Beaver Creek | Colorado

Beaver Creek March 2018

Love this ski mountain. Love Colorado. Love these skiers.

photo 1 | New Terrain Brewing Co. | Golden, CO

photo 2 | Loaded Tater Totchoes | 8100 Mountainside Grill

photo 7 | Recess Beer Garden | Denver, CO

photo 6 / 9 | Three Tree Gully off Larkspur Express

photo 10 | Trout Fish @ Zach's Cabin 

photo 3 / 4 / 5 / 8 / 12 | slope side lunch @ Allie's Cabin 

Stein Eriksen Lodge | Deer Valley

Another gorgeous bluebird day was spent cruising the slopes at Deer Valley. This majestic mountain is skiers only and quite a refined skiing experience if I do say so myself. We lunched at Stein Eriksen Lodge's Giltretind inside next to a crackling fire. (Although the outdoor dining with tables surrounding fire pits looked equally as inviting!) Timing wise our food service left much to be desired - our appetizers and meals came out together and took for-ev-er. It was incredibly busy. The food was still excellent. 

We shared Green Deviled Avocado Eggs & Ham ($15), I drank a Wasatch Brewing GhostRider White IPA, plus a glass of Rosé. I had an outstanding sandwich: Iberico Pork, Serrano Ham & Egg ($21) layered with grilled shoulder, shaved ham, herbs and pickled mustard seed on ciabatta with an arugula pesto and pumpkin seed quinoa salad. 

The #SafeAsKittens #JonsWapiti Utah 2017 crew! The Treats is not pictured here / taking the photo.

New Eats @ TD Garden

During Celtic's preseason we were invited to take a tour of the TD Garden's sleek and shiny new digs, and to watch the game in a club level suite while sampling the latest concession offerings.

In a complete overhaul of levels 4 and 7, an impressive space comes to life with a design that emphasizes the cities industrial transit history and celebrates The Garden's sports legacy. Black and white subway tiled concession stands with nods to local fare team with sprawling bars serving craft beer on draft. Sports paraphernalia lines the walls to create an atmosphere that is fresh and exciting, as well as nostalgic.

What's also impressive is the reinvented line up of game day food and drinks. From the Tostitos or Doritos Top n Go Walking Taco, to Legal Seafood's famous lobster rolls and fresh baked chips, to a decadent, ultra rich mac n cheese topped with fiery Cheetos crumbles....and so much more! (I was skeptical of the bright red toppings, but those Cheetos are damn delicious.) There's even a stand serving gelato - the pumpkin spice was a real treat.

If you're headed to a Celtics or Bruins game this season - don't miss the new concessions!

If you've already been to a game, what did you think? 

Reykjavik

It felt a little surreal pulling into the parking spots outside FossHotel Reykjavik. In realizing we just completed driving the entire Ring Road, we high-fived and sat there for a minute. Huge moment. Big feelings. A lot of love for this country.

We had a blast in Reykjavik. It is expensive and colorful and welcoming and full of good European meets Viking energy. I was enamored with: the colorful street and sidewalk art, Hallgrímskirkja and the beautiful city views it affords, Langoustine soup, Lebowski Bar, and Harpa.

Here's a look at all my recommendations. 

Happy Hour Crawl / Drinks on Laugavegur: 

On and around the main strip of Laugavegur Street there's a ton of cool places to hang out. I highly recommend taking advantage of the various happy hours since drinks are $$$. The best happy hour was at Bravo, a chill space with comfy nooks and window seats, plus they had our favorite Einstock beers on draft! The divey cellar space at Koffin was also fun, it felt like a true local haunt. Kaffi Brennslan is where we had the grilled ham + cheese and waffle pictured, they also have a good selection of bottled beer and wine by the glass. Lebowski Bar at night is a must. Funky décor, good energy, a fantastic DJ, dancing, AND they have an entire menu dedicated to White Russians. I had the Pink Russian (2100 ISK) which adds strawberry liqueur and strawberry syrup to the classic vodka, Kahlua and cream. That plus a beer cost $30. Drink prices are no joke. Bar 11 had solid live music in the basement, and we noticed the entire space was dedicated to the only beer on draft: Tuborg. The owners must really love that beer! Finally, the Bjorgardurinn (Beer Garden) is a sleek industrial space located on the bottom floor of FossHotel Reykjavik (our lovely accommodations) and worth a trip off Laugavegur for the unique and worldly beer selection.

Lunch: I think lunch or afternoon snacking is best enjoyed at any of the following: Kaffi Brennslan, Cafe Babalu and others - the aforementioned cute and cozy coffee houses that serve soups, sandwiches, waffles, cakes, beer and wine. / Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur - the famous hot dog stand!! / Vöffluvagninn - the liege waffle food truck.

Dinner: The best meal of our entire trip was at Messinn. We strolled in early on a Friday evening with no reservation and they were fully booked. Luckily we were able to make one for late Saturday night. We had Cream of Lobster Soup (1.850 ISK) with cognac, and really fresh, beautiful pan-fried fish entrees: Ling (3.600 ISK) with chili, ginger, carrots, fennel, shrimp, brandy, arugula, lemon + butter and Fish Cheeks (3.400 ISK) with cherry tomatoes, lettuce, lemon + garlic butter. 

We had a light lunch at Rok on our last day. I wish we'd discovered this gem earlier! One of the more dynamic bar programs I came across in Reykjavik, I had the Hrutur (2.290 ISK) with Brennivin (Icelandic Schnapps), bjork liquor, pomme verde liquor, basil syrup and fresh basil. The cured salmon + avocado on brown bread and the sliced beef, caramelized onion + melted brie crostini were artfully composed and very, very good! Rok is open every day from 11:30 am - 11 pm. Whether brunch, lunch or dinner, it should be a definite on your list for a full meal.

Another favorite dinner was Lava at The Blue Lagoon. A few friends also recommended both Fiskmarkaðurinn and Grillmarkaðurinn - we didn't make it to either, they were expensive but looked like they might be worth a visit.