Book Review: "Medium Raw" by Anthony Bourdain

I decided to purchase Medium Raw for my new Kindle because I loved Kitchen Confidential. Reading Kitchen Confidential after watching "No Reservations"was really enjoyable - you get to see OG Bourdain. The angry, drug addicted, raw, pre-television Bourdain.

I wanted to read Medium Raw because I thought it would be a continuation of Kitchen Confidential. Obviously it would be a bit different - he's now a household name (mostly), travels the world for 2 television shows, and never has to worry about backed rent or a lack of health insurance. I had high expectations of Medium Raw, although I now realize that was unfair.

Medium Raw is it's own book; mostly a collection of essays, without a running narrative. Some chapters are just ramblings about how all Americans should be learning to cook in high school. Some chapters are dedicated to either people he hates or loves. He even has an entire chapter where he lists "heroes" and "villains" in the restaurant and food industry, with paragraphs on each.

The most outstanding essay/chapter is about his day long shadowing of the man who butchers 700-1000 pounds of fish every day for Le Bernardin, and Bourdain's lunch with him afterwards.

Overall, I found it more difficult to read than Kitchen Confidential, and it didn't have the same page-turning, gotta read the next chapter RIGHT NOW feeling that I like to have while reading. If you're into Bourdain, it's worth a read.

7/10

Instant[gram] Italy

Despite being back for about 4 months now, I've been wanting to post some photos from Europe. For some reason, however, I can't really bring myself to spiff them up and make them even nicer, so these are just some of my favorite Instagram photos from the trip.

December Sunset

Roma

About 4 weeks ago Jeremy and I got back from a month long trip to Europe. There are way too many pictures to go through so I've been negligent in both editing them and posting them. I've managed to get about 10 together, including this one...

Sending out an SMS {Santa Monica Seafood}

Last night, Jeremy and I ventured to one of our favorite restaurants - Santa Monica Seafood.

It was a special occasion, as we had Jeremy's mom, his aunt, and her boyfriend with us. So we went all out - of course!

Santa Monica Seafood is a place we love, mostly for its fresh seafood, casual atmosphere, and the staff is super friendly and nice (especially Stefani!). Plus they have all kinds of things we love - a great cioppino and a delicious mushroom ravioli with scallops, shrimp and spinach.

Santa Monica Seafood, currently and before it was a restaurant, is a seafood purveyor for many Santa Monica restaurants (and restaurants in Southern California). That basically means they have the best of everything. Don't get oysters anywhere else in Santa Monica!

Our meal started, as per usual at SMS, with wine (a Cabernet) and oysters. We had Fanny Bay, Malpeque, Kumomoto and Kusshi (my favs), and a new one - Carlsbad. For entrees, we had (at the table) the mushroom ravioli (2 of them), a lobster roll, a cioppino, and a swordfish with peaches and veggies.Dessert was over the top with us ordering all 3 - the lemon cheesecake, chocolate molten cake (with extra whipped cream) and cannolis.

Overall, Santa Monica Seafood is a great place to eat if you don't mind splurging a bit on the best of the best seafood and wine.

Ray, Jeremy's aunt Randelle, Jeremy and I

The Great Italian Road Trip

If it isn't super clear by now, Jeremy and I are going to Europe for a month in 2 weeks. 2 weeks from today!

I'm so excited! I've never been to Europe (went way far west to Asia before going east) and I could not be more excited. I'm heavily suppressing the desire to pack NOW!

We'll be flying into Rome, spending some time there, and then driving around with 2 friends for about 10 days. Fantastic!

Here's the potential itinerary of our Italian road trip (not to be confused with the German road trip we'll be taking after this one):

Cops & iPads - Not Just on TV!

On my way to work, I saw a cop with an iPad...

So Criminal Minds really does have it right! This past season, the agents were always using iPads to review cases, and I figured that was reaching a little. But real law enforcement is embracing new technology!

Also - how awesome/terrible is this photo?