XML Aficionado: New release of Altova tools

Just a quick pointer to invite you to check out the following blog post about the new version 2008 release 2 of the Altova product line that adds support for Open XML across multiple products...
XML Aficionado: New BIG "minor" release of Altova tools

Ozumo

I have been to Ozumo many times before, and it is always a great pleasure to return to this trendy and excellent Japanese restaurant in San Francisco.

Ozumo is probably most famous for its Robata grill items, but I personally am a big fan of the sushi chefs at this fine establishment.

Make sure to sample the Poke on Kappa-Maki as well as the many more exotic choices of Nigiri and Sashimi and don't be afraid to ask for a Negitoro Temaki (hand roll) - it's not on the menu, but they will be glad to make it for you.

The sake list is impressive and many great sakes are also sold by the glass. This is definitely the place to try a sake flight and sample different sakes from various regions in Japan.

Getting a reservation can be tricky and it is highly recommended that you book in advance or that you are flexible with the time. For larger parties of 8-10 people they have two rooms that are somewhat secluded, but you need to ask for availability and a certain minimum consumption is required for these rooms.

Our rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ (5 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

Bernardus Lodge

Hidden in Carmel Valley, the Bernardus Lodge is a fabulous retreat and spa. The rooms are spacious, have built-in fireplaces, and are kept in a rustic design that makes this truly a place to "come home" to after a long journey.

As the valet takes care of your car and luggage, you are greeted in the lobby, which is really a super comfortable living room with crackling fire in the fireplace. You are offered a glass of wine while you wait for the concierge who escorts you to your room - and you do the check-in right in your own room. Truly a clever idea and a wonderful way to make the arrival process even more comfortable.

We stayed only one night on our trip up the west coast, but the breakfast was certainly one of the best breakfasts we had on the entire trip. And we were sad that we had to leave without enjoying some of the highly recommended spa treatments. We will need to come back one day and stay for a week...

Our rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ (5 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

Linn's Bakery - Olallieberry Heaven

Yes, the olallieberry really exists. It is a cross between a loganberry and a youngberry. The taste is somewhere in the spectrum between a blackberry and a raspberry - I'd say about 60% blackberry and 40% raspberry.

Linn's Bakery in Cambria is famous for their Olallieberry pie and a serving of such pie a la mode is exactly what we had for lunch.

In addition to pies, the olallieberry can also be turned into lemonade, iced tea, and a very delicious smoothie. Pies, jams, and other olallieberry products cans also be ordered online.

If you have a bit of time left after lunch, visit some of the antique shops in Cambria, or check out the strange collection of devil-ducks at the local pharmacy.

Our rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ◊ (4 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

Madonna Inn

The Madonna Inn near San Luis Obispo seems to be a fun place to spend a night on first glance. Located enroute from Los Angeles to San Francisco on the California Central Coast, the hotel's claim to fame is that all of its rooms have been decorated in different styles and that pink is a favorite color of the owners.

Unfortunately, the rooms appear to never have been redone in their 30+ year existence, leading to a rather unpleasant smell as you enter the rooms. The carpet is a grayish and worn color where one stain blends into the next, the bed covers look faded and the entire room had a creepy feeling to it.

My daughter had rack of lamb in the "Gold Rush Steak House" that is part of the hotel and is decorated entirely in pink (despite the name). Unfortunately the lamb did not appear to have been fresh, as my daughter became rather ill that night and managed to add another stain to the carpet....

We were very happy to leave the place in the morning and continue our journey. In retrospect, we should not have stayed there in the first place. Any Best Western or even a road-side Motel 6 is almost certainly a better choice!

Our rating: ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ (0 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel

If business or pleasure brings you to Beverly Hills, Hollywood, or Los Angeles, consider a stay at the Beverly Wilshire hotel, which is now a Four Seasons property. Everything about our stay was simply perfect and the hotel managed to exceed our expectations in various areas - even for the standard we are used to see at other Four Seasons locations.

The service was simply amazing and everything was executed on a level of perfection that your rarely see. To give just a few examples: the concierge called us a few days ahead of our arrival to see if we needed help with any reservations and organized VIP experience tickets for Universal Studios for us. Upon arrival, the door man inquired about my name as he opened the door of our car. By the time he had reached the rear of the car to unload the luggage, he greeted my son with the words "And you must be Calvin" - obviously having received all our family member names from reception via some secret service wireless gear. Very clever!

The rooms were great, the beds super-comfortable, and the breakfast was flawless as well. We can highly recommend the Wilshire Eggs Benedict with black truffles.

Our rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ (5 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

Spago - a little bit of Austria in Beverly Hills

Spago is certainly the flagship restaurant of Wolfgang Puck and the Beverly Hills location, opened in 1997, maintains a cutting-edge role as a creative culinary force, with a combination of Spago classics and Austrian-inspired recipes from Wolfgang's childhood.

Coming from Vienna, Austria, we thought it would be only fair to conduct a little "Austrian review" of Spago to find out how true to Puck's roots the dishes are - even when the chef is not personally in the kitchen anymore.

The first pleasant surprise is that the menu contains four dishes (2 appetizers and 2 entrees) marked with an * and identified as original recipes from Wolfgang Puck's grandmother's recipe collection. All the other dishes are also nicely selected and offer a fresh fusion of Californian and Austrian cuisine.

The wine list has quite a few Austrian wines and for our dinner we picked a bottle of the Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner from the Kamptal region in Austria. This is a very fresh and fruity white wine that goes extremely well with fish, but is also great with meat dishes.

We tried three of the four original grandmother recipe dishes: the Wiener Schnitzel was enormous and very well prepared. It could easily measure up to our expectations, although the portion of potato salad that accompanied the dish was definitely too small when compared with Vienna standard portions.

The Kärntner Käsenudeln were remarkable and delicious - although they led to a lively discussion between the authors of this blog, whether they were true Käsenudeln or more related to the Osttiroler Schlipfkrapfen (sometimes also called Schlutzkrapfen). After some research we concluded that they were indeed Käsenudeln - the mint in the filling was a clear give-away.

The Goulash was spicy, yet the beef was tender and could almost be cut with a fork - exactly the way it should be.

For desert we had the Kaiserschmarrn, which was truly fabulous and airy. The true connoisseur of Austrian cuisine would, of course, need to notice that  it was almost a cross-over between a Kaiserschmarrn and Salzburger Nockerln, which gave it a fluffiness that is rarely found in pure Kaiserschmarrn.

Unfortunately the low-light conditions in the restaurant made our photos come out too dark and lacking color and appeal - they would simply not do the dishes justice, so we decided to instead include a photo from Wolfgang Puck's own website above.

But our overall impression of Spago was that it does without any doubt deserve its reputation - even when you measure the Austrian cuisine by Austrian standards!

Our rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ (5 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

The Stand - a vegan paradise in Laguna Beach

California has, of course, always been a place where you find more health-conscious food choices than on the east coast

or in any other part of the country. But a vegan sandwich stand is still something a bit out of the ordinary - even for CA standards. The Stand is located just ½ block off Pacific Coast Highway (CA 1) in Laguna Beach. The extensive and colorful menu has all sorts of delicious choices for burgers, wraps, burritos, pita pockets, full entrees, as well as a vast selection of smoothies. This place is truly a vegan and vegetarian paradise, because the food selections are not limited to just tofu, but includes all sorts of vegetables and preparation styles to provide true variety.

For our lunch we had a potato burrito, a bean burrito, an avocado and hummus pita pocket (pictured on the right), and a peanut butter cookie, as well as a few delicious smoothies.

The only small disappointment was that we would have expected a vegan place to also be a bit more conscious of the environment and have recycling bins for paper/glass in addition to the trash bin.

Our rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ◊ (4 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

Bread & Cie - Best Bakery in San Diego

After the disappointing hotel breakfast at the US grant on the previous day, we started our trip north on Pacific Coast Highway (CA 1) with a breakfast stop at Bread & Cie in San Diego.

What a treat - this place truly deserves to be called the best bakery in San Diego. From the fantastic blueberry turnovers to the eclairs, the entire selection of pastries is to die for and presented in a beautiful glass display next to amazing looking cakes and pies that made us seriously consider having a round of dessert right after breakfast.

You get to pick your choices in front of the glass display, place your coffee order, and pay at the register - then they bring everything to your table when it is ready. The variety of breads on display was also breath-taking and we bought an olive bread as well as some sourdough rolls for the trip up the coast.

Our rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ (5 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

Confidential

Here is some confidential information for you: the Pheasant Glass team will be traveling up the West Coast from San Diego to San Francisco - following the Pacific Coast Highway - over the course of the next week and will be reporting on various culinary adventures as time permits and wherever Internet connections can be found.

While in San Diego, we discovered another top-secret location that we need to tell you about: the Confidential Restaurant and Loft is a hip bar located on Fourth Street in San Diego that features a fantastic mix of music, excellent food, and drinks.

All food is served tapas-style, meaning that the portions are small and meant to be shared with friends - and you probably want to start ordering 5-6 dishes for a table of 4. The drink selection is quite exquisite and I would recommend a White Orchid Martini (see photo above) for starters. It's Grey Goose vodka with elderflower syrup - not something you get to try every day.

The lobster bisque is very intense - almost an explosion of flavors - and comes with some delicious foam on top - it is served in a small cup, so you probably want to have one soup per person rather than sharing. Sadly, however, they were out of oyster shooters on the day we were there, but those sounded delicious, too, at least from what we could read in the menu....

It is also this unfortunate absence of oyster shooters as well as the missing-in-action  carpaccio that resulted in a one-point deduction from the maximum possible score for an otherwise quite memorable dining experience that night.

A few more notable dishes include the hearts of palm salad (pictured above) and the amazing Coca-Cola basted baby back ribs (on the right), as well as the salmon, and the deconstructed pizza.

The service was fast, friendly, and competent, rounding off an altogether top-notch dining experience that was accompanied by hip music. So whatever top-secret business brings you to town, make sure you conduct it at Confidential on Fourth Street in San Diego.

Our rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ◊ (4 out of a possible 5 diamonds).

Breakfast at the US Grant's "Grant Grill"

The US Grant in San Diego certainly has a great reputation and is part of  Starwood's "The Luxury Collection" of hotels. It also came recommended by our American Express travel counselor.

When we arrived on Saturday, the service quality was excellent - from the valet staff to the front desk to the concierge, the hotel lived up to our expectations. The hotel has undergone substantial renovations a few years back, and the lobby is extravagant, yet inviting. The rooms have been redecorated in a stylish way, although it appears that a fashion statement was more important to the interior designer than the comfort of guests. The sofa in the above picture is opposite the TV in the suite, and it is perhaps the most uncomfortable sofa I ever sat in. Also, the choice of fabric does no accommodate high traffic use, the settees look stained. We know for sure that the rooms are being cleaned, because a dirty rag was left on our suitcases.

For breakfast we went to the Grant Grill in the hotel. The breakfast menu was well designed and the Wedgwood china, silverware, and table setting looked promising.  

Imagine our surprise, when we were told upon being served our coffee and tea  that they were out of English breakfast tea. But this was only the foreboding of things to come. Even though the restaurant was only 20-25% full, it took forever until we were served. When the food finally arrived, the pancakes that my daughter had ordered were covered with blueberries, but once she pushed those aside, the entire stack turned out to be severely burnt. Needless to say, we sent them back. One would imagine that an egg over-easy is one of the more-easy items on the menu to get right. Au contraire, the egg was undercooked and covered with grease. Likewise, the "Gold Yukon Potatoes" turned out to be hash-browns that were raw on the inside and burnt on top and bottom.

This was also the point in time, when service quality went downhill. Not only did we have to wait for the toast and pastries for another 10 minutes, by which time the eggs were already cold, but we were also confronted with an empty salt shaker and no sight of the waiter for those entire 10 minutes. When the pastries finally arrived, they turned out to be soaked in fat to the point where a huge grease stain was left behind in the bread basket. Upon serving the check the waiter asked if everything had been alright, and instead of waiting for our answer concluded for himself "All is well, that's good to hear."

We respectfully disagree...

Our rating: ♦ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ (1 out of a possible 5 diamonds).