed to really dive into the culture, Lisbon gets a check as another city to be revisited in the future. Bon Voyage!