Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

With enough time stopping in Paris to relax and some of the highest internet speeds we have had on this trip, I am catching up on my to do list.  A couple years ago I watched the Steve Jobs 2005 Stanford commencement for the first time.  It is a powerfully structured and delivered speech.

It has been on my list to watch it again for the last several months.  After just seeing it again, I found the talk, and especially the ending, fits quite well with my blog.  

If you haven't seen this before, this is a must see.  If you have seen it before, watch it again!  

Stay Hungry.  Stay Foolish.

  

Top Eats - Madrid - La Gabinoteca

I was watching a Bourdain episode featuring Madrid to figure out where to go in the city and La Gabinoteca caught my eye.  Once again, Anthony Bourdain did not disappoint.  We came when they opened and there was no problem getting a table without a reservation.  I did read that if you go in for dinner, you should probably make a reservation.

This was our favorite restaurant in Madrid.  We ordered quite a bit and I was surprised at how reasonable the bill was when it arrived.

These are the dishes we tried that I think are must try and pretty special.

Potino is one of their signature dishes.  Perfectly cooked egg with potato and truffle in a jar.

"dim sum" of ham and egg

oxtail ragout with pasta that is cooked at the table

I am a sucker for home made hot dogs.  I had one in one of the fancy hotels in Chicago a couple months ago.  It was great as well and I would love to compare the two side by side in a contest to see which is my favorite.

I could have eaten 10 of these shrimp fritters.  I am glad I just ordered one.  I don't know whether this is a classic spanish dish.  It wouldn't surprise me if this dish had an Asian influence.

Cream cheese dessert that originated at Arzak?

grilled baby squid in what I think was a Romesco sauce

La Gabinoteca

Calle de Fernández de la Hoz, 53, 28003 Madrid, Spain

Top Eats: Madrid - Taberna Del Chato

Taberna Del Chato served up modern tapas in a comfortable small restaurant without being too fancy.  Service was very friendly and prices were on the inexpensive to moderate side.  We came here twice on our Madrid stay.

These are the must try dishes we had:

Boneless fried chicken skewer with a sweet chili sauce.

We didn't have croquetas everywhere we went in Spain.  Of the few places we did have them at, this was the highest quality rendition.

if you like beef tartare in general, their version is a must try.  

These dishes were good, so use your discretion on the ordering.

gazpacho

jamon iberico

chocolate mousse

Taberna del Chato
Calle de la Cruz 35. Madrid

Madrid - Casa Federica for Argentinian food

We were in Madrid for several days and we needed a break from Spanish food.  After some research of restaurant reviews, we found Casa Federica for Argentian food within 10 minutes from our Gran Via apartment.  The first night we went at around 9PM, there <10 tables were all full and we were out of luck.  The next two times we went, we made a reservation and went at opening.  The meals here ended up very inexpensive and were some of the most enjoyable meals we had in Madrid.

The best spinach dish I have ever had is their spinach fritter.  The second time we went back was just so I could have this dish again before leaving Madrid!

Fat empanadas with a flaky crust and lots of filling.  My two favorite flavors were beef and pumpkin.

A real good hummus.

 Spanish tortilla

Casa Federica
Calle de la Manzana, 19
28015 Madrid

Barcelona - Santa Caterina market

After a couple visits to La Boqueria, we thought we should venture out and check out other markets in the area we were staying.  We were staying in the El Born area and were a 10 minute walk from Santa Caterina market.  This market is a fraction of the size of La Boqueria.  It is also less crowded, cleaner, and eating there is cheaper.  If you are in the neighborhood, I definitely suggest you check it out.

Given the morning we went I was starving, we didn’t take any pictures of the market itself or meal.  All I have is the signage and receipt from the very bare bones, but delicious breakfast we had at Bar Joan.  This breakfast was filling, delicious, and costed 60+% less than my previous day’s brunch in La Boqueria.  Both were great, but they were very different experiences.  La Boqueria is tourist eating at its best.  Bar Joan and Santa Caterina market is simple local eating at its best.

Santa Caterina market

Av Francesc Cambó, 16, Barcelona

Top Eats - Paris - Lunch at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon Etoile

Joel Robuchon has the most Michelin stars of any chef at 28.  Yesterday was my third meal at one of his restaurants.  At these fancy places I am often underwhelmed in the end given the high expectations that naturally come with the many dollar signs.  On my 3 visits to Joel Robuchon restaurants, the food has always surpassed my expectations.  I don't like dishes that are overly complex and I like it when just 1-3 flavors burst out purely.

This  L'Atelier has a prix fixe lunch menu with starter, entree, and dessert for 41 euros.  Given the 2 Michelin stars and Champs Elysee location, it was a pretty decent value in my book.  Even better, my mother-in-law was kind enough to treat Laura and me!

Every L'Atelier I have been to has a sleek, dark, and modern design with bright red accents.  Their bar seating looks into the open kitchen which is immaculate and humming silently.

My starter was a cherry gazpacho.  My mother-in-law had it as well and it has been her favorite dish in Paris so far.

Laura had the vegetable starter which was perfectly cooked and I stole half of.

It came with a delicious deeply flavored ginger chicken broth on the side.

I had veal cheeks as my entree.  Two plump and falling apart tender pieces of veal cheek.  The best beef/veal cheeks I have had over the last two months.  I have had beef/veal cheeks at least 5 times over the last two months and it isn't even close.  These were the most tender and had the most flavor infused into it.

Last time we came to Paris Laura almost had steak beef once a day.  I don't think that will happen this time, but she did have beef tartare at this lunch.  I loved that it required no work and everything was mixed homogeneously.  Laura prefers do it herself assembly, but did agree this was one of the best beef tartare variations she has eaten.

Laura was being healthy so that left the majority of the perfectly fried crinkle cut french fries for me to gobble up.

All our entrees came with a side of insanely buttery rich and smooth mashed potatoes.  Some call it the best mashed potatoes.

There were three desserts on the prix fixe menu and there were three of us.  Each dessert found its way to the rightful owner.  Laura's favorite dish in Paris so far is the coffee cream + jelly.

My favorite dish so far on this Paris trip was my fruit salad with basil sorbet.

The third dish was a rasberry sorbet in pastry shell.

 L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon Etoile
133 Champs-Élysées, 75008 Paris, France

Barcelona - La Boqueria Market

I love checking out food markets wherever I travel.  I am often underwhelmed and disappointed by pricing/quality of what I find.  Barcelona's La Boqueria market is one of my top 3 favorite in the world.

The market gets crazy busy with tourists and locals.  If you don't like crowds, I recommend you go early in the morning or before the typical Spanish lunch time.

Madrid - Restaurante Botin, the world's oldest restaurant

According to Restaurante Botin's signage, the Guinness book has them as the the oldest restaurant in the world.  I see conflicting information in different places, but in my opinion the primary reason to check out Botin is because it is the oldest.

The two signature dishes we had which were cooked in ancient oven while retaining juiciness, but priced aggressively high due to being the oldest restaurant and a tourist location.

Roasted suckling pig

Roasted baby lamb

Restaurante Botin

Calle Cuchilleros, 17, 28005 Madrid, Spain

Barcelona - Bar Pinotxo

Bar Pinotxo is one of the more famous tapas bars in La Boqueria market and Barcelona given it has been featured on many TV shows.  They charge premium pricing given the location in La Boqueria, but I still thought it was one of the most enjoyable dining experiences I had in Spain.

Juanito Bayen, the friendly owner, in his signature thumbs up pose

There were a couple dishes I thought were stand out and I will need to trek back to have them again or try to make them at home.

Chickpeas with blood sausage, pine nuts, and raisins.  When I try to make this at home, I will be using chorizo or some other sausage.  Blood sausage was great in this dish, but it is a bit tough to find.

Xuixo is a croissant like pastry dough that is deep fried and filled with cream.  My description and picture don't do the pastry justice.

Hash brown with grilled and melted tomino del boscaiolo cheese.

Bar Pinotxo
Rambla de Sant Josep  Mercat de la Boqueria, 466-470, 08002 Barcelona, Spain

In Florence: a wonderful cozy restaurant filled with locals

In Florence, Tim and I happened upon a lovely little restaurant tucked away from the tourist traps and filled with local Florentines.

The chef/owner Nicola is originally from Puglia, and moved to Florence 25 years ago, so the cuisine is a blend of southern Italian and Florentine. The food was fantastic.

The restaurant's name is Sed Lex. (See also Tripadvisor and Yelp.)

Nicola helped us pick out what dishes to order, explained how to enjoy each dish, and recounted a bit of his life story. It was a wonderful experience; we felt like we were guests in his home. Nicola is extremely passionate about good food and wine!

Chef/owner Nicola

The dining room is intimate -- it seats maybe 20 people -- and cozy. The decor is off-beat and entertaining.

Wall art

We started off with the appetizer sampler platter, on Nicola's recommendation. (Looking around, all of the Italians at nearby tables also ordered the sampler platter.)

The appetizer sampler included salami:

Delicious salami

It also included some assemble-it-yourself crostinis, which were fabulous. Nicola explained how to assemble the crostinis. Here is how it's done:

Start off with some homemade bread slices, then spread Nicola's homemade hot sauce on top:

Fresh hot sauce made from southern Italian peppers

Then add fresh sauteed mixed vegetables:

Addictingly good sauteed veggies

Then top with fresh burrata cheese spread!

Burrata cheese

Here is the result:

Assembled crostini

The crostinis were fantastic.

The next dish in the appetizer sampler was a bread-meat-tomatoes dish that was fluffy and light as air. Delicious!

Yummy bread dish

It also included focaccia:

Fresh focaccia

Next, we enjoyed tagliatelle with mussels:

Tagliatelle with mussels

And a very flavorful dish with beef and cheese, well-charred and a perfect medium rare:

Delicious beef and cheese dish

We also had a nice side of fresh pomodori with olive oil and balsamic vinegar:

Fresh cherry tomatoes

The food was fantastic -- definitely the best we had in Florence -- and possibly the best we had in all of Italy.