Fajardo Dinnertime Eats

 
May I recommend the red snapper at Sal + Pimienta By The Sea. We ate here on our first night in Fajardo and were replete with delicious seafood meals after a fun but long road trip from the west coast. 

Since we were staying at the well known El Conquistador Resort via airbnb we were not allowed to access their restaurants. It felt like a bummer but in the end it made us get out and explore! 

Fajardo truly is a sleepy town at night. We felt a little off at times; there just isn't a ton going on! Everything closes pretty early and there is not a main section of town. Sal + Pimienta and La Estacion are on the main road but there's no foot traffic, no sidewalks, no street lights, nothing is a destination except the restaurants themselves I suppose.

La Estacion is apparently sort of famous! Housed in an abandoned Esso gas station serving Nuyorican BBQ; Fodor's and Conde Nast have it on best-of-lists for not only Puerto Rico but the Caribbean as a whole. Bob found it on a whim, it sits just down the road from La Conquistadors pearly, exclusive gates. I sipped a juicy Guanabana mojito, we shared tangy Caribbean chicken wings and a terrific BBQ tray. 

They are open Friday through Sunday only. 

Mon/Fri @ 4 pm and Sat/Sun @ 2 pm.

On our last night in town we decided to give Las Croabas neighborhood another go. This is what you might consider the "main area" in and around Seven Seas Beach. 

We explored Las Croabas on a couple different occasions for lunch and it was very quiet; the only restaurant open was Costa Mia right at Seven Seas. (We ate lunch here - it was fine - I did not take photos!) A lot of restaurants have odd hours (La Estacion as noted above), close for 2 days in a row, or simply did not exist! We could not trust google for anything factual. 

Is this Fajardo still emerging from a pandemic?

 A quiet time of year? 

Business as usual?

On our last night we discovered El Pescador, a charming seafood enclave on the small circular strip surrounding Parque Pasvio. Camden slept in the stroller. Ryder was well rested and could hang. They serve martinis in frosted sea blue glasses and bright, fresh fish dishes with rice + salads.

We were delighted.

Our 6 month old! Kind as could be with long brown curls, shiny blue eyes, taking everything in and enjoying the world around him!

Pineapple Flan was a sweet ending to an enlightened stay in a unique part of Puerto Rico!

If you visit:

Sal + Pimienta by the Sea

 Road 987 Km 2.7, 

Fajardo, 00738

La Estacion

Carr. 987 Km 4.20 

Las Croabas, Fajardo, 00738

El Pescadore

Carr. 987 Km 7.2 

Parque Pasivo, Fajardo, 00738

c h e e r s | best bars

hipster haunt: The Automatic | 15 Hampshire St | Kendall Square | get the MUDSLIDE.

Best in Brighton: Brighton Bodega | 328 Washington St | REDRUM (Tiki) ($14)- Hibiscus Rum/triple sec/oleo/orgeat/lime

when the weather turns warm: The Barking Crab | 88 Sleeper St | Seaport District | Sangria was great!

when in DTX: The Marliave | 11 Bosworth | The Great Experiment ($12)

Hendricks Gin/mint/lemon/orange/cucumber

ASPEN

I can not believe it is mid March and here we are in the midst of our third Nor'easter this month. Winter being my favorite season, it always seems to fly right by! Meanwhile, I finally found a little time to go through photos. Here's a look at our trip to beautiful Aspen, Colorado back in January.

Good friends of ours have lived in Aspen for years so a visit here was long overdue! 
Here is my Aspen bucket list / a nice guide of to-dos if you go. 
At the end of the day really just everything we did with locals to lead the way.

#1 Highland Bowl. A hike up highland bowl is a right of passage! Some gnarly heart pumping terrain brings you to an elevation of 12,392'. On this day the hike was made even more challenging by the weather - blinding 50+ mph winds. One local quoted it was his toughest bowl hike in 10 years of living there and meanwhile a few of our crew got frostbite. On certain days a cat runs the initial ascent, but it was not running due to the weather so we really earned this one!

A Highland bowl hike will take about 45 minutes to an hour. It is an intense workout and crazy adrenaline rush. The powder runs from the top are worth it!

Above is the bowl and the ridge line (hiking trail) from the vantage point at the top of Loge Peak lift.

 Alex and Bob hiked the bowl on our last day when it was sunny and perfect visibility. You can't beat clear views from 12,000 feet! Leah and I opted to ski the main trails at Aspen Highlands since we hadn't yet. 

#2 Cloud Nine. Post Highland Bowl hike, celebrate your accomplishment at Cloud Nine Alpine Bistro with a bottle of Veuve.
Fun Facts: Cloud Nine is Veuve Clicquots largest account in the world! And umm....Veuve is the least expensive bottle you can purchase here. 

We reserved a table for lunch a few weeks in advance. The food is good but expensive so if you aren't looking to splurge or did not make a reservation then a drink on the hopefully sun drenched or snow covered patio is where it's at! 

#3 Ski Ajax. This IS Aspen Mountain. We had a gorgeous bluebird day at Ajax following a small storm the night before we arrived. We almost didn't make it out of Denver because of the storm. We were very proactive at the airport about re-booking each time our connection was cancelled and managed to make it on the last flight out that night!!
 

My recs for a solid day in Aspen:

Grab Breakfast at: Jour de Fete

Enjoy Lunch on piste at: Bonnie's

Après at: Ajax Tavern or Highlands Ale House

Ski gear or rentals: Hamilton Sports

Fun Shops: KemoSabe, Sweaty Betty Pop Up

#4 Cocktails at J-Bar inside Hotel Jerome. Check out the alpine-luxe hotel lobby space and then tuck into Jbar for a round or two. Try the Cranberry Spice Manhattan made with Woody Creek single barrel "Hotel Jerome" Rye, Bitter Sling Autumn Bog Cranberry + Carpano Antica or the J-Bargarita with Cazadores Blanco Tequila, lime, grapefruit, Ancho Reyes Verde + agave.

#5 Crispy Chicken Sandwich at The White House Tavern. This heavenly sandwich comes on a house made torta with swiss, tomato and spicy slaw. It is a must order when visiting Aspen! The ambiance at this cozy, historic house turned tavern at 302 East Hopkins Avenue can't be beat. It served as a miners cottage at the turn of the century and it remains one of the oldest structures in Aspen. 

Also pictured is my Gibson Martini (love me some cocktail onions!) and the Gulf Coast Style Fish Sandwich with red onion and thousand island slaw. Our group had such a nice time at The White House Tavern, I'd highly recommend a visit.

#6 The Peking Duck at Bosq. Serving innovative and inspired new world cuisine with flavors from the Mediterranean to China in a modern alpine setting, everything at Bosq feels extremely unique. The intimate space envelopes you in shades of gray and light wood accents with elegant lighting and flickering candles, creating a soothing Scandinave ambiance. The Peking Duck is a chef perfected dish, served simply with cucumbers, leeks, pancakes and hoisin sauce.


The rest of the menu is not to be out shined by the duck, though. From sides like garlic chili rapini and butter poached shitakes to shared dishes of octopus with lime, black chili, parsnips, tamarind and grilled peanut oil and sweet and sour crispy eggplant - every dish was outrageously good.

There were also short rib blue corn tacos with kumquat foam and tomatillo emulsion and citrus chicken with roasted brussels sprouts and chestnut crema. This was a group consensus, one of the best meals we've had in a long time!

#7 Don't forget your fur! ;)

Thank you for an amazing time, Aspen!!

Up next: Telluride!