April 29, 2024

Charlie Rogers

Travel Blog, Travel, Blog

Travel Blog: New York City, New York: Turning 32 On West 35th Street!

April 29, 2024

Charlie Rogers

Travel Blog, Travel, Blog

Prologue

Well, well, well. I bet we all didn’t anticipate being back here so soon did we?! Another travel blog?! Why yes indeed dear reader, another travel blog! This time, however, we’re staying stateside & visiting a city that I love but hadn’t been to in almost half a decade, which just typing that is blowing my mind. As per usual, you are currently looking at the “prologue” portion of this blog which will be a one off. No multipart series this time around I’m afraid. With that in mind let’s get into the details shall we?!

Evan & I had literally just gotten back from the Philippines, We’re talking arrived home the day before on a Sunday & woke up the Monday after to an email from Southwest Airlines with an offer that they extend our way every few months, & which we usually do our best to take advantage of. The offer was that if we booked a round trip flight within the next three days, to be taken in completion by mid-May, that we would earn a companion pass for two months at the end of summer/beginning of fall. I am someone who unfortunately spoils himself rotten & likes nothing more than to travel for my birthday, surprise, surprise. Having not been to New York City in five years & desperately wanting to see Sweeney Todd before it closed, New York City was the winner & for about $200 round trip we got our flights as well as earned our companion passes which allow us to fly free with a companion during the months in which it is active.

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

Day One

Typically Evan & I are early fliers, this time we went with an evening flight which was really nice because it allowed us the freedom to go about our day, pack & prepare at an acceptable pace, & get an adequate amount of sleep the morning of. It does definitely negate the ability to have “another day” in the place you’re visiting but Ev also had to work half the day leading up to our flight so it worked out.

We ended up being delayed an hour or so for our flight to Laguardia, but once we were up & away I spent the duration of our two hour flight editing dive videos from Bohol & Evan did a bit more work for his other job. Other than the small British child whaling & kicking the ever loving hell out of my seat, the flight was fairly painless.

We arrived in New York around 9:30 PM. We made our way through the terminal, gathered our baggage, & hopped aboard the Q70+ bus, a free transfer, headed into Astoria. From Astoria we popped onto the Manhattan Bound E train. Once we were at 34th, in the Garment District, we got off & walked the remaining distance to our friend Anne’s apartment. I met Anne through a start-up she began years ago called “Steereo” & though that business fell through Anne has continued chugging along in the start-up space with her current venture Dose.fm. During the Steereo days Anne & I ended up getting fairly close & I used to see her often when she was living in LA. We were greeted with an infectious smile, a glass of wine, puppies, & an ushering to the room we’d be sleeping in. After a brief life catch up Anne informed us that she’d ordered a few slices of pizza from Artichoke Basille’s Pizza for delivery & we set about to grab a few bottles of wine before the shops closed at 11.

Barely making it into the store before they closed I snagged two of my go to basic bottles of red wine that seem to be crowd pleasers at a decent value; A to Z Pinot Noir & Louis Jadot Beaujolais. Both are lighter reds that aren’t too tannic & still are somewhat fruit forward.

The pizza came right after we returned & we all three split the three massive slices she had ordered; the Artichoke, Margarita, & Staten Island.

After about an hour of wining & conversing we decided it was time to call it a day & off we went to bed.

End Of Day One

Day Two

I awoke to it being my birthday! No longer was I in my 31st year, now we were on to 32! Be sure to wish me happy belated in the comments & share your most prized picture of me to your social media feeds…Please don’t do that haha.

We slept in a bit. After showering & dressing we bid Anne goodbye for the day & out the door we went to some birthday day exploring of the city.

Our first stop had to be coffee. As someone who was born in Portland, Oregon, my need to venture into any Stumptown Coffee overrides any trendy or top rated coffee shop simply out of familiarity. Call me basic if you’d like, I will forever be a Stumptown loyalist. The closest one to us was in-between Koreatown & Flatiron & is located inside the Ace Hotel. I got some sort of Iced Strawberry Espresso drink & Evan went basic with his Iced Vanilla Latte which honestly is hard to beat. With caffeine acquired & the day turning into something truly lovely we went off in search of some sustenance.

I’m going to make another choice here that I think a lot of New Yorkers would probably find basic &/or a little touristy but it’s been a staple of mine for a while in the city & I desperately miss having them available in LA when I visit. We stopped off at the Dominique Ansel Workshop just down the street in Flatiron for some pastries. I got a Pistachio Passionfruit Roll; croissant with passionfruit filling & pistachio icing, & Evan got another of his standard orders, a Pan Au Chocolate. We munched down our pastries & finished off our coffee at their standing tables that overlook their bakery before we hopped the train to go uptown.

I don’t know if this is something that I often broadcast. I definitely know it isn’t something I share often here, but just after COVID I got very into Mineral & Crystal collecting. Apparently it’s something I’ve done since I was a kid as a few times ago when I was home I discovered a box of affects from my childhood filled with different stones I’d found, naturally most of them being a variant of quartz. However, since I’d rekindled this fascination & developed a deeper appreciation for the formations of the earth, I hadn’t had the chance to revisit the American Museum of Natural History & explore their mineralogical exhibit otherwise known as the Mignone Halls of Gems & Minerals.

Main Hall of the American Museum of Natural History

While we were in line to get tickets for the museum I began looking at matinee seats for Sweeney Todd the following day. I had them pulled up, was debating which ones with Evan, picked a set, had them in my cart to check out when I got an airdrop notification from Evan. It was a picture of the tickets that he had bought once we’d been confirmed to come for my birthday & they were almost the exact seats I was looking at; Dead center of the Orchestra section, Row N. I was overjoyed!

With added excitement to a trip I was already excited to be on, we bought our admission & made our way downstairs to where the gem exhibit lives.

In addition to the gem exhibit I also like to stop into the Hall of Ocean Life on not just to glimpse the sheer size of their big ole Blue Whale that they have suspended above the exhibit hall. It’s truly astounding.

After walking through the ocean exhibit we headed towards the minerals, stopping on our way through the Hall of Human Origins where there was a fascinating interactive display showing what specific environmental conditions caused what specific genetic mutations in humans, where those mutations originated on the planet, & where they can be found on the human genome.

After that came the Hall of Meteorites where I was shocked to find a large quantity of meteorites from my home state of Kansas. Additionally, they also had a massive Moldavite, about the size of a small fist. I added it to my mental list of things I would pillage from the museum if ever given the ethical chance…we all have the mental list, don’t act like you don’t!

We finally arrived at the main event, the Gem & Mineral Halls. The halls feature gems & mineral specimens from around the world & when you walk in you’re greeted by two massive back to back Amethyst Geodes. I think Evan & I spent around two hours wandering the halls. We went to each & every case appreciating & remarking at the different crystals & rocks there within. What was interesting to me, & what will be a bit of a ‘hair toss’ here, is that some of the pieces in the museum I felt I may have better specimens of at home. That’s not to say the vast majority didn’t blow anything I own out of the water.

Another two items that I added to my mental personal collection were the two Chrysoberyls. One was the traditional yellow-green & was the size of a clementine, the other was an Alexandrite. As one of the rarest gemstones in the world & a personal favorite of mine, Alexandrite possesses the unique ability to change colors based on the type of light it is being exposed to. It either appears anywhere from blue-green to reddish-purple. This is because the crystal lattice structure refracts different wavelengths of light differently within the stone. There are several at the museum, but my favorite was one of the smaller ones that happened to have an almost complete cyclic trilling, which gives the stone almost like a snowflake appearance.

While we were in the exhibit my dear old friend, Morgan Turner PhD, send me a message asking if her exhibit was on display. Not knowing she had a potential exhibit in the museum I asked her to expound more. She informed me that she’d done a video installation for the museum a few years prior using her discoveries around dinosaur footprints & their walking patterns though she wasn’t sure the video had ever actually been installed. When I tell you Evan & I spent an hour walking around the different halls of dinosaurs on the fifth floor, I mean it. Morgan even went as far as emailing the director of the museum to see where the installation was. Unfortunately she didn’t get a response til after we’d left. Oh darn, guess I’m going to have to go back again just to see it.

Our next stop was more caffeine. Our coffee obsessed friend Dan had tipped us off to the fact that WatchHouse, a UK based coffee shop that you can find previously mentioned in one of my London blogs, had opened their first location in the US in Midtown. We took a lovely midday stroll through Central Park to get there. The walk took us around 30 minutes but the weather was so perfect that is was entirely worth it!

Upon arrival at WatchHouse I ordered a Flat White with an Asparagus & Leek Danish & Evan got their Cold Brew which was served in the coolest Kinto glass that looked like it was a plastic cup.

Feeling renewed & with evening approaching, we decided to head back to Anne’s to lounge about for a bit, shower, & prepare for our dinner reservation.

For my birthday dinner I had booked us a spot at Hav & Mar. A James Beard Award finalist this year, Hav & Mar is an Ethiopian inspired Seafood restaurant from restauranteur & chef Marcus Samuelsson located in Chelsea. The menu isn’t overly Ethiopian, though its presence is definitely still felt! Evan & I tend to go family style at most meals we venture off to & this one was no different.

We started our evening with a celebratory cocktail, the Seashore Spritz which featured Mallorca Melon, Black Tea, Apple, & Celery along with Prosecco, it was a lovely light imbibement. We kind of then played the rest of the menu by ear having asked several different staff members what to get upon arrival. The first thing we ordered was the Hav Bread Basket which came with Injera Crisps, Teff Biscuits, Blue Cornbread, Shiro Hummus, Honey Butter, & Tomato Jam. We picked our way through them, trying each combination of bread with each of the spreads.

Next up came small plates.

We ordered Hamachi with Black Ceviche, Cippolini Onions, Grammy Smith Apples, & Fennel. the Spring Salad with Baby Romaine, Red Endive, Fava Beans, Ayib, & Spiced Pepitas, & probably some of the best Brown Butter Scallops with Spring Vegetables, Turmeric, & Pumpkin Coffee Crumble that I’ve ever had!

We were honestly starting to get a bit full but that didn’t stop us from splitting an entree & two sides of which we ordered the Havatini which was a Bucatini with Crab, Uni Butter, Shrimp, & Ramps. It slapped! Our sides were the Hav Fries which were a combination of Yucca & Sweet Potato with Shiro Hummus & Awaze & the Farroto, a Couscous & Farro dish prepared like Risotto served with Confit Mushrooms & Ramps which was sinfully good.

And since there’s always room in the dessert stomach it too was brought to the table in the form of a Spring Tart made with Guava & Calamansi both of which are two of my favorite tropical flavors!

All & all Hav & Mar was a smash! We didn’t have anything there that was anything less than stellar & I’m truly just upset that we weren’t able to try more of the menu as it does contain quite a few items, all of which that shift seasonally.

Following dinner I made the executive decision that I wanted to go clear across town to the Lower East Side & visit a bar called ‘Double Chicken Please.’

Double Chicken Please is a front bar with a backroom speakeasy that is currently sitting pretty at the #2 slot on the World’s 50 Best Bars list! The front room bar features draft cocktails & the back bar, or ‘The Coop’s’ menu is more made to order. Both share a food menu of mostly chicken sandwiches.

When we arrived they were on a bit of a wait, but my superpower always prevails & we were told “well, we have a reservation arriving in 30 minutes, but if you’d like their table for just a drink or two we can arrange that.” So that’s exactly what we did.

All of the drinks in The Coop are modeled after food. I got the Mango Sticky Rice with was Bacardi Reserva Ocho Rum, Mango, Sticky Rice Pu’er Tea (I actually have this at home), Wakame, Cold Brew, & Coconut. Evan, on the other hand, went the savory route & got the Japanese Cold Noodles which was Bacardi Superior Rum, Pineapple, Cucumber, Coconut, Lime, & Sesame Oil & it definitely was more on the savory side which was really interesting to have in a drink. Both drinks were immaculate, though I’m glad that I ordered what I did.

We finished up right around the time our friends Holden & Erina finished up the movie they had gone to. They reached out to see if we wanted to grab a drink somewhere. With us in the Lower East Side & them up by Midtown I suggested we meet in the middle around Flatiron at a bar that was recommended to me by Joshua Gleave called Patent Pending.

Patent Pending is a speakeasy located at the base of the building where Nikola Tesla conducted many of his experiments on radio waves & there-in lies the theme. The whole bar is themed around early electricity & the life & journals of the late, great Nikola Tesla. The drinks are also served with a bit of flare! All in all we ended up staying way longer than we were supposed to & each ended up with about three to four drinks over the span of two plus hours. So in all honesty, even looking at the menu, I can’t really remember what I ordered though I know I stuck to rum most of the night.

What I do remember is that the drinks were very well crafted & balanced. One of mine even came with bananas that were brûléed tableside! I would recommend it for the experience alone!

At around midnight we said goodbye to our friends & headed back west towards the Garment District.

We tried to be quiet getting back into Anne’s but I think we didn’t do so great of a job as Evan broke the blinds for our room trying to close them for the night. He literally twisted the pitch knob on them & they completely disconnected from the top of the sill & just hung slack, still attached on one side.

All in all, it was an excellent birthday & a very fun day filled with amazing people & places!

Ceiling of the American Museum of Natural History

End Of Day Two

Day Three

Another day of lightly sleeping in. I’m not going to lie to you all, I woke up hungover as sin. Ever since around the age of 29, hangovers have really hit me like a tone of bricks & just tend to get worse & worse as the years go on & as my body becomes less suited to my BS & the poison I occasionally in take.

Evan & I had a late morning coffee date set up with a friend in Brooklyn, so after climbing the morning mountain that was getting out of bed, we headed off across the East River with electrolyte drinks in hand.

Coffee in Brooklyn was at a Columbian shop called Devoción. When I say it was a Columbian coffee shop, I mean it, that’s what they specialize in, all things Columbian Coffee!! Evan & I waited, not too long, for our friend to arrive at which point we each got a Pistachio Milk Cortado & our respective morning pastries. I went with the Guava Croissant, Evan his staple of Pain Au Chocolate.

We sat there for a good hour & a half/two hours talking about the past, photography, musical theater, the macabre, parents, trauma, dreams, life, & relationships. It was a lovely rekindling as well as a much needed venting session for the three of us regarding shared experiences & people. Nothing was said that wouldn’t be said to anyone in questions face, nor was any of it things that hadn’t been said or happened. It was a healthy & honest dive into a shared commonality.

Feeling a bit famished & having the void remain despite coffee & pastries, Evan & I bid our friend a loving & fond ‘adieu’ & made our way back to the island.

Lunch was at a restaurant in NoHo called Fish Cheeks. We had met the owners of the establishment, Jenn Saesue & Jesse Morav, back in 2021 at a dinner with music industry friends in Nashville & had been meaning to make the trek out to their establishment. We finally did!

Fish Cheeks is an awesome Thai restaurant located right off of Bond Street. Their menu isn’t necessarily what I would call familiar to those who divulge in their local Thai restaurants, but the items on the list still very much maintain their Thai authenticity while naturally having their own twists & turns. As per usual, Evan & I ordered a bunch of things to split & made our way through them as they came.

The first two things that we ordered were the Zabb Wings & the Somtum Corn Salad. Somtum is typically a Papaya salad, though this one had Cweet Corn as its replacement. The dish was very savory with a slight sweetness from the Corn & a prick of heat from the Birdeye Chilis as well as a very nice mouth feel & a springy crunch from the Green Beans. The wings had outstanding flavor with a dry rub of Chili & Makrut Lime Leaf. I’m typically not one to go in for dry rub wings as they can get a little ‘dusty’ but the flavor made up for any potential hesitancies ten fold.

Between courses I ordered a cocktail they had as a special for Songkran (Thai New Year) in hopes for a little hair of the dog, but I found myself, at no fault to the cocktail itself, incapable of drinking it without feeling queasy. The drink, called the Little Cha, was a Thai Spiced Rum, Thai Tea, Plum Sugar, Makrut Leaf, & Lime twist on an Old Fashioned & I truly wish my pesky handover had let me enjoy it.

For our main course we ordered the Coconut Crab Curry & the 30 Day Dry Aged Beef Kaprow both of which were outstanding! We had been warned that the crab curry was spicy, though we were also informed that the rice would help balance it out. She was warm to say the least but the flavors there in made me keep coming back, despite my mouth being aflame. I’m typically someone who does fine with spice as well, but this was a whole new level. If your tolerance is high & you have the chance I can’t recommend it enough, it’s just not for the faint of heart. The Kaprow was also a delight! The Aging, the Duck, the Veggies all made just a perfectly rounded dish!

With mouths still lit, we decided that Ice Cream was needed, fortunately they had some on their menu! Dessert was a Pandan Jackfruit Ice Cream served atop Sticky Rice. I am a huge fan of both of those flavors, both of which I also feel are criminally underrated in the US palette. (See last week’s blog from the Philippines where I scoured a market for a fresh Jackfruit.) Pandan almost has a bright peanut-y flavor to it that leans a little more on the ‘green’ side than the legume itself & Jackfruit tastes like a combination of all the popular tropical fruits: pineapple, banana, mango, & coconut.

After lunch we popped around a few of the shops in the NoHo area, doing our best to avoid the scattered drizzle that was falling here & there, before we decided to make our way back to Anne’s.

We sat around conversing with her for a bit before it was time to get ready for the main event!

Sweeney Todd was at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, which was just a short walk from where we were staying. The revival of the show originally had Josh Groban in the titular role with Annaleigh Ashford as Mrs. Lovett, & Gaten Matarazzo as Tobias Ragg but had since switched to having Aaron Tveit, Sutton Foster, & Joe Locke in each of those respective roles. Having been one of my favorite shows for a very long time, I have seen many a production of Sweeney Todd but truly this one blew all of the others I had seen out of the water!

Aaron, despite being mostly a Tenor in a Baritone role, actually nailed the part. Each of the actors brought their own unique takes to the roles in question, he was no exception. Aaron’s Sweeney was charismatic, often almost bipolar, but definitely personified the ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ motif perfectly.

Sutton stole the show in every scene she was in giving a portrayal of Mrs Lovett that I can only describe as fangirl-ish. She let her character’s obsession with Todd take main stage & her willingness to do anything, as long as it got her closer to him, became all the more believable because of it. Prone to body humor, Sutton was often draped over Aaron going so far at one point during “A Little Priest” as to have a one sided sloppy make out with the side of Aaron’s cheek.

Joe Locke surprised me! I’d only known him from the Netflix’s adaptation of Heartstopper, the boy has got pipes!

The two other stand out cast members were John Rapson’s Beadle Bamford & Nicholas Christopher’s Adolfo Pirelli. Both of whom played their respective roles with different levels & styles of flamboyance & arrogance that made two characters, especially in the sense of the Beadle, bounce off the stage.

Truly the revival & the choices made by both cast & crew were masterful & really gave the almost 50 year old musical a fresh coat of paint & a new & interesting edge. I’ve done my best to try & get all of my friends who I think would like it or could possibly have the opportunity to, to go & see it before it closes next week.

After the show we went in search of food. Unfortunately, since it was a week day, a lot of the places we tried were closed. Alternately, a lot of the other places we tried were full to the gills with people who had just done the same as us & gotten out of the various shows dotting Midtown Manhattan. We eventually settled on a random 99 Cent Corner Pizza shop where we each got three slices which we took back to the place to eat.

End Of Day Three

Day Four

Out last day in New York was a bit of a light one. Truly I was still a touch hungover from two nights prior, yes that’s how bad it gets, & we had decided we kinda just wanted to putz around the city for the day.

We did wake up fairly late & were planning to return to WatchHouse for a coffee. However, we decided that food needed to come first.

Wanting to land somewhere around WatchHouse, which is in Midtown, I pulled a restaurant from my handy dandy ‘travel list’ in my notes app which landed us at Jōji Box by Grand Central Terminal.

Jōji Box is the light version of the sushi restaurant Jōji. Jōji is an Omakase (a Japanese phrase essentially meaning “I leave it up to you”) with a Michelin star, where a seating ranges from $300-450. The Box is their more casual friendly take away option.

We had some trouble finding the restaurant that actually turned out to be more of a kiosk tucked in the basement level under the One Vanderbilt building, across from the underground entrance to Grand Central.

I ordered the Omakase box & Evan got the Jōji Box 1. Upon ordering we were informed they had opened only 15 minutes prior & were already almost out of boxes, but that the boxes were restocked every two hours until closing.

We took our boxed lunches down to the dining pavilion of Grand Central where we stood & munched down of the chef’s selection for the day.

To be honest, there were several things in my box that I had no idea of. Lots of different varietals of Tuna, two cuts of Salmon, a Toro Roll, a Snowcrab Roll, Bream, & Scallop but there were two items in the box that I had never actually had before in Nigiri form; Uni (Sea Urchin) & Salmon Roe.

The Uni & Roe were both sweeter than expected with the former having more of a briny finish. The Roe had a fun texture to it & I genuinely enjoyed them both, though I think I’ll stick to Uni as a mix in for other dishes for now.

Post sushi we wrapped around the corner of the concourse & got a staple of a New York City dessert, Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding.

Post sushi & pudding it was coffee time. We walked our way from Grand Central over to WatchHouse where the cafe was actually fairly busy. Managing to snag a table Evan ordered a Flat White & I got one of their rarities, of which they were out of the last time we were there. WatchHouse has a collection of “rare” single origin beans from all over the world. The coffee is chemex brewed & served in a carafe with an empty glass & a glass of cold juniper tea that you are to use as a palette cleanser before you begin to drink the coffee. Each coffee also comes with a QR code which when scanned takes you to a page with all of the information surrounding the specific coffee that you’ve chosen. Mine was Deiro Garcia, also known as Finca Lord Voldamort. I’ll link its page here.

Post coffee we did a little bit of bobbing around. Our evening flight wasn’t until around 9 PM so we had plenty of time to kill. We ended up at several different shops before heading down to Flatiron to grab a LeVain Cookie.

LeVain Bakery is a stable of the New York dessert world offering not only their famous cookies, but also breads & other baked goods. The also ship their dough nationwide if that’s something you’re interested in!

When we got there there was a line of about 20 people but with three registers open & people filling orders seperate of the cashiers it moved quickly. I think it took 5 minutes tops for us to get in & leave cookies in hand. I got a Black & White Cookie which is exclusive to the Flatiron store or online. It was Chocolate Dough with White Chocolate & Dark Chocolate Chips, & it smacked! Evan got a traditional Chocolate Chip, which was amazing & blew some other famous one named cookie store’s Chocolate Chip out of the water…not naming names here.

While at LeVain we noticed that we weren’t too far from the World of Harry Potter Store & since we had time to burn, we walked on over to check it out.

We perused all of the character wands, looked at uniforms & cloaks, picked through the interesting memorabilia, & finally ended our visit to the rather impressively large shop with a glass of Butterbeer, which comes in a collectable cup they let you wash & keep with you.

Feeling satisfied with the trip & our accomplishments this time around in New York we headed back to the Garment District to begin packing & preparing to depart that evening. We had another few glasses of wine with Anne & chatted about before we grabbed all of our belongings & made the reversed trip to the airport as that listed above.

End Of Day Four

End Of Blog!!!

May 13, 2022

Charlie Rogers

Travel Blog, Travel, Blog

Travel Blog: The United Kingdom-Part Three: There & Back Again

May 13, 2022

Charlie Rogers

Travel Blog, Travel, Blog

Welcome back to my United Kingdom travel blog! If you’ve made it this far, congrats, you’re onto the last part!!! If you’re reading this like “last part?! whaaaa?!” then I invite you to go read through Part One & Two before returning to finish out this most epic of trilogies. You can find links to both here:

Part One

Part Two

All caught up? Great! Let’s move on to Part Three then!

Part Three:

There & Back Again

Day Ten

We departed Dumfries right around 8 AM, our rental was due back in Camden by 5 PM & we had a long drive down from Scotland through England to make. We unfortunately didn’t get to say goodbye to Carolann on our way out but Ali & the rest of the crew definitely gave us the royal send off.

Our first stop on the way down is a must hit if you’re traveling up or down the Northwest coast of England, Tebay. I was first introduced to Tebay by the Liverpool/Manchester gents who played RNLI Park Fest with me back in 2019 who try to make it a stop anytime they play up north. Tebay, while technically a small English town, is also a service center. For my American folks think a truck stop but way way way way way nicer. Tebay Services, Farmshop, & Kitchen has two locations; one northbound, one southbound. It is exactly as the name states, a service stop in addition to a restaurant & shop. The beautiful thing about Tebay, aside from the immaculate view it offers, is that all of the food served comes from within only a handful of miles from the stop.

We arrived around 10:30 AM & breakfast was still in full swing so we went the full on English Breakfast route! I had Scrambled Eggs, Beans, Cumberland Sausage, Roasted Tomato & Mushroom, Haggis, Bacon, A Raisin Scone w/ Orange Marmalade, & A Drip Coffee. Evan did the same sans Mushroom, Scone, & Haggis & also got a Pork Sausage. After taking in breakfast with a gorgeous view of the English countryside we walked around their Farmshop! It’s really almost three shops put into one. There’s a genuine market selling uncooked ingredients from around the area, there’s a local clothing/item section, & there’s a section dedicated to foods distinctly from The United Kingdom including small batch chocolatiers, distillers, bakers, etc.

By the time we’d finished up & were getting ready to go the hand pie stand had opened up so we grabbed a few of those for the road. I got a Chicken & Mushroom Pie, Evan got the Onion & Cheese. We grabbed gas & a few drinks & down the road we went towards London.

To be entirely frank I was quite nervous about driving in London, especially since we’d be arriving around rush hour. When I picked up the rental our drop off options were Camden, Tower Heights, Gatwick, or Heathrow & I didn’t feel like driving an hour outside of London just to spend an hour & a half on the tube with luggage felt economical, so Camden it was.

I was pleasantly surprised by how easy I found driving in London rush hour, it was far easier than New York City even with the inclusion of driving on the other side of the road. We did end up dropping off the car a little late but the agency couldn’t have cared less. From there we walked to Euston Station & hopped the southbound train to Covent Gardens back to Victoria & Rhys’s.

Seeing as it was now around 6 PM the hunt for dinner began. We were presented with the idea of Seven Dials Market, a coalition of street food vendors that had come together in an old cucumber & banana storage warehouse, a theme that is still prevalent throughout. At Seven Dials Market you can order drinks from the bar to be delivered to your table but as far as food goes you need to go to the different stalls to picket what you want. I grabbed an Iced Masala Chai from Chai Guys & we began the task of picking which of the over a dozen food options we wanted.

Evan & I decided on splitting a few things. We were really craving a burger so we went downstairs to Truffle but found that we couldn’t decide between The Truffle Burger (Beef & Bacon Patty w/ Raclette Cheese, Crispy Onions, Fig Jam & Truffle Mayo) or the Cheeseburger (Aged Beef/Bacon Patty, Cheese, Pickles, Lettuce, & Truffle Sauce) so we got both in addition to some Truffle Parmesan Fries. On top of the burgers there was also a dumpling stand that was calling our names so we got an order of Pork Bao & Pork & Chive Dumplings from Yum Bun! All of the food was outstanding & for dessert Victoria got us all a Chocolate Hazelnut Finger Doughnut from Longboys to share!

Practically bursting at this point we waddled back to the flat, stopping at Tesco to grab some snacks (yes that includes Strawbs) & drinks to enjoy later on when we sat down to watch Shutter Island before calling it a night!

Day Eleven

In desperate need of a workout after almost a week without we joined Victoria at Barry’s Soho for their 8:45 Full Body class. Following my “I can’t workout in the morning rule unless I’ve had caffeine & food prior” I ended up booking double floor. I knew running wasn’t going to happen. I’d done a touch of carb loading before just to be safe though, having gone downstairs to Tesco to pick up an energy drink & some fresh baked goods from their untouched morning selection. Scarfing down a soft pretzel & a croissant along with an apple the three of us walked to Barry’s (Rhys went once again with his trainer).

The class was hard! It was a circuit set meaning it built. Four total exercises per circuit, each targeted for a minute at as many as possible before combining them for two. We ended up walking back separate from Victoria because she was in need of a shower & we had planned to wait until we got back to the flat to bathe.

Along the way we had decided that another caffeine source was necessary so we walked over to WatchHouse. The barista recommended the Iced Peruvian Pourer so that’s what we got! The coffee had a nice almost bread & jam taste, very similar to my Raisin Scone w/ Orange Marmalade the morning before. It smacked! We walked back the rest of the way before showering & dressing for the day.

We had been prompted with a text of “Borough Market tomorrow?” on our drive back to London the day prior. Victoria had a mind for a Sausage Roll from The Black Pig & I, for one, am always down for a trip to Borough Market so that is where our pre-afternoon began!

We walked the same path that Evan & I had taken the week before; past St. Paul’s, over the Millennium Bridge, by The Globe. Borough Market was a zoo! There were far more people there this Saturday than the one prior which was surprising seeing as the previous had been Easter weekend.

We made a beeline for Bread Ahead as our glowing doughnut review had left V&R wanting. I returned for the Blackcurrant Cheesecake, Evan for the Pistachio, V&R split a Blueberry Jam, thought naturally they all got passed around between the four of us.

Rhys got Cod & Chips from Fish!, Victoria went after her Sausage Roll, & Evan & I got in line for the special at Northfield Kitchen, an Aged Corned Beef Sandwich on Rye with Pickles, Spicy Mustard, Swiss, & Cole Slaw. We all sat around on a barricade munching on our lunch & sipping Prosecco Punch but heading over to hop the Uber Boat back up the river to Westminster.

V&R headed back to the flat but Evan & I decided to continue on back to Soho to hit up Carnaby, Regent, & Bond. We wafted in & out of a few shops, most of which clearly didn’t get the memo that the weather was nice out because they were blasting the heat like it was midwinter. After mostly coming up dry in our shopping escapades we ended up at Scotch & Soda where I almost bumped smack into Tom Felton & his girlfriend.

I have had an obsession with this sweater that was shown in one singular scene in one of the later seasons of a show that used to be on called “Penny Dreadful.” It’s an oversized button shoulder turtleneck sweater & while I still have yet to find something exact, I did manage to find two button shoulder sweaters at Scotch & Soda that worked for me! I was ecstatic to discover them & purchased them immediately & naturally I wore one of them to dinner later! However, if you or a loved one know where I can find my oversized button shoulder turtleneck sweater, please don’t hesitate to let me know!

Post shop we took ourselves a little nap, having woken up at 7:30 AM & walked hither & yon. It was about 6 PM by the time we’d made it back to the flat & we he had a 9:30 dinner reservation at Frog by Adam Handling to look forward to! A glass or two of red wine made that slip into a nap very, very easy.

I’d made the executive decision to try to get to Frog about thirty minutes early, not because I thought they’d squeeze us into our reservation earlier, but because I thought they’d squeeze us into Eve, their companion bar…which is exactly what they did!

Eve is a cocktail bar that makes excellent use of its upstairs neighbor, Frog. The premise behind Eve is that they push the boundaries of craft cocktail using ingredients that would otherwise be wasted from the restaurant above, going as far as having a lab present to distill & infuse certain ingredients into their drinks.

When you’re seated in the stained glass anointed underground bar you are greeted with a welcome cocktail to cleanse the palette, this night is was an Apple Daiquiri. Bright, refreshing, & full of spring! I then proceeded to order the Tiki-Ero, a Clementine & Banana Peel infused Rum drink paired with Allspice, Coconut, & Lime. It was revitalizing & forward while still being warm & comfortable. We were then ushered upstairs for dinner service.

…

You ready for it?

Dinner at Frog started off in the normal tasting menu way, with snack courses! The thing to remember here going forward is that Frog is centered around tradition ingredients found within the UK, in fact the “menu” includes a map marked with the places each of their star ingredients were gathered from. Now, back to the snack.

The first of the snacks was a twist on Eggs & Bacon served in a ceramic eggshell nestled into a bed of straw with dry ice concealed underneath. When presented water was offed to the bed causing it to “fog” the table. In addition to the breakfast staples the custardy dish also contained Maitake Mushrooms otherwise known as Hen-of-the-woods. Adorable.

The second of the snacks was reminiscent of a Cucumber Sandwich. It presented as a one-two bite Tart filled with little Jellied Cucumber Drops, Edible Flowers, Dried Oyster, & Caviar. I’m not usually one to toot the horn of cucumber but this little tart was so full of life its hard no to! Springy, salty, savory, while still maintaining its effervescence!

The following dish, if I’m being honest, was my least favorite of the snacks, that’s not to say it was bad by any means though. It was Black Cod, a staple fish of British cuisine, served as a mandala’d Cracker. The spokes of its black wheels were hollow offering a very pleasant mouth feel & crunch!

The final snack was a Beef Tartare, a dish that I feel can be rather polarizing to most. I personally am great fan of the Tartares of the world. This varietal contained a Crispy Wrapping, a crown of Edible Flowers, & Kimchi harkening back to its roots as originally a North East Asian dish followed by its rise in popularity throughout Europe in the 19th Century. The mince was soft & moist & that added crunch brought me back to my favorite setting of beef tartare, served atop bread!

Onto the main courses!

The first official course is one that I’ve been talking about for weeks now. It truly warmed my heart to the core & reaffirmed the reason I love the shared culture of food so much. Food is often the story of our lives. Fresh Bread was served along side four other plates. The first of these plates contained a Stuffed Chicken Wing. Boneless, a singular bite, juicy & supple on the inside with a crisp skin pinned in place with a barb & a rooster feather. The next to plates were spread; Fresh Butter with Chicken Cracklin’ on top & Chicken Pâté. Both were meant to be spread & enjoyed with the bread. The final plate contained a card. On this card sat a story. It said the following:

““My sister, the fussy eater that she is, would only want roast chicken every family Sunday lunch. But Mondays were my favourite-leftover roast chicken in a white, floury Scottish bun with loads of salted butter. Delish!

This dish is my take on the happy memories of that Monday morning roast chicken sandwich.””

— Adam Handling, Bread, Chicken Butter

This. This folks is why I love the culinary arts, because they are exactly that, an art. They are an expression of ones life story through the food that made them the person that they are today. It is the culmination of heritage, culture, trial & error, failures & successes, life, love, loss, & time. It speaks to us not through merely our eyes or ears but through each of our five senses. It tells a story in a single bite & expresses the unseen or unheard effortlessly.

Sorry for the rant, back to our scheduled programing.

Dish number two! I know right, how do we follow up the tangent I went on with that one? The second dish was an ode to the Tomato served in the form of a Gazpacho. The three stars of this dish were Tomato, obviously, Pepper, & Basil. The gazpacho was presented patiently waiting below a Tomato Crisp served with a Red Pepper Granache draped over. I think this may have been my least favorite of the course, not because it wasn’t an amazing expression in its own right but simply because my personage tends to have an aversion to Bell Pepper.

The third course was simply titled “All About The Sturgeon” & much like the bar hidden beneath Frog, it too sought to use different parts of the fish to great success. The common sturgeon having been a popular choice specifically for its caviar is considered a “Royal Fish” meaning that they, along with Whales, are the property of the British Monarchy when in sovereign waters, much like Swans. This dish was absolutely one of my favorites of the evening.

Sat prim upon a Heart-shaped Waffle was a dollop of Sturgeon Mousse, topped with Sturgeon Caviar, & covered, in its entirety, by Maple Syrup. This dish was so complex in its flavor profile while still being entirely familiar. It blended salty, sweet, savory, all on the most perfect of levels, allowing each to take up battlements on the pallet & wax & wane over the who had control. Each bite a new battle always resulting in the consumer’s favor.

Course four was another favorite. I feel like I keep saying that, but y’all, this meal was truly exceptional! A Scallop from the Orkney Isles up off of the northern point of Scotland swimming in a Foam Emulsion & Herb Reduction featuring prominent flavors of Za’atar & tap root, specifically an assorted shaving of Rainbow Carrots. The dish had a very nice heat to it without being overbearing. It was earthy & smokey without compromising the natural citrus notes of the scallop. Absolutely wonder!

Next came a course with yet another card attached only this time it wasn’t a note or a story. Course five was a spoon full of Duck covered in freshly shaved Black Truffle & served on a plate of beach stones with a picture of a very satisfied looking black lab named Stanley. In the photo Stanley is standing overtop a bowl filled with freshly foraged black truffles. These were Stanley’s truffles & his hard work was being recognized in glorious fashion along with I hope heaps of belly rubs at home. I’m always a sucker for fresh truffles, especially when served with water fowl & a picture of a large dog. The spoonful unfortunately didn’t last too long seeing as it was a one to two biter, but that’s my only true complaint revolving around it.

Next we were back to Cod, only this time served as a filet, not as a cracker. Lemongrass reduction formed a moat the fillet itself. I wish I could recall the what made up the remainder of the dish, from the crispy wafer on top to the puree that elevated the fish out of the reduction. My notes mention something about there being Grape in the dish but I think between the wine & still fawning over Stanley being the goodest boy it’s been lost in translation a tad.

Course seven came with two options; Wagyu Beef with Hen-of-the-woods or Lamb with Sweetbread, & Morels. We went with both each ordering one or the other then swapping not only plates halfway through but also the paired wine. I’m going to go in order of my tasting starting with the Beef.

Served Medium Rare the British Wagyu came with the aforementioned Hen-of-the-woods Mushrooms in addition to some grilled onions & an Au Jus made from Beef Tongue. The steak was incredibly tender & truly melted in your mouth with the inclusion of the Tongue Aus Jus. I also really enjoyed the little stenciled leaves that were served along the side of the plate, separating out the vegetables. It was then my turn with the Lamb.

The Lamb was definitely the more eloquent of the pair at least as far as presentation goes. It included a Morel Reduction along with a few stocks of Asparagus. The slight gaminess of the Lamb lended itself wonderfully to the earthy/springy clash the mushrooms & the asparagus brought. I think between the two I preferred the beef, though Evan preferred the Lamb. I wouldn’t have been mad to receive either though. With savory courses now wrapped we moved on to dessert!

The first of the dessert courses brought Britain’s favorite springtime veggie to the forefront. Rhubarb. Appearing in the form of a Rhubarb & Wasted Wine Sorbet served alongside a Fresh Whipped Creme. The tart bouncy rhubarb was brought well into balance by the presence of the cream & it made for a very pleasant dessert/palette cleanser!

The final course of the evening, pre-dessert snack course, was a Yoghurt Cheesecake topped with little spots of Apricot & a serving of Lemon Thyme Sorbet. Another mellow dessert it was the perfect end cap for the warm spring night. Then came the snacks.

As I’ve mentioned before in other tasting menu blogs, it appears to be customary to end the evening with another snack course, just as the evening is started with one, Frog was no exception. They served what they call their Petit Fours…though there were five. (And yes I know Petit Fours refers to bitesized desserts, not the quantity of the bite sized desserts.)

First up, served as a pair, were a simple Blackberry Jelly Gumdrop & a White Chocolate Frog Truffle filled with Yuzu. The jelly bite, as I stated above, was simple, none offensive, but carried with it a subtle charm. Their dashing little frog companions was citrusy with soft floral undertones.

Next on the list were the Chocolate & Miso Tarts. I am always a huge fan of the combinations of Miso & Chocolate. The umami of the miso really lends itself to the bold sweetness of the ganache-y chocolate. It had a nice give before finishing off with the crust.

Our final in restaurant dessert was the Strawberry & Cream Possett. Unlike the earlier egg custard dish this one was served in an actual eggshell instead of a ceramic one. It was a sweet little twist on the traditional “strawberries & cream” formula that made for a very nice introduction into the summer months coming ahead.

I regret to inform you that the last of the Petit Fours was not had by us. You see it was a take home item & in our more than now inebriated state we completely forgot that we had it on our walk home & left it in the fridge at the flat.

As I was writing all about this meal again & experiencing it vicariously through my words I had the following thought that I stand by adamantly. I would fly from Nashville to London just to dine at Frog again, turn right back around & come home. I would sit through 14+ hours of travel overseas just to spend another three house in this restaurant. That is the extent to which I recommend Frog by Adam Handling to you. If you find yourself in London or in The British Isles or hell, even in France, make the trip to London to eat here. Eat here before its well deserved two Michelin stars become three & this place is booked out for the next eternity. I promise you will not regret it or look back. The story of food that Adam & crew tell at Frog is that of many lifetimes converging to create spectacular art that fills you to your core. It is few & far between that the love gushes so freely from the likes of a tasting menu but I cannot overstate how beautiful an expression of food this place is. Run, do not walk to Frog.

I wanted to end this, our last full day in The UK with the note I wrote & sent to the Frog crew on the plane ride home.

Frog,

I wanted to pass along a thought to you. I know you neither asked for it nor is it by any means a slight or mark against you & your institution. I am also utterly aware that as someone who merely dabbles recreationally in the culinary arts I have no grounds to file suggestions based on your food. Again, not that you need it by any means, yours & your teams’ cuisine & masterful practice of the art form are up there in the highest of the upper echelons. What I can offer you is insight from one story teller to another. While I communicate with the world at large primarily through words, lyrics, music, & writing, yours is the craft of communication through food; you tell stories through experimentation, retellings of tradition, & personal connection. It’s that last bit that really struck me last night while having the pleasure of dining in your establishment. You see I have been fortunate enough to participate in many a tasting menu as life changing food is a true passion of mine. Today I find myself not so much discussing the items on your menu that I enjoyed most from a palette stand point but those which invoked a feeling of connection to you & your staff. In my many years of gallivanting the food scene I have never been presented with a story to accompany a dish, or I guess in this case a course. I’m sure at this point you realize I am talking about your “leftover” chicken dish. The subtle art of story telling is one that thrills me to the core & it was an honor to experience a slice of your life through the expression of love, admiration, & nostalgia you put into that. I applaud you on your candor & your vulnerability when openly sharing a shining glimpse into the food, events, & emotions that led you to cook the food that you do. In addition to this radiant moment, I also truly enjoyed the touch of perspective you injected into your truffle course with Stanley. You have created food that is deeply personal, not just to yourself but also to those involved in its construction & that is the true measure of great art. I am grateful for the experience & hope to have the fortune of dining with you all again very soon. These moments of passion & love are the subtle strengths that elevate you to the stars my friends, of course not discounting your impeccable preparatory skills, but I would be remiss if I did not express my hope that you continue to find places to insert them into the story that is an evening at Frog.

It is with the warmest of regards & deepest appreciation that I write you,

Your newest regular,

Charlie Rogers

Day Twelve

Even though all other COVID regulations for travel had been lifted at this point & even though both Evan & I are fully vaxxed & boosted US Citizens, we still had to get a COVID test to reenter the US no more than 24 hours before our flight.

Evan had scheduled us a 9 AM appointment to have a rapid antigen test done, we hadn’t gone to bed til at least 2 AM that same morning. In addition to lack of sleep we were hungover as all get out so crawling through Covent Garden to Soho at 8:45 was a struggle & a half.

Our tests were quick, only taking about 10 minutes total in the testing location, but once again we were in a facility with rude, entitled Americans.

I truly give Americans a bad rep in this blog series don’t I, or at least I have a knack for calling them out on their BS. I don’t mean to appear “greater than” it’s just, y’all, we have to be better.

Anyway, back to this rude American couple. They were both well in their late-60s & truthfully were not only rude to the French attendants at the clinic but also to us upon entering. They hadn’t made a reservation, an ongoing theme it seems, & were demanding to be tested asap. Luckily for them there had been a no show so they had tests available. The clinicians handled it much better than I would have too, I’d have told them to kick rocks & maybe plan ahead next time, have fun rescheduling your flight!

Now tested & still wildly hungover the daily hunt for coffee began. We decided to try a coffee shop just down the street from the flat called The Espresso Room. Ordering yet another Iced Drip I also was instructed to get an Almond Croissant, a pastry I had passed up a week prior at Monmouth. WHY DID I PASS UP THE ALMOND CROISSANT?! No one told me they were filled!!! This almond croissant was massive, like almost a foot long, & it was incredible. It has also instilled a new dopamine obsession for me, that of course being the almond croissant. Don’t sleep on her, she’s busin’.

We decided that a walk would probably help the hangover & the streets of Covent Gardens were completely deserted, so we went walkabout. On our voyage around the borough we stumbled upon a little courtyard that had a catholic church tucked in the back, St Paul’s Church. The exciting thing, to us, about St. Paul’s is that they had cats. Two absolutely stunning black cats that have been residents of the church all their lives & spend their days wandering Inigo Jones Garden. Even though we were only a day away from being home with our animals we had to stop & spend a little time with the kitties.

It had now become time to pack & prepare for our departure. Heading back to the flat we gathered our belongings, forgetting the breakfast offering from Frog, hugged V&R goodbye, & hopped the Piccadilly Line back to Heathrow.

From here the journey is pretty standard; security, snacks from duty-free for the flight attendants, one last smoked salmon sandwich for the road, a matcha latte, & finally boarding. We were sat in the same exact seats as our trip into the UK only this time the plan was stay awake at all costs. Remember folks, the rule is sleep overnight going East, stay the hell awake going West. I wrote the above note, did a bit of object writing, we caught up on Moon Knight & then proceeded to bing Heartstopper.

We arrived at JFK around 9PM EST ready to PTFO, unfortunately we still had to go through immigrations, customs, grab bags, hop into an Uber, & drive across Queens to our hotel just outside of LaGuardia, all of which turned out to be fairly painless.

We arrived at Aloft around 10:30 & were passed out, having had dinner from a vending machine, around 11.

Day Thirteen

We really only got around 5-6 hours of sleep, our flight out of New York was early, departing around 7 AM. We had to be in line for the shuttle by 4:30 AM & it was packed!

LaGuardia security was more of a pain than Heathrow & customs combined, so I’m glad we got there early.

There’s truly not that much more interesting to tell from here on out. We landed in Nashville at 8:30 CST, had to pay far too much for an Uber home, then stayed up all day to try & beat the jetlag…it didn’t work…

Afterward

If you’ve made it this far I’m grateful for you taking the time out of your day or night or whenever you’re reading this to do so!

Traveling, exchanging stories, customs, cuisine, art, music, & culture are the things that fill me with life. It is truly my honor to go one these adventures & share these experiences with you. I hope you gain something out of reading them & find them informative & or inspiring in one way or another.

I’d like to thank Victoria & Rhys for being so accommodating to us, The Donowhos for your years & years of love & support & willingness to help me & mine, the people of Dumfries for opening up your town & hearts so hospitably to me, & anyone I may have missed along the way. Shoutout to Ross for putting your sound & videography skills to use on my behalf, I can’t wait to show off the footage! Thank you to Evan for being the patient, easygoing travel companion you are! You all made this trip a joy & made my 30th one for the books.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking the time to give this a read!

Much love to you all,

-C

End Of Part Three

End Of Blog Series For The United Kingdom