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Destination Dining
- Backstreet Café Chef Hugo Ortega in Houston, Texas crafts seasonal menus and daily specials complemented by the best sommelier ever
- Congress The only Texas entry in Esquire’s Best New Restaurants 2011
- Eleven Madison Park Chef Daniel Humm in New York City, New York formulates an out-of-the-box culinary thing revolving around a surprise tasting menu
- FIG (Food Is Good) Chef Mike Lata in Charleston, South Carolina serves up foods sourced from local farmers, growers, and purveyors
- Fore Street Best in a family of Portland, Maine restaurants and bakeries with a wood-burning oven, open kitchen, and produce humidor
- Geronimo Chef Eric DiStefano in Santa Fe, New Mexico
- La Caille At Quail Run Stream-side authentic French cuisine in, of all places, Salt Lake City, Utah
- Town House Chefs Karen Urie Shields and John B. Shields in Chilhowie, Virginia – do not overlook Riverstead
- Trummer's On Main Chef Clayton Miller in Clifton, Virginia
- Uchi Chef Tyson Cole in Austin, Texas mixes Japanese tradition with tastes that inspire him
Photography Software Blogs
- HV-Designs Tutorials on Photoshop, coding, WordPress, and jQuery
- Photoshop Tutorials Adobe Photoshop tutorials
- Pixel77 Tutorials, design resources, and articles
- PS Deluxe Photoshop tutorials, inspiration, and resources
- Psdtuts+ blog/Photoshop site
- Tutorial King Artful and original Photoshop tutorials
- Tutzor Photoshop tutorials ranked according to level of difficulty
- Worth 1000 Photo effects
Photography Websites
- Ben Birchall Bristol-based photographer who covers news in the South West UK
- Beth Forester Professional photographer, speaker, educator, and photoDUDS owner/creator
- David Slater Wildlife Photography Wildlife, nature, environment, picture library, workshops, prints
- Jonas Peterson Jonas *loves* shooting weddings
- Josh Blumenthal Bold, funny appetizing, colorful, genuine, twisted…
- Jules Café Photographer Jules Bianchi’s place to find tips on shooting, networking, inspiration, and more
- Kevin Swan Destination photographer for luxury events
Wedding Resources
- A Cup of Jo Creative magazine writer and blogger in New York.
- Amber & Thomas Australian fashion designer
- Bliss Books A profound and moving book that marries art, memory, and emotion together in print.
- Breathe Upon Great wedding invitation designs.
- Brooklyn Bride Bridal blog focused on modern weddings.
- Elizabeth Anne Designs Wedding and lifestyle site updated daily with tips and stories from real brides, newlyweds, and wedding vendors.
- Frolic! Freelance blogger, event designer, and a commercial floral and prop stylist.
- Green Wedding Shoes A popular Southern California wedding blog.
- Hostess with the Mostess Innovative online resource for hip, modern, and unique entertaining ideas.
- Inspired By This Creative wedding insight paired with strategic thinking in wedding public relations.
- Jewelers Mutual Insure your jewelry
- Junebug Weddings Highly-vetted lists of luxury wedding professionals that brides and event planners can trust.
- Kate Towers An artist with vision who creates non-seasonal, one of a kind pieces.
- Kelly Oshiro Design Boutique design and planning company based in Santa Barbara, CA.
- KISS Books HOT wedding books in seven ridiculously good-looking colors.
- Nordstrom Wedding Suite Gorgeous gowns and everything for the wedding party
- Oh Joy! Inspiration with a focus on design, fashion, and food.
- Ritzy Bee Wedding planning and production firm.
- Southern Weddings Magazine The South’s hottest wedding magazine for the modern southern bride.
- Sparkliatti Designing weddings and events the same way a Broadway producer approaches a play.
- Style Me Pretty Style savvy wedding resource devoted to the modern bride.
- The Bride's Cafe Get inspired by beautiful artists and amazing wedding vendors.
- The Knott Most-trafficked one-stop online wedding planning solution.
- The Wedding Chicks Everything new, classic, funky, hip, and just plain fun for weddings.
- Waxworks Photo Imaginative, moody, and provocative photography and wax pieces.
- Wedding Paper Divas Wedding invitations, bridal shower invitations and save the date cards
Worthy Blogs
- Chase Jarvis The hub for award winning photographer/director Chase Jarvis
- Heather Parkinson Utah Wedding Photographer
- HomeCrunch Kay Luo’s new home in Palo Alto
- Kiss the Groom Celebrates life, love, and kisses through photographs and personal insights
- Lily Rose Lily Rose blog
- PetaPixel A blog about photography geared towards tech-savvy photography enthusiasts
- Photo Attorney Serving the photographer’s legal needs
- photoDUDS Blog Graphic design software for photographers
- Photography for Real Estate Photography for real estate
- Profoto The light shaping company
- Ridout Photography One of Canada’s most inspiring wedding photographers
- San Francisco Brides For the city’s stylish brides and grooms
- Smart Ass Cripple Expressing pain through sarcasm since 2010.
- SoulaStyle A Missoula Style Website by Aimee
- Strobist Learn how to light…
Tweets
- Annoying the neighbors #listening to San Francisco Bay Blues (Unplugged CD Version) by Eric Clapton out loud on my Sonos 1 week ago
- Am I the only one annoyed by #PayPal persistent MasterCard ad roadblock when paying for purchases? #bestpractices http://t.co/gO3lDHke 1 month ago
- Yahoo awarded $610 million from lottery spammers http://t.co/4TVF4nUR via @CNET Go Yahoo! 2 months ago
- Nokia's 3D projection from a few days ago in London http://t.co/lUcClIgh 2 months ago
- Dear Aunt Chippy - Secret Santa http://t.co/9Et1Cixe 2 months ago
Tag Archives: restaurant
Fore Street
Late last month we visited Fore Street on a whim while passing through Portland, Maine. In the main dining room tables are arranged on two sides of an open kitchen scene that includes a wood-fired oven, line, and a glassed humidor of sorts for fresh produce. Although the presence of bread seemed to dominate customer reviews (after all, Standard Baking Company is on premises), it is merely an element that competes for attention within the non-stop bustle.
The overwhelming daily menu flowed from garden salads punctuated with mizuna, Hokurei turnips, and grilled Vidalia to chilled meats and offal offerings that included Maine farm rabbit liver pâté and Pekin duck sausage. Wood-grilled meats, oven-roasted seafood, and fresh vegetables ranged from quail and veal sweetbreads to Atlantic bluefish and hake.
Various menu options provide multiple reasonably-priced smaller portion offerings for relief from selection anxiety: Oysters from Nonesuch River, Winter Point, and Hog Island; tastes of Pekin duck rillettes and Maine farm heritage pork brawn; a chilled seafood platter that includes Maine lobster with pickle and tarragon mayonnaise, sliced yellowfin tuna with favas and grilled scallion sauce, summer flounder tartare with lime, shallot, and fresh herbs, and house-caught Atlantic mackerel with pea tendrils and pistachio gremolata. We cannot make the reach to entrees.
Dessert choices include seven artisan cheeses from York Hill Farm and Hahn’s End in Maine and Jasper Hill Farm and Cabot in Vermont. There are also “simply ripe Maine strawberries” from Wayne, Maine (I love saying that) and delectable hand-made chocolates such as orange and white chocolate bon bons and sage flower ganache truffles.
Are you hungry yet? Service and general staff friendliness are high here. Waitstaff take pride in both their tenure and the quality of this restaurant family. So much so that we elect to visit sister property Street & Company on a future visit (Fore Street remains our favorite), but we never make it to Standard Baking Company, Scales at the Public Market, or Two Fat Cats. It is also interesting to note that Fore Street has an always-open reputation that endears it to locals when they occasionally seek shelter from winter storms. Lucky locals.
Posted in Food & Wine, Travel
Also tagged destination dining, dine, fore street, maine, meat, offal, open kitchen, portland, seafood, wood-burning oven
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Photo of the Day – Keepin’ It Local
The community benefits when chefs and farmers connect through locally-produced vegetables, fruits, and farm products. Yesterday I spotted these locavore chefs – Chris Shepherd (chef and managing partner of Catalan Food & Wine) and Randy Evans (executive chef of Haven) – comparing notes in the 90+ degree heat/humidity during a break in their buying activities at the Urban Harvest Farmers Market at Eastside. Farmers appreciate the restaurants’ buying power and restaurant customers enjoy fresh ingredients that taste good. It’s all good!
Posted in Food & Wine
Also tagged catalan, catalan food & wine, chris shepherd, cullinary, dairy, farmer's market, farmers, haven, Houston, local, locavore, meat, poultry, produce, randy evans, vegetables
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Photo of the Day – Taqueria

Laredo Taqueria in Houston, Washington @ Snover St in The Heights, Washington Corridor (photo by Kenn Stearns)
Colorful, hard to miss, best breakfast tacos in town, owner does not like people to take pictures of his bidness
Posted in Food & Wine
Also tagged 77007, 915 snover st, breakfast taco, Houston, lardeo taqueria, laredo taco place, taco, taqueria, tex mex, the heights, washington corridor
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Photo of the Day – Haven
Haven is a certified green restaurant in Houston, a city that is not well known for energy conservation. Executive Chef Randy Evans and I recently talked about what it means to be green at Haven.
The restaurant was built from the ground-up to store, prepare, serve, and consume food. The angle of the roof was designed to accommodate solar panels. The dining room color palette includes warm tones of eggplant and artichoke. The vegetables, meats, and fish are all fresh. Chef Evans works with local farmers to not only source fresh food but to recycle waste from the restaurant for compost or other uses. With 10 containers for recycling, the restaurant only needs a 4-foot dumpster.
A new vegetable and herb garden includes the expected basil and cucumbers but also offers surprises such as bronze fennel and edible flowers. Large cedar logs – each one required six men to move and place – line the garden that’s just getting started.
Restaurant grounds are planted with citrus trees, grape vines that thrive in Texas, and berries. Rain chains are selectively used in place of down spouts. A 500-gallon cistern filled with rain water is used to irrigate the vegetable and herb gardens. Chef Evans said two more cisterns will be used to irrigate additional landscaping.

Haven harvests rainwater stored in a 500-gallon cistern for irrigating vegetables and herbs (photo by Kenn Stearns)
As many of us become more aware of how our daily choices affect the environment, Haven demonstrates how a scalable project with a mission can yield real-world results that make a difference. Fresh food from local providers served up in a responsible environment by professionals who are connected to their customers and the community make for a winning combination. (And the food/wine is great too.)
Photo of the Day – Clay Pit in Austin
When we met friends and family at The Clay Pit, many of them remarked they’d seen the sign when driving by and had always wanted to stop. I’m no expert on Indian food, but I like bread, attentive service, diverse menu choices, and the ability to throttle spiciness. The Clay Pit delivered in all cases. Our group included a vegetarian, queasy stomach, low tolerance for spicy food, and enthusiastic support for extremely spicy food. Our waiter accommodated everyone’s requests. The Naan was hot, crisp, and tasty – we tried garlic and basil, onion and cilantro, and regular. We particularly enjoyed the Somosas (we tried chicken and vegetable), Tandoori Vegetables, and any Biryanis.
We read the criticisms from online reviewers claiming the food was not authentic, too spicy, not spicy enough, spotty service, etc. We didn’t have those problems and were delighted with the overall experience.
Posted in Food & Wine
Also tagged aroma, austin, clay pit, contemporary indian cuisine, Family, good for sharing, indian, naan, samosas, spicy, tandoori
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Photo of the Day – Hugo’s
The exciting flavors of Mexico come together at Hugo’s in Houston where fresh tastes, updated interpretations of traditional dishes, complex complementary flavors, and earthy notes combine in a delightful cuisine like no other.
Photo of the Day – Cafe Josie in Austin

Herb crusted goat cheese with cilantro pepita pesto, mojo picado, ancho chile and grilled bruschetta (photo by Kenn Stearns)
Last year a Houston friend in the restaurant industry recommend that we dine at Cafe Josie during an Austin visit. We were exhausted after spending another day searching for a place for our college-aged daughter to live for her junior year at The University of Texas. We resisted the temptation to go with a known standby eatery and showed up early for dinner. The waiter was friendly, made great wine recommendations, and the cuisine exceeded our expectations. The unique tastes and flavor combinations melted away the day’s pavement pounding.
During another recent visit to Austin we visited Cafe Josie again – this time for a birthday lunch with our daughter. Outside the weather was stormy, cold, and wet. Inside the ambiance and wait staff were colorful and cheerful. We shared starters, enjoyed daily specials for entrées, and used the celebratory moment as an excuse to try the desserts.
Cafe Josie is named for the daughter of chef Charles Mayes, who started in 1979 as the chef at Mother’s Cafe and Garden. In 1986 he moved to the Treaty Oak Cafe and in 1991 joined up with restaurateur Stan Adams at Gilligan’s.
Posted in Food & Wine
Also tagged austin, cafe josie, charles mayes, chef, sixth street
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Photo of the Day – Backstreet Café in Houston
Owner Tracy Vaught opened Backstreet Café in 1983. Nestled among majestic oaks in a ’30s-style home, the restaurant delivers one of Houston’s best fine-dining experiences. Executive chef Hugo Ortega provides a wide assortment of “New American Bistro” fare with an emphasis on freshness and originality.
Posted in Food & Wine
Also tagged backstreet cafe, Houston, hugo ortega, tracy vaught
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Photo of the Day – Margaritaville in Montego Bay
Parrot heads celebrate this Margaritaville as the mothership of Jimmy Buffet’s franchise. What better way to enjoy the world famous Cheeseburger in Paradise than on a 120-foot water slide? Jamaican owners Brian Jardim and Ian Dear opened in January 1966 and have been partying happily ever after.
Posted in Food & Wine
Also tagged caribbean, cheeseburer, jamaica, jimmy buffet, margaritaville, montego bay, paradise, parrot head
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Photo of the Day – Black pepper sorbet with strawberries
“Uchi is an Austin restaurant serving modern Japanese fare in a variety of ways.”
“Variety of ways” are three key words in the first sentence of content on the menu page of Uchi’s website. Diversity of menu items, unusual service on both sides of the sushi bar, and elegant presentation combined for a truly elegant dining experience. “Uchi” means house, and this Austin restaurant in a former home is where sushi master chef Tyson Cole works his magic.
On this particular evening the mastery culminated with dessert: black pepper sorbet with strawberries. If not for the urging of a friendly Uchi regular seated nearby, I would have skipped what seemed an unusual flavor mating. This is among the best desserts, ever.















