Category Archives for On the Ground.
No, Justin Bieber is not dead. Honestly, I don’t care one way or the other. I just needed something more attention-getting than “Hotel Restaurant News,” because that is not a sexy headline. No siree. Dead Bieber? Sexy headline. You’re with me on this, right? The truth is, I think hotel restaurant news IS exciting and…
I love chicken wings. Ever since my college days where I’d routinely put down double-orders from Buffalo Joe’s with waffle fries (aka buffalo chips) and an RC cola, I’ve been enamored of the little flavor bombs. Last week, I had the good fortune of being invited down to Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City,…
First things first: if you haven’t entered my $50 Starbucks giveaway this week, you’ve got less than a day left. The contest closes at midnight tonight. Click on one of the various posts below that say Starbucks in the title and follow the instructions to enter. Now onto your regularly scheduled programming: I can’t believe…
Who doesn’t love awards? Oscar, Emmy, Tony — these aren’t just the names of people on your college co-ed Ultimate Frisbee team. They’re the way that we, as a society, reward entertainers for doing well at the jobs they’re paid very well to do. Awards aren’t limited to entertainment, though. If you’re a regular BoardingArea…
Another week has come to a close and that means we’re cruising into next week at a comfortable altitude. While you try to figure out that New York Times Sunday crossword (14 across is Marmaduke), perhaps you’d like to catch up on some stories you may have missed from the previous week? Clink on the…
You thought my Hong Kong coverage was over? NO WAY, SON. This is a Hong Kong flashback Fly&Dine-style. That photo up there? It’s an egg waffle (aka eggette or gai daan jai) at Lee Keung Kee. I had no idea what Lee Keung Kee was, but when I was trekking back and forth to that…
A very happy Sunday to you, my fly-and-dining friends. Another week is coming to a close and that means it’s time to wrap up the week that was in Fly&Dine. We started with a meditation on a fairly inane list that claimed “Jet Bloat” was a fearsome problem that can only be solved with hummus…
Oh what a week it was in the Fly&Dine Air Traffic Control Tower. We launched a contest for a $50 gift card to The Counter Burger, given you a first-hand account of ramen at a regional Japanese airport, exposed an underground Trader Joe’s resale economy on eBay and Amazon (even though it’s not exactly related…
Trader Joe’s is amazing. If you haven’t been, they inhabit the space between Whole Foods and your local supermarket and offer high quality items at a really affordable price. If you live near one, you quickly join the Cult of Trader Joe’s and can’t fathom buying packaged trail mix or pasta anywhere else. If you…
One of the most neglected areas of the Fly&Dine universe is hotel restaurants. For decades, people knew that eating in the hotel restaurant meant uninspired meals in a stuffy dining room (or low-rent diner) with a super-high bill at the end. Those days are luckily behind us. In just the past month, I’ve had incredible…
It’s hard to believe that I was soaking up the Hawaiian sun a week ago and now I’m sweltering in my tiny house in LA, but life could be much, much worse. If you’re a regular reader, then you were able to follow along as I ate my way through the Kohala Coast on the…
If you ever went to Vegas and thought “there just aren’t enough dining outlets here,” then fear not. First of all, I’m so sorry that the brain surgery went awry. Second, MGM is converting the space between New York-New York and Monte Carlo into an outdoor pedestrian park (called “The Park”) with a planned opening…
The Mauna Kea is the oldest hotel on Hawaii’s Kohala Coast and next year it’ll celebrate its 50th anniversary. Built by a Rockefeller, this beautiful hotel doesn’t look anywhere near its age and Manta, the signature restaurant at the Mauna Kea is no exception. Do you see that photo above? That’s the view from my…
I’ve been down on the Kohala Coast on the Northwest side of Hawaii (aka The Big Island) and I’ve been feasting like some kind of modern day Kamehameha. So far, I’ve enjoyed a private chef’s tour to the farmers market with Executive Chef Jayson Kanekoa of the Waikoloa Beach Marriott, a righteous steamed monchong at…
