What dreams may come.

I know I know, I'm a bad blogger, I promised a next day blog about the advantages of vacation rentals by owners. But when I came in today Harold my brilliant enlightened boss (that's five bucks!) sent me some information on a really interesting hotel in New York. This sparked a new blog idea for me as I looked over the  new awesome Yotel New York. I have an obsession with hotel's in general. I think they are these fascinating venues where you can leave the world behind you and relax. It's (for me) a means of really being able to escape what stresses you out in day to day life and completely allow yourself to unwind.

Now, even though there's an incredible amount of really awesome NOT super unique hotels out there in the world, today I'm going to focus on those with an insane 'WOW" factor, especially those found in the United States. First of course is the Yotel New York. It's this crisp clean brand spanking new hotel in NYC that is modeled to accommodate luxury, fun, excitement. But let's get down to what makes it so cool. The lobby to start off with has a robot to store your luggage. I don't think I need to go on from that, because we live in an age obsessed with simulating the images people from the fifties thought was how the future would look like now. So luggage toting robot army thingy, check! Now there's all the awesome decor to go with it, it really feels like a hotel that the Jetson's would have booked for themselves, minus the air travel tubey things. The hotel of the future is here today my friends. Finally the rooms aren't rooms, they're cabins. They are brilliant constructed floor plans to make a usually confine space seem roomy, like taking a room that looks like it's meant for two and suddenly the couch converts into a set of bunk beds. Yep I'm impressed.

As for the person who saw "The Hills Have Eyes" and thought to themselves "Hey, I want to live in the face of a desert cliff and be little spooky", I have a place for you too. Kokopelli's Cave, this place is freakishly awesome. Let me give you a brief description of the abode, located in New Mexico it's a 1,650 square foot one bedroom house, carved into 65 million year old sandstone 280 feet above a river. Don't tell me this doesn't sound amazing. It's so cool! It's unique and a little frightening. It is probably the only place in the US where you have to descend into your room, and sign a waver that you won't sue them should you die at the location. But no one who has ever stayed there said it was anything less than phenomenal or amazing. It's the first hotel I have ever researched that has zero negative ratings about it at all. The place is huge considering you're literally staying in a hole in the wall. There's a waterfall shower, a hot tub, and pretty much any luxury accommodation someone could ask for... except food, there's no room service here so bring your grub with you.

Since I gave you a place from the future and another nestled in prehistoric rock, I thought the last place should be... Well I can't say in the middle because 35 million years ago is still ancient. So something a little older, but still modern enough. Heceta Head Lighthouse in Oregon is listed as one of the world's most unusual and unique hotels. It earned that title by being said to be the most beautiful light house in the world and is adjoined by a luxury cottage that is also the hotel. The hotel is actually a Light Keeper's Cottage, the inn only has a capacity for 14 at a time, and because of how small and cozy it is, it's known for being one of the most romantic bed and breakfast. There isn't a room that you can't see something breath taking out of your windows and the prices are actually pretty affordable considering the high quality of the hotel.

There's so much out there to discover, and maybe my love for finding these crazy accommodations is silly, but I don't want to be someone who doesn't take the opportunity to go explore and see the world from a new perspective, be it a robotic run hotel, or a romantic cottage that looks like it was made for a Nicolas Sparks book. Don't settle for normal when you travel, don't be that person who only seeks out the usual hotel because the waffles are free and you know they have HBO. Find somewhere that makes your heart skip a beat, and if you can't find it on your own, call me at Epicopia Culinary Journeys and I'll find you something.

Your Casa is Mi Casa? At least for the weekend.

All photos are exclusively vacation home/villa rentals by owners

Ever go on vacation and wish you could take that cozy feeling of being at home with you? Ever sit around your house and wonder what it would be like to live somewhere else, perhaps a fancier setting? Ever wanted to know what it would be like to own a villa looking over the Italian country side? Yep, me too. Don't get me wrong, when I want to be spoiled and have a girls weekend where every room I walk in I feel like a pampered princess, you bet your bottom I'm going to stay at one of my favorite hotels. But when I'm on a long vacation with my family, I want it to feel like home, plus when you have a six year old it's nice to have a room for just him and a room for just me (sorry hotels, privacy partitions don't do the trick after the forth day on a vacation). 

I recently went to the magical land of Montana to spend Labor Day with my main squeeze and our families (which you should know since I wrote about it two weeks ago). There were so many of us staying there that staying at a hotel wasn't exactly ideal, so I went to work and started doing my research, and found a cute property for rent as a vacation house in Bozeman. The interesting thing about it was that it was for rent by owner. It was great! The townhouse was adorable and cozy, and it had three bedrooms fully furnished. But what was startling was how affordable it was, where staying in a decent hotel would have cost us well over $150 for each room for each night, this entire house was $150. It really seemed too good to be true; affordable pricing, real privacy, and no worries about making sure you're not streaking through the room when the maid service pops in... awesome. Granted there's some downsides, there's no regulations that have to be met when dealing with certain websites, there's no maid service to pick up while you're running around for the day, and there is no room service. 

It's amazing what you can find when you want to find something perfect for you, you have the pick of the litter from almost anywhere in the world. You can find a cabin nestled away in the mountains in Montana, you can get a villa over looking the ocean in Puerto Vallarta, or (as I said before) a rustic Italian villa over looking the Italian countryside. The options are pretty limitless and it makes travel interesting and possible for any imagination and any wallet. 

Tomorrow I'll be talking about a way for you to find out how to take advantage of the by owner rental opportunities, and what are all the really cool benefits of it.

Holy 'Mole!

Tomorrow is a very important national holiday for those of us in North America, something we all treasure (or should) is getting the acclaim it truly deserves. I think back to this beautiful concoction and think of all the times I shunned it in my childhood ignorantly, judging it on it's less than scrumptious appearance, letting my bigotry steal moments of pure delight from my life. Till I finally took a leap forward and opened my eyes to it's tantalizing deliciousness and fell in love with Guacamole.



 September 16th is the celebration of National Guacamole Day, our most precious creations, not as a country but as a continent. This mouth watering dip is one of the most simple of recipes, but I think it's the beauty of how the few yet powerful ingredients marry that makes it such a staple in southern dining. If you have not tried this dip, I encourage you to get brave and go devour some in respect of this glorious holiday this icon so righteously deserves.

If you live in the Dallas Metroplex, there's a fantastic restaurant we at my office love with all our hearts named Mextopia, it's a wonderful eatery on Lower Greenville. The appetizing menu is full of traditional Mexican cuisine, and of course they pride themselves on their fresh lime margaritas. The food is fresh and tasty, and the atmosphere is soothing and relaxing. While you're there, ask about a very cool trip they are hosting to a culinary treasure, Oaxaca, I promise you this is something you must see!

Another Wideeyed stamp of approval for those of you wanting to celebrate National Guacamole Day, after going to the bar, is Los Arcos. This hidden treasure is simple quiet and open 24 hours a day, and at 5 am they have a mariachi band come and perform, beware trumpets are loud after five jager bombs. This gem is located on the corner of Hall and Ross, I found that it (like Mextopia) features true Mexican cuisine. And as a personal heads up, I found their white queso dip mixed with Guacamole is the perfect prevention to a hangover.

Now how about some fun National Guacamole Facts.

• When Spaniards encountered the Aztec empire, the locals were making a sauce called Ahuac-mulli, which means "Avocado-mixture". This means this delightful dip is older than the United States of America!
• Schlotzky's is recognizing this holiday by giving away free Guac' on any sandwich ordered on September 16th with purchase of any sandwich meal.

I hope you all have a great weekend, visit your favorite Mexican restaurant (http://www.mextopia.com/)in honor of this great holiday. Go visit your favorite co-op or farmers market on Saturday to continue your fabulous farm to table dining I know you all have been doing so great at. In the coming weeks you're all going to see some really fascinating blogs coming to you; about a beautiful Oaxaca trip we're involved with and what I'm learning from it, a look into something pretty cool in jazzy little town we all know, and a challenge I set for myself and my bladder. Have a wonderful weekend my favorite gnomes.

P.S. I have one more interesting fact for you. The word Avocado descends linguistically from the ancient Nahuatl word ahuacatl, meaning "testicles". Some language experts think that conquistadors combined the Nahuatl with the Spanish "abogado" (lawyer) to make the present word for our favorite green fruit. So, when eating Guac', you're chewing on mashed lawyer balls... there's some food for thought! Enjoy!

Keeping my promise

Good morning readers! I hope you all had a good night's sleep, filled with dreams of delicious foods and time spent with precious loved ones. OK enough with the mushy stuff, on to business. Yesterday I spoke about the delectable food I had in Montana that was locally grown, and I made a promise that today I'd let you in on a handfull of places in the Metroplex that also did the farm to table dining.

                                                                 

The next on my list is also a soft spot for me, it's less than a mile from my house, Restaurant Ava. This new splendid restaurant is one of the best places in the Metroplex to eat, and in my opinion, the best high end dining in our little town of Rockwall Texas. They use farm to table products and free range chickens. The food is divine, it really is. Their lunch and dinner menus are sublime, but if you have a chance to stop in for breakfast I recomend getting their Shrimp and Grits (house cured tasso ham, oven roasted tomatoes, gulf shrimp, stone ground grits) for dinner I recommend Pan Roasted Chicken Breast (asparagus, french green beans, spanish chorizo, barking cat sweet peppers, patatas bravas).

Now if you're in Dallas and you need something on Inwood and Lovers Lane, then you should go visit Rise no1. A beautiful french bistrow featuring souffle's, the brain child of my boss' dear friend Hedda Dowd. She and Chef Cherif are co owners of this beautiful and very green living restaurant. It's one of the most interesting and delicious places one can eat at in the Dallas area. They have really made it their mission to educate and demonstration the importance of utilizing the local agriculture for gastronomic arts. They prove that local is delicious. Everything on their menu is superb and almost every ingrediant is something grown in the local area. They also use recycled materials from their decorations to their linens, but that's a tale for another day.

I realize that sometimes eating out is a little out of budget, don't worry, farm to table can also be your table. "But Wide Eyed, I don't think I can go to a farm for food." is what you might say, but I anticipated that. Yes, even though the two restaurants I listed are reasonable in price, eating out every meal isn't very cost effective, nor is it wise to drive to a random farm in the middle of Texas and just start plucking away at their goods. I found that in the Metroplex all you need to do is take a little drive to a local farmers market. I instantly found three convenient locations. There's the Rockwall farmers market, it's open Saturdays from 8-12noon, unfortunately it is not year round (it ends October 8th, hurry and go visit it). Then there's the Coppell Farmers Market, a huge supporter of the Farm to Table movement, they are also Saturdays from 8 - Noon, I know they are not year round, but not sure when they close down for the season, I'm pretty sure it's in November. Finally there's the Dallas Farmers Market, it's been up and running for 70 years. You can find anything there, and it's something you could do as an all day event, it is open 362 days a year from 8am - 6pm, no excuse to miss out on it. 

There's so much more I could tell you about when it comes to Dallas and it's growing appreciation for farm to table eating, but there's not enough hours in the day to tell you all about the delights. I know that DISH on Cedar Springs is one of Dallas' new hot spots but unfortunately I haven't had a chance to visit it personally, but trust me, I will be doing some very in depth research on it and will report back with the quickness. Have a wonderful weekend gnomes, go out and see if you can find some down home cooking, be it in a farm to table restaurant or fresh farmers market in your own kitchen.

http://restaurantava.com/
http://risesouffle.com/

http://www.dallasfarmersmarket.org

http://www.coppellfarmersmarket.org/

http://mainstreet.rockwall.com/faqs.asp 

Why does this taste so good?....

Hello my favorite readers. I have returned from my fantastic vacation in Montana (I like to pronounce "Mon-ton-ya" because it makes it sound much more distinguished). I went there for the majestic mountains, and fancy pants national park, but was wowed but something that I often praise but I don't believe I truly appreciated until my recent venture.

You see my gnomes, my main squeeze is from the great state of Montana and when we visit there (all two times) I depend on him to be my Experience Director for the area seeing as I know nothing about it (however I see to know my way around much faster than he does). He knew where the great food was and where ever we ate and I was wow'd by the awe inspired food I noticed a sign in the window, it was a farm to restaurant sign explaining that the food I was eating was locally grown and raised near by. Now I have always given a "raise the roof" to restaurants who do that but it was the first time I noticed that the real good stuff was the local stuff. The best meals I had in Montana came from the food we bought at the local coop, and from this wonderful place called the Nova Cafe.

• Preservatives are bad. They are, the chemicals break down the nutrients in your food, and it adds CHEMICALS that serve you no benefit in your food. There's a reason your grandmother's recipe for apple pie doesn't require you to add yellow #5, it's not natural.
• It tastes better when you eat something local. There's a huge difference with something picked and cooked the next day verses something flash frozen and driven for days and stored for weeks before you even see it in your kitchen.
• Helps the community, you're not dishing out cash that doesn't help somewhere you have never seen, the money goes back into your community benefiting those around you and helps to improve your local way of life.
• Not to mention, all the cool kids are doing it.

Maybe we as Texans need to really start looking into where we can get some truly down home food of our own....

.... and that's exactly what I'll be posting about next time.