Restaurants - the Carolinas and Georgia

Places visited (since blog was created): Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, Beaufort, Asheville, Hendersonville, Atlanta, Chapel Hill.

Atlanta:

- Bacchanalia for a gourmet dinner experience. Everything was delicious, and we ended up getting 9 courses with all the in between courses.
- Emerald Coast Coffee & Grille for a 3 course coffee/brunch. Not gourmet food, but great concept to pair coffee with the courses and good atmosphere and service.

Hilton Head/Bluffton:

- Kelly's Tavern for delicious and huge reubens. Update: Service was pretty bad this time (spring 2011)
- Fiesta Fresh Mexican Grill for authentic and very fresh tacos. Try the pastor.
- Sea Shack for not so expensive and down to earth seafood.
- Mellow Mushroom for their yummy pizza crust (and pizza).
- Wild Wing Cafe for their too many good flavors of wings and sports bar atmosphere. Update: We always go on half off wing Wednesdays. Sweet deal, but service can be slow on these nights.
- Phillies for good sandwiches.

Avoid: Hilton Head Diner, Charlie's for dinner (too expensive for the value)


Asheville:

Salsa's is simply delicious for a fusion Mexican dinner. Remember to pair it with their awesome margaritas.

Barcelona & Costa Brava, Spain

Places visited: Barcelona, Tamariu, the Girona countryside

Best B&B:

Mas Martorell near Girona (lovely rooms, hosts, pool and an extraordinary breakfast with everything home made)

Top restaurant:

Irati (Basque tapas) in Barcelona (not the best food, but fun concept, atmosphere and worth the money as you pay for each toothpick)

Provence, France

Places visited: Le Thor, Isle Sur la Sorgue, Avignon, Gordes, Rousillon, Seguret, Buis le Baronnes, Gigondas, Mollas sur Ouveze, Les Baux, Mont Ventoux, St. Julien Bridge, Chateau de la Canorgue Winery, Vaison la Romaine, Uzes, and Pont du Gard.

Favorite B&B (and restaurant):

Les Carmes close to Le Thor (with Michelin star chef and CHEAP gourmet dinners every night except Sundays plus wonderful hosts and guests)

Favorite towns:

Isle Sur la Sorgue (huge Sunday market, smaller Thursday market)
Gigondas (excellent wine tasting and restaurants)

(honorable mentions: Gordes, Rousillon and Vaison la Romaine)

Best sight:

Cathedrale d'Images

Restaurants:

Best Restaurant EVER:
Les Carmes near Le Thor (see above)

Worth going to if the weather is nice:
La Girocedre in Puymeras near Vaison la Romaine (beautiful back yard and hearty French food)

Nice not-so-heavy French food:
Terroirs in Uzes (try their delish tartines)

Washington D.C:

Top restaurants:

2 AMYS pizzeria (mmm delicious Italian style pizza)
Rosemary's Thyme Bistro (for a mediterranean breakfast)

Dublin

Top three experiences:

- Walking Tours: Dublin Literary Pub Crawl
- Music: Dublin City Jazz Orchestra (at the Button Factory)
- Lunch: Gruel (68 Dame St.)

New York

Top restaurants:

- Mexican: Pinche Taqueria in Nolita (227 Mott St.)
- Austrian: Blaue Gans in Tribeca (139 Duane St.)
- Italian: Lavagna in East Village

London

Top restaurant:

Belgo for their food, but mostly their BEER!