A Trip Back to Paris

This may be, in fact, the cheapest trip to Paris. Ever.

No I'm not talking about going to Paris, Texas or the 19 or so other towns in the United States named Paris. Unfortunately I'm not in the City of Lights but I'm sitting in a little restaurant in Merrifield, Virginia called Le Pain Quotidien (Our Daily Bread).

I frankly had never heard of it before.  As it turns out it's a chain of restaurants around the world founded by a couple of guys from Belgium. But I digress.

I had come in thinking this was just a French name for another Panera Bread-like company. Don't get me wrong, I really like Panera Bread.  But this took the experience a bit further.

Sitting here drinking a perfectly drawn double espresso, I was writing my other blog when the wild mushroom and goat cheese omelette appeared with a side of French ham and Gruyere cheese. I was transported to a cafe in Paris I ate in two years ago.

The omelette was beautifully prepared.

And it got me thinking.  Up until the omelette arrived, I was not thinking a lot about restaurant at all.  I was just sitting here writing. But . . . the minute the omelette arrived, BAM I was back to Paris.

But this isn't the first time that has happened.  Sometimes it's a glass of wine that takes me back to the vineyard where I first tasted it. I can remember the experience as much as the taste. Other times it's a particular food.

Comfort foods are those things that take us back to times when we felt good. When life was what it should be. I think that's one of the reasons why I love food.  It's not so much the food as the experience and friends and life that is lived around the table.

And that is as it should be.

They Don’t Call it Music City for Nothing!

It’s 6:30 am and I’m probably like many of the revelers in Music City . . . just ending the day.  Ok that’s not really true.  I’m just starting my day but this is a city that’s alive with music.

Got up bright and early on Saturday morning (flights were so much cheaper than Friday night!) and arrived early Saturday morning.  I was coming in for an event hosted by the Nashville Rescue Mission called Music for a Mission.

The best thing about this weekend is that I didn’t come alone.  Whereas last weekend I was working my way through California Wine Country, this weekend I’m in Music City.

This city has earned its name.

It begins in the airline terminal as you’re walking toward the exit. There’s a version of the famous Purple Orchid complete with live music. Every time I walk by the restaurant there’s someone different playing – and it’s not only what I would count as country music.

I have a confession to make.  I’m not a huge country music fan. Frankly I’m not a fan at all.  It goes way back (over 35 years).  I used to be an avid fan but then one fateful day a song came on where the chorus included: “there’s only two things that money can’t buy. That’s true love and home grown tomatoes.”

Really?

Over the years I’ve had folks tell me that country music is different today. I guess it is but I’m not sure with songs over the years like “Do you think my tractor’s sexy?”  Perhaps not so different.

I changed the station at that moment and never went back. That’s a bit unusual since my musical tastes are quite eclectic from classical and opera to rock to heavy metal and back to all forms of Jazz and the blues. No rap. No country.

Until this weekend. Maybe.

But I digress.  Since we weren’t able to check into the hotel early, we went over to an old favorite – Noshville – for a quick breakfast. Noshville is a great New York deli in Nashville. The quality of the food and the choices (great lox and bagel) are reminiscent of the fare you’d find in the Big Apple not Music City.

I picked up a magazine that listed all the best places in Nashville. Since I don’t always plan my trips, it provided a little direction for the day. The only thing on the docket was a dinner reservation at Whitfields with a dear family friend.

So a quick drive out to the community of Franklin. This cute little community on the outskirts of Nashville has a little for everyone. We even got in to see the Franklin Farmer’s Market. And, you guessed it; there was live music to entertain the marketers.

Even though there’s a wine road in Tennessee we decided to try something different – we took the whiskey trail.

From Franklin we headed to Lynchburg, Tennessee for a visit to an American institution. As American as apple pie, mom and Harley Davidson, Jack Daniel’s distillery is a must see.

Now here’s a unique twist – the distillery is in a dry county of Tennessee. Yep. Dry. As in no tastings. No regular purchases. Only commemorative bottles are available at the distillery. But we arrived just in time to take the tour – and a few weeks before their BBQ festival.

I was eager to learn what made the difference between Whiskey and Tennessee whiskey (not to mention bourbon etc.) When we arrived there was just one tour ahead of ours and before our tour began, they were taking reservations for tours seven after ours. 

While we have some photos, there were no photos in the distillery. Here’s what we learned. Tennessee whiskey has a minimum of 80% corn in the mash whereas bourbon has to have more than 55%. What separates Tennessee Whiskey from all the others is the charcoal filtering that takes place just after the distilling.

The tour begins with a short movie and then we load up on a bus and they take us to the Rick Yard. This is where they make the charcoal for the filtering from ricks of sugar maple. From there we get a bit of a lesson on the distilling of whiskey. 

It’s a tour I would suggest you take and the best part of it is that the price is right. Yep. It’s free.

After the tour and our free lemonade we went to Lynchburg for a quick lunch. We stopped at the BBQ Caboose Café for a pulled pork sandwich. Pulled pork was good but our side of red beans and rice was disappointing as the rice was not fully cooked. Still crunchy.

After lunch we wound our way to the George F. Dickel distillery. Just in time, as it turns out, for the last tour of the day. The name itself conjures up all kinds of inappropriate advertising slogans. Very similar to the Jack Daniel’s tour only they don’t do the bottling on site anymore.

Both distilleries are owned by huge conglomerates: Jack Daniel’s by Brown-Forman and Dickel by Diageo. Not necessarily bad but it’s not the same when you can visit with the family/owners like those of the Sonoma County wineries.

After the tour it was back to Nashville for a brief nap and to get ready for dinner. We met my dear friend Sue for dinner at Whitfield’s where her friend, Mark Sorrells and his trio, was playing. Whitfield’s is another gem in Nashville.

Seated in the bar so we could hear the music – again, it’s Music City after all – we began with a bottle of Francis Ford Coppola’s Director’s Cut chardonnay. I’m normally a red wine drinker but the Director’s Cut chardonnay was intriguing. 

After my visit in July to the Coppola winery, I’ve had the opportunity to pick out a couple of his wines to go with various dinners.  This one went with an appetizer of their mussels.

A truly delicious pairing.

This gave us time to just catch up and for Sue to meet Roxanne for the first time. After the first set, Mark joined us for a few minutes on his break. What a great opportunity to meet him. Smooth jazz. Standards. Even a little rock and roll. A very eclectic mix.

This is a place where the hours can drift away over good food and wine with friends. Dinner included a couple of their Saratoga Ribeyes and I had the Crab and Chorizo ravioli. The ribeyes were done to a perfect medium rare and the ravioli was delicious.

Dessert?

Absolutely. The perfect end to the meal was their donuts. Easily shareable and incredibly good. What’s wrong with dough dropped into hot fat and then rolled in sugar?  A perfect ending to day one in Music City.

Check back next week for day 2 and some really fabulous music.

The Most Important Meal of the Day

It's 7 am on a Tuesday morning.  The family is gathered around the breakfast table with fresh squeezed orange juice, steaming hot biscuits, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon and fresh fruit are in their respective plates and bowls.

The conversation is centered around the plans for the day and the challenges that each family member expects to face.  This is a scene that is played out every day around the country as families prepare for the day around the breakfast table.

Ok. Perhaps it only happens in movies like Pleasantville but today's fast-paced world really doesn't seem to allow this type of activity to take place regularly.  Frankly, I'm lucky if I remember to grab the fruit that's been cut up and a hard boiled egg or two.  Conversation is limited . . . if at all.

Unfortunately I don't think I can count on one hand the number of breakfasts I had with my children as they were growing up.

Shame on me!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and not just for physiological reasons.  It sets the tone for relationships.  All too often I'm pushing because I'm late and frankly, I'm too busy.  It's time to reset those things that are most important in life and it isn't the things.

Perhaps I should get up a half hour earlier not so that I can rush out the door but so that I spend time on the relationships that matter.

I was reminded of that again this morning when I had breakfast with a long-time family friend. I've been in Nashville for a few days and had an opportunity to catch up.

This morning it was at a deli in Nashville called . . . are you ready . . . Noshville.  After getting in the car and driving around a few blocks to find it (it is right behind the Hampton Inn I was staying at!), the parking lot was full.  Not really too bad but it was raining a little.

After living in Oregon for a few years I learned that a little rain never hurt anyone and it wasn't a reason to pull out an umbrella or to run.  You get wet. You dry off.

It was fun to get caught up over a wonderful meal.  A great cup of coffee along with a generous helping of Lox, cream cheese and an everything bagel.  The only thing that seemed a little unusual was that the capers were a side order rather than standard.

But as tasty as the food was, it was the reminder that I should be making time to have a conversation over breakfast and take the opportunity build relationship with those that matter most that was the best part of the morning.

So for the next week I'm going to make a concerted effort to make time to not just refuel the body during breakfast but refuel the important relationships in life. 

The Family Celebration

You can choose your friends but not your family.

That old adage about friends and family is absolutely true.  And most of the time it comes out in spades right around a celebration of some sort.

It's too bad because so often we end up ruining the celebrations that should be so special.  

It's been a crazy couple of weeks in the Loux household.  In mid-May I decided to move and in the meantime I've had more travel come up than the first few months of the year combined.  Which is why I didn't get something posted the last few weeks.

My niece graduated from High School in Michigan a week ago and we made the trip up to Michigan to celebrate with her and the family. It seems as though this part of the summer is filled with special celebrations.

Whether it's a wedding, a graduation, a birthday, Mother's and Father's Day we seem to gather to join the celebration.  But sometimes I don't love that they involve family.

That wasn't the case this past weekend but it too often can be.  Everyone has their own idea of how things should go and so often don't want to give up their ideas for the good of the celebration. And, that's a good thing because celebrations so often involve food and wine.

This celebration involved a lot of wonderful food and both family and friends.  It was fun to see all the food coming out.  One of the things I hate to see happen at any party is to run out of food.  I've been to celebrations where there's just enough food.

What so often ends up happening is that people don't end up eating.  They nibble instead of eat.  Especially those come and go as you please type of events. That's exactly what this graduation celebration was all about.  All day Sunday people came and went and filled their plates with food and enjoyed a beverage of their choice.

What I loved was that there was a little bit of everything on the tables. In addition to the pulled pork, BBQ sauce and salsa we brought up, there were two types of meatballs, fruit and vegetables with dip. There were all kinds of chips as well.

No one went away hungry if they didn't want to.

But more than that what I loved most was listening people talk and laugh and share stories together. I watched as my niece greeted everyone with hugs and thank yous. I have a very special place in my heart for all my nieces and nephews.

In the midst of the baggage of life, there's nothing like the unconditional love of the niece or nephew to make you feel OK when the whole world seems to be against you. This was a wonderful celebration of my niece's graduation and I wouldn't have missed for the whole world.

So, Kara, as you embark on this next step in life let me share my congratulations on your success.