Norwegian Air, Le Black Pearl, Bod Lanmé

My journey started with a 4am wake up alarm for a 5:30am Amtrak departure from NY Penn Station to Baltimore Penn Station arriving at 8am. I then had to take Uber for 20 minutes to a nearby hotel to meet my friends so we can board a 1pm flight on Norwegian Air bound for Martinique, a Caribbean island in the French West Indies. Prior to going to Martinique, I'd never even heard of it or known where it is on the map and I never heard of Norwegian Air, but I'm glad I went.

While our initial plan was to eat breakfast at Miss Shirley's Cafe to kill some time, we ended up losing track of time and ordered take out. We picked up the food and headed straight to the airport. It's a bummer because the menu looked awesome to collect and the food, which we ate at the airport before boarding, was delicious! I ordered a Cuban huevos sandwich and we shared the funky monkey bread.

Norwegian Air is definitely a no frills airline, and to be fair, I'm only commenting on my very first round trip experience from Baltimore to Martinique. I don't know what their fleet is like in Europe. There was no priority boarding (except for passengers needing assistance) or first class seats. The price ticket is low, but it starts adding up if you want to reserve a seat in advance, check baggage and/or order food. And speaking of the food, the menu on board was for Winter 2015. I liked that some of their selection items catered to Caribbean locals because they had guava juice, plantain chips, carib beer and local rum. I thought it was strange they had soup noodles similar to cup noodles. I love that they had Milka and Kit Kat, of course. Oh, and champagne!

Norwegian Air
Website

Norwegian Air

After checking in to the Simon Hotel Friday night and during its grand opening weekend in Fort-de-France, we wanted to shop at Carrefour Market, my favorite grocery store in France to purchase essentials such as water, rose, champagne and snacks, but sadly, everything closes early in Martinique no matter what day of the week. We did, however, find a place to have drinks then dinner.

The first thing we noticed about Le Black Pearl is the bright rotating disco lights that came from the second floor. We entered through the first floor, which was the main restaurant and above it was the bar. We ordered a round of local flavored drinks, including the island rum, which seemed like it was in every drink we ordered and was quite strong. My throat was burning with every sip. We met an interesting native, Dave, that came up to us and told us about island life. He was nice and willing to take us to another club later, but we declined. He did manage to take a group selfie with us and leave us his gigantic business card.

  

After drinks we headed downstairs to the restaurant. The menu cover didn't match the the name of the restaurant. I Googled the menu cover with the name "Kressmann" and it belongs to Edouard Kressmann, a German who founded the House of Kressman in Bordeaux, France in 1871. Not really clear on how it's associated with Le Black Pearl, but they both definitely have the French thing going on. The menu is not in English--at all! Thankfully, my friend, Becky, speaks and reads French and was able to order for us. I liked the black skull and crossbones printed on the top of every page and how they tried to keep the menu pirate themed. The food was abundant and pretty good for late night eats. My friend, Maria, managed to shove the menu in her bag when no one was looking. Merci, Maria!
 

Le Black Pearl, 36 Rue Ernest Deproges
Fort-de-France, Martinique
Website

Le Black Pearl

Our Saturday afternoon adventure took us to the beach of Anse Mitan located in Trois-Ilets via short ferry ride from Fort-de-France. This is how I imagined our day would be spent laying on the beach, swimming in the blue waters to cool off and sipping rose and champagne. Pretty much how it went with a bit of American craziness.

For a late lunch, we went to Bod Lanmé, a restaurant on the beach. The restaurant is part of Hotel Bambou. Thankfully, the menu was both in French and English and the food and drinks were delicious. I liked that the menu suggested wine/drink pairings for food items. Maria, once again, was able to collect the menu by stuffing it in her bag. Merci, Maria!

Bod Lanmé, Plage du Anse Mitan
Trois Ilets, Martinique
Website

Bod Lanmé

After touring most of the island on Sunday, we stopped at a notable beach restaurant, Le Petibonum located in Le Carbet, before heading back to Fort-de-France. I wasn't able to collect the menu because it was written on a giant chalkboard. The place was lively, the people were great looking and the food was good. It had such a fun vibe, but the service was a little spotty. It would have been funny to see Maria trying to collect this menu, but I doubt that even if she had it wouldn't go through customs-haha! Would have made a great addition to my collection and story.

Le Petibonum, Plage du Coin, Le Carbet, Martinique Website

Lastly, I leave you with a few of my favorite pictures from the beautiful French Caribbean island of magnifique Martinique. I would come back to you in a heartbeat.

Au revoir!

El Peñascal

Earlier this month, Mark shot video for Trickle Up, a US based nonprofit that works with the poorest and most vulnerable populations (women, people with disabilities, refugees, indigenous people) and helps them achieve financial independence. They do this by providing seed capital for microenterprises as opposed to loans. They also provide ongoing support, training and help participants connect with savings and loan groups.

I interned at Trickle Up in 2004 and have continued to remain in touch with many past and current employees. It is through my work and connections, Mark has been shooting, editing and presenting the video at their annual fundraising gala in NYC. His work has taken him to some of the most poorest regions in Burkina Faso, India and just recently, Guatemala.

I was a lot worried about him traveling to Guatemala, especially since the outbreak of the Zika virus has been confirmed in the region, but thankfully, he returned fine.

While in Guatemala, Mark was able to collect a menu from El Peñascal, a restaurant located in Cobán. He snuck it in his jacket like a pro. When I Googled the restaurant, Trip Advisor had surprisingly good reviews and is the #3 restaurant in Cobán. El Peñascal means "rocky place" or "rocky hill", and Mark was saying that the region was very hilly and having to trek up the hills with all their equipment made it very challenging, especially in the heat, but they finished. Job well done!

The menu is in Spanish, obvi. The prices such as Q. 67.75, Q. 55.00 and Q. 95.00 are in Guatemalan Quetzal. Imagine if these were US prices? Sheesh! The conversion rates for the above mentioned are: US 8.84, US 7.18 and US 12.40, so it's actually inexpensive. If I was there I would probably get some kind of traditional dish like tamales, guacamole, and tortillas, but apparently, there really isn't a national dish according to the website Food by Country. The food is greatly influenced by the Mayan Empire, Spanish rule and the modern republic.

I'm also grateful because Mark brought back coffee! Coffee from Central and South America is the real deal, yo! The coffee he brought back is from the mountains of Guatemala and the brand is Dieseldorff Kaffee, which is widely known in the area and they offer tours. He also brought back a small bottle of cardamom, which he says I'm supposed to put it in the kaffee.  You can read about how this German kaffee brand came to be in Guatemala here.

El Peñascal, 5a avenida 2-61 zona 1, 5a Avenida 5

Cobán, Guatemala

Website

El Peñascal

Sugarfina

Sugarfina is a boutique candy store located across the US and they create personalized bento boxes filled with an assortment of candies of your choosing. The candies are bite size, handmade and come from artisans all over the world using their finest ingredients.

The packaging is cute, fun and pretty. From their signature Tiffany colored baby blue box to eye popping candy colors and exotic flavors, I was very excited to try all the different flavors I received in my personalized "You're Awesome" 8-piece bento box. Everything is neatly arranged, sized, labeled and pleasing to the eye. They even threw in some sample candies and placed it in the middle of the box.

The unique candies in my bento box are: matcha green tea caramels, marshmallow s'mores, Tahitian vanilla caramels, peanut butter toffee, martini olive almonds, blood orange fruttini, pumpkin pie caramels, and key lime pie cookie bites. I recommend when eating these candies and trying a new flavor, eat your first one whole and chew on it to absorb and imagine the flavors of the ingredients. Your second taste, you should bite it in half and look in the middle of the other half to see hidden flavors and ingredients. It may take you by your third taste to fully appreciate the flavor.

Matcha green tea caramels (US): first off, they had me at green tea. I love how they infused the matcha green tea into the caramel. While the green tea taste is subtle, you can definitely taste the caramel as it's very sharp.

Marshmallow s'mores (US): I haven't had s'mores before to provide a comparison, but according to Sugarfina's description, a mini marshmallow drenched in milk chocolate then rolled in crushed graham cracker seems accurate. It's fun to see the mini, and I mean, very mini marshmallow inside when you bite it in half.

Tahitian vanilla caramels (US): the caramel flavor is not as sharp as the matcha green tea caramels. When I think of Tahitian vanilla, I think of ice cream and I was hoping for a softer palette, which is pretty much what I got. I like the chocolate and vanilla combo.

Peanut butter toffee (US): the toffee bit in the middle is covered in peanut butter chocolate and dusted with powdered sugar. Yum, just yum.

Martini olive almonds (US): I swear, you can mistake these for real olives. It's brilliant how they created this. White chocolate surrounds the almond and is simply divine.

Blood orange fruttini (Italy): This might be my favorite of the bunch. Not sure why because I'm a chocoholic! I swear! Rarely do I choose gummy and fruity over chocolate. I do like the blood orange flavor and it's rolled in Italian sugar crystals, so win-win!

Pumpkin pie caramels (US): The caramel flavor in this blends well with pumpkin flavor. It's not super sweet and I like that they infused cinnamon and nutmeg like a real pumpkin pie.

Key lime pie cookie bites (US): key lime pie can be sweet and tart just like these sugar cookie bites. They are dipped in white chocolate and infused with key lime.

Finally, the two candy samples that came with my bento box are champagne bubbles and heavenly sours (both look like gummy drops). I haven't tried them yet, but I promise to review once I do. They just look too cute to eat. They all do! And make no mistake, this stuff ain't cheap.

Goodbye sugar

40 PHL Menu

I love our Connecticut house. I really do. I love escaping the concrete jungle for greenery and tranquility. It's only an hour and twenty minute drive from Chelsea without traffic, but lately, it's been taking us around an hour and a half + change. Most of the time we go alone but often times we host our family, friends and clients. When we do host, I like to make sure everyone has a first class experience.

For our dining experience, I always like to write down our meals, so we have a small ceramic menu board with a frog on top that you can use with dry erase markers. I've been using it for years and I like it because I can update it for each meal service quickly. Although, I would prefer a larger one because sometimes it doesn't all fit so I have to write smaller. Also, the markers tend to bleed a little so sometimes you can't read it that well, but it works for now.

Through the years, we've come up with different ways to present the food menu. At one point, Mark designed a simple but elegant paper menu that we were going to hand out like a regular restaurant menu, but I decided to cut and tape it to the frog menu board. It didn't look that classy, but at least it looked clean and neat. I like the printed paper menu because you can be creative, add graphics and use a classy font versus sloppy handwriting and having to draw on the menu board, which I can't draw.

For my birthday last year, Bill, Mark's brother, gave me a very special gift. He created a very classy, creative and exceptional menu with help from a coworker. It's printed on egg shell colored high quality card stock and is folded in half like a booklet. The front cover has the address 40 PHL in a diamond shape in the middle of the cover AND has a picture of the house in the background. How cool is that? The inside left page is blank and dark brown colored, while the inside right page has the title "MENU" at the top with a picture of the kitchen in the background. It takes up about 1/4 of the top of the page to make room for the removable insert which is sized perfectly for the space for where the food menu goes. The removable insert is also printed on the same egg shell colored high quality card stock so it matches. The insert includes: the date, starters, main courses, side dishes, desserts, and wine with a smaller diamond logo of 40 PHL at the bottom. I like the insert because, obviously, you can update it accordingly and it also provides the opportunity to place small icons next to a dish highlighting if a dish is vegetarian, spicy or dairy free. Possibilities are endless, but I'd like it to stay classy, of course. The back of the menu has a picture of the house during the winter with snow on the ground.

I like this menu because it could be used only for dinner and guests can take it home as a souvenir (just the insert), and for breakfast and lunch, I could continue using the frog menu board.

Many thanks, Bill. One of the best birthday presents I ever received.

Kit Kat 2

Konnichiwa! I have new flavors! Yay! I always get so excited when I go into a Japanese store and they sell Kit Kat flavors I haven't had. Seriously, I go cray cray.

During our recent running destination trip to Los Angeles to run the Griffith Park Half Marathon, we stumbled upon a small Japanese store Marukai Market. It reminded me of Mitsuwa Marketplace the local store we go to in Edgewater, NJ; although, Mitsuwa also has locations in California.

The three new flavors I purchased are: black, sweet potato and hazelnut.

Black: it's like having bitter dark chocolate. It's not so bitter like Mexican dark chocolate bitter, but it is not as sweet as your traditional Kit Kat. The color is even darker, so the only way to describe it is it's bittersweet!

Sweet potato: I swear, this flavor is on my list of top 3 unique flavors. It's not overwhelmingly sweet, but sweet enough that it really does taste like sweet potato.

Hazelnut: when I bit into this treat it reminded me of Ferrero Rocher, and I'm addicted to eating that deliciousness. Unbelievable! It has a crunchy texture and after a few quick bites you can actually taste the hazelnut, but it's subtle. I do like it but wish it had a more hazelnutty flavor.