Flat Rock Wood Room

I knew at some point in my life I would go to North Carolina, but never in my life did I imagine I'd be going there twice within the same year just 4 months apart. Why you ask? The first time was in April to run the Rock-n-Roll Raleigh Marathon and the second time in August to Lake Lure to visit a friend that bought a lake house there.

Lake Lure is an hour outside of Asheville not too far from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Apparently, Lake Lure is famous because scenes from the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed in and around the lake. The town even has a yearly Dirty Dancing Festival dedicated to the film. Yea, I know.

During our visit, our host, Todd, took us to Hendersonville and Asheville. In Hendersonville, Todd suggested a restaurant named Flat Rock Wood Room that is famous its BBQ ribs. Upon driving up to the restaurant, we noticed the parking lot was full so Todd got out of the car and walked up to the restaurant to see how long the wait would be. He also asked to see a menu and took it back to the car and told us the wait was about 15 minutes. It wasn't so bad so we stayed and the menu never made it back into the restaurant. Nice work, Todd. This place had the best ribs I've ever had in my life. We purchased another order to have for lunch the next day. Then it was off to downtown Hendersonville to check out the local scene and walk off the calories.

Flat Rock Wood Room, 1501 Greenville Hwy
Hendersonville, NC
Website

Flat Rock Wood Room

The 45-minute drive to Asheville from Lake Lure was scenic, but super windy. We went to dinner at Laughing Seed Cafe, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant that was very good. I enjoyed the presentation of the food and the creativeness of the dishes. The drinks (non-alcohol) were super healthy and had great flavors. Sadly, I didn't collect the menu from here but we did manage to walk around after dinner to get a taste of downtown Asheville.

Germanwings & United Airlines Global First Menus

I flew a lot this year and racked up some serious mileage, and while I've been collecting airline menus for a long time now, this is the first time I will be posting about airline menus.

United doesn't fly non-stop from NYC to Cannes, so we always have a layover somewhere to fly into Nice, France, which was our final destination. This has been the case for the last 3 consecutive years we've been going to Cannes, France. Previous years, we've stopped in Switzerland and this time we in Berlin, Germany. I've never been to Berlin or Germany nor Switzerland for that matter, but someday it would be nice to actually go there and not just the airport.

From Berlin to Nice, we flew a small partner airlines called Germanwings owned by Lufthansa. If you recall earlier this year, the airline was in the news because the pilot committed suicide by flying the plane into the Swiss Alps killing all onboard. I was a little nervous about taking the airline but we didn't have a choice.

It's an average menu that you would find in the backseat pocket of an economy seat. It lists the food items, their prices and has pictures. It also appears the menus might be changed quarterly based on the dates printed on the menu.

Germanwings Airlines
Website

Germanwings

I've been a loyal Continental now United flyer since 1998. I've never flown enough to receive any elite statuses or benefits, but thanks to Mark, he added me as his +1 to be part of a small, invitation-only and elite group of Global Services. I cannot thank him enough because being a Global Services member is so exclusive and so awesome that I will cry once I go back to being a regular flyer-haha!

Now, let's see... as a Global Services member you get your own private entry for security at select airports meaning you by-pass that ridiculous long line for screening. Plus, I have TSA pre-check so I move even faster through security. They personally contact you if your flight is delayed or cancelled and do their best to re-route you on the next available flight. They also meet you at the gate and personally escort you into in a Mercedes car if you have a tight connection then drive you to your gate so you don't miss the connection (this hasn't happened to me yet, but Mark has experienced this). I mean how VIP is that? 

I have many first class United menus but this particular menu was worth writing about because this was the first time I sat in United Global First. Oh no, don't get this confused with regular first class, which they did have on this flight too, but United Global First is... amazing! I don't even need to tell you about the benefits. You can read them here. Basically, it's roomier, you get a 6-course meal (I only ate 4 out of the 6), cool gift with amenities, and so much storage space, it's incredible. 

Life is too short to fly coach!

United Airlines

Website

United Global First

A Trifecta of San Francisco Menus: Zarzuela, Hakkasan & Nopa

This was my second trip to San Francisco (first trip was in March) and I've decided that I really like San Fran. The weather was a bit too cool for me in June because it's usually nice and warm in NYC by this time, but apparently, it's cool all year round in San Fran, and that is where I would get annoyed. I like having seasons and I especially like my summers HOT!

I came back to San Francisco to do the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon that is a bucket list triathlon for most triathletes. It's a 1.5 mile swim in the bay, 18 mile hilly bike ride followed by an 8 mile run. You can qualify for this race, but usually the easiest way to get in is through lottery, which I was able to. It's not an easy race to get into as they only select about 2,000 entries. It's also not an easy race to complete either! It took me 3:38:37.

While here, I was able to dine at so many fantastic places with so many great friends. Before the triathlon, I met up with my friend, Susan, who I attended Columbia University with and who is from the Bay Area. She took me to Zarzuela, a Spanish tapas restaurant, and according to her it's always hard to get in because they take no reservations and it's always booked. Thankfully, we went on a weeknight so we were able to get seated right away, but it was still full.

After we ordered, I hung on to the menu because I figured since it's tapas, it's always great to come back to the menu to see if we want more. After all was said and done, I slipped the menu into my jacket on my backside. Luckily, we were sitting in a corner table so my back was facing a wall and away from everyone. The rest of the night was pretty much a blur, but a fun blur!

 

Zarzuela, 2000 Hyde St.

Russian Hill, San Francisco, CA

Website 

Zarzuela

During the trip, my good friend, Melissa, from Los Angeles came up to San Fran to support me throughout the whole weekend. Since Mark couldn't be with me because he was working and traveling, Melissa decided she would come up and enjoy the weekend with me and help with whatever I needed. I was so thankful she was here. Gracias, amiga.

She and I did a lot of sight-seeing, walking, eating, and more walking and a few Uber rides when our legs couldn't carry us any longer. Our post triathlon celebration took us to lunch at Hakkasan, a shi-shi Chinese restaurant. Alas, following the race, all I could do was rest and sleep the entire night into the next day because I felt really crappy and sick, so post celebration had to wait until the following day.

I brought my bag with me to the restaurant because I had my jacket with me in case I got cold, but I'm glad I did because I was able to stuff the menus in my bag while the staff were not looking. The drink menu is really extensive for an Asian restaurant and I loved all the different types of Asian inspired cocktails. The food was extremely delicious and presented very well.

Hakkasan, 1 Kearny St.
San Francisco, CA
Website

Hakkasan

Other restaurants of interest that Melissa and I went to and all of them were very good, but I wasn't able to collect the menu, but rather took a picture of them. Yes to all! And all are in San Fran, obvi.

Alioto's, #8 Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA Website
Bacon Bacon Truck, 2828 Jones St., Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA Website
Frascati, 1901 Hyde St., San Francisco, CA Website
Kitchen Story, 3499 16th St., San Francisco, CA Website

The last menu I collected was from Nopa. The day before my departure I saw my good friend Mena, who lives in San Fran, and we spent the afternoon catching up and drinking through the day then eventually ending up at Nopa for a hearty meal. Honestly, if it wasn't for the pictures I took of the food, I wouldn't have remembered what I ordered. And thanks to Mena, I didn't even have to be sly about collecting the menu. She simply asked the waiter if I could have it because I was visiting and thought it would make a good souvenir and he said, 'yes!' Easy peasy.

A few things I like about this menu: the raised lettering of their name and the font they use on the menu. It's a very simple yet classy menu with no splashy graphics printed on quality paper. It's a shame that they rubber stamp the date. I suppose they could print it on there, but it would be both time consuming and costly.

Nopa, 560 Divisadero St.

San Francisco, CA

Website

Nopa