Category: Travel

A Culinary Experience at Equinox in DC

Adrienne waiting at Hotel Monaco for taxi to Equinox.

A chilly November evening in Washington, DC provided the opportunity for a very haute culinary experience at one of DC’s premier restaurants. Located a few blocks from the White House at 818 Connecticut Ave, NW, Todd Gray’s Equinox restaurant (http://www.equinoxrestaurant.com) provided the perfect fireside dining opportunity to meet old Topeka, Ks family friends Stuart and Paula Haney.

Todd Gray is a top culinary talent in the nation’s capital and an avid promoter of local, seasonal mid-Atlantic foods. Known for breathing new life into historical recipes, Gray developed Equinox’s distinct cuisine, enhancing Virginia-Piedmont ingredients and recipes with his classical Italian training.

Stuart and Paula Haney of Washington, DC.

A personal friend of the Haney’s, Gray is culinary director at Salamander Hospitality (http://www.salamanderhospitality.com) where Stuart is the Chief Operating Officer. He is overseeing development and implementation of an elegant menu of provincial Virginia specialty dishes for the 340-acre Salamander Resort & Spa, slated to open in Middleburg, Virginia in 2010.

Todd personally selected and prepared a five course dining experience fit for a king that included: pan seared cape cod diver scallops, fried rappahannock oysters with caper butter, truffled white bean gratin, pumpkin bisque with sesame oil along numerous other culinary delights. Each course was expertly paired with wine selected by the chef, that enhanced the flavor of each course.

Todd Gray of Equinox.

Year after year, the Todd has been recognized with industry awards, garnered applause from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNN, Southern Living, Town & Country, Gourmet Magazine, Newsweek, Time, Travel & Leisure and many others, and been featured guests on television cooking, news and magazine shows.

Despite the demands of running a successful restaurant, Todd and his wife Ellen make time in their personal lives to spread the word and promote the benefits and fundamentals of seasonality, sustainability and healthy eating. Among their recent ventures is a program they initiated at DC’s Murch Elementary School where they teach students where food comes from, how to cultivate their own crops, and most significantly how to cook and enjoy what they grow. The other is the new community market, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, which they opened in October 2009.

When in Washington, if one does not dine at Equinox, one does not dine at all.

Dec 07, 2009 | 0 comments View Post

Dinner in DC with John & Tiba Sheptor and Lemonade Day Winner

Diane Hoff of Houston, Texas was the winner of Lemonade Day trip to DC.

Back in the early summer of 2009, when 9-year-old Diane Hoff was learning to be a young entrepreneur during Lemonade Day in her hometown of Houston, Texas, little did she know that she and her family would win an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. Well, nice dreams can come true for nice people.

Diane’s name was entered in the “Win a free trip to Washington DC” sweepstakes, part of Imperial Sugar’s title sponsorship of Lemonade Day, and she won … not just a trip for herself but her sister Elizabeth and her parents, Edita and Jeff Hoff.

During their recent visit to the nation’s capital, Diane and her family toured famous monuments and the Capitol building, walked Washington’s Mall and visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, twice.

Kyle Hicks and Adrienne Lallo at the DC home of Tiba and John Sheptor.

eA highlight of their trip was dinner at the home of Imperial Sugar President and CEO, John Sheptor, and his wife.

Tiba personally cooked a tasty array of her family’s favorite Persian dishes that have been prepared by her family for centuries. Passed from generation to generation by word of mouth and hands on experience, the prepared dishes included; two kinds of rice, lamb and herb rice, beef and eggplant and chicken with pomegranate sauce. The meal provided a culinary experience second to none.

Joining the Sheptor and Hoff families for dinner were Chef Eddy Van Damme and Kyle Hicks of Houston, and Ed and Adrienne Lallo of Austin, Texas.

Chef Eddy preparing dessert with Lemonade Day Trip winner Diane Hoff.

Chef Eddy prepared dessert with Lemonade Day Trip winner Diane Hoff.

Chef Eddy and Diane worked side-by-side to prepare dessert for the meal. A flan with baked chocolate, gold leafed pear and berries. Tiba turned her kitchen over to the two chefs as the guests watched.
Lemonade Day is a very special event for Imperial Sugar. The company sweetens the Lemonade Day  experience by supplying sample packets of pre-measured Imperial Sugar, a lemonade recipe booklet and coupons for Imperial Sugar products. The  sugar company also developed a set of marketing tips which are  included in the backpacks on how the young entrepreneurs can effectively promote their lemonade stands.

Wholesome Sweeteners, partially owned by  Imperial Sugar, also provides organic sugar products, as well as cost-saving coupons for many of its products.

What did Diane think about all the things she experienced while in Washington? “It was cool,” she said, “seeing the Lincoln Memorial, the monuments, the Library of Congress, the White House, and visiting the home of Mr. Sheptor of Imperial Sugar.”

Back home in Houston, Diane wrote a paper for her fourth grade class and shared her adventures in the nation’s capital with classmates.

Edita Hoff, Diane’s mother, said the experience has opened up her daughter’s eyes to how big the world really is and praised the Lemonade Day program and Imperial Sugar Company’s support “to encourage young entrepreneurs to discover their talents and broaden their horizons.”

She said her daughter’s new motto is, “You can be what you want to be with hard work and determination.”

The Flash Player and a browser with Javascript support are needed..

Dec 06, 2009 | 0 comments View Post

Belmont Hotel Dallas Views

I just want to share a unique hotel find while on a shoot in Dallas for HNTB. Having to photography soil sample drills on the Trinity River early in the morning, I booked a nite at the Belmont Hotel in the south part of Dallas near Oak Cliff. I figured I had little to lose being five minutes from my shoot the next morning, and besides an old classmate of mine from Maur Hill, Michael Schmidt, said it had a great bar and view of Dallas.

Situated at the corner of Ft. Worth Avenue and Sylvan, I was more than pleasantly surprised to find a well kept, clean, modern hotel with a more than friendly staff, all at very reasonable prices. Sitting out of the patio having a drink and watching the light of Dallas emerge from daylight was incredible.

The Belmoth comes with a spectacular view of Downtown Dallas.

The Belmont comes with a spectacular view of Downtown Dallas.

The hotel has full health club benefits a the Belmont Health Club next door. An added bonus was finding a location right above the hotel that offered a perfect skyline shot of Dallas for both morning and evening shots.

I will go back to the Belmont, and suggest you check it out on your next visit to Big D.

Nov 16, 2009 | 1 comment View Post

Forty-years later, Maur Hill Reunion

Maur Hill Prep Class of 1969

Who were those strangers I saw two weeks ago at my high school reunion. Somewhere behind the graying hair, the wrinkles and the expanded waistlines were hints of the young boys that I lived with for four years of high school.

We were never a close class back in the late 60’s, and after our graduation in 1969 I lost track of most of my classmates. Only one really matured into a close friendship to this day.

Mike LeCluyse and me at Maur Hill Prep.

It was an adventure returning to Atchison, Ks. Driving the backroads of Missouri, stopping at wineries and eating at a funk dive in Weston. In forty years Atchison has not changed much. Maur Hill Prep is much the same as it was in 1969. Same classrooms, same dorm and same gym; only different faces walk the halls.

Who were those strangers, I gues they were much like me. Not young men looking forward like we were in 1969, but just a few old men looking back.

[Gallery not found]

Sep 23, 2009 | 2 comments View Post

Memorable Day In Boston

Sometime you just have one of those days when everything you do turns out right.

While playing tourist in Boston with my wife, Adrienne, and father-in-law, Jules Sotnek, we spent of day filled with interesting adventure, good food and paying our last respects to a great American.

The day started with breakfast at Quincy Market, then it was off to the New England Aquarium. We hit the perfect day and time for our visit. We managed to see the feeding of the penguins, the sea lion show and the yearly physical of Sally the 50o lb sea turtle.

After a morning spent with sea creatures, it was off to lunch at Lucien’s in the Italian North End where we enjoyed a marvelous mussels as an appetizer and traditional Italian fare for the main courses.

Before leaving the NorthEnd, we visited the historic North Church as we continued to our final destination of the MFA, Musuem of Fine Art.

After our visit to the museum it was back to the hotel to pick up bags to head out tot he burbs to for our stay with Adrienne’s brother. While dragging our luggage down State Street to the T station, we accidently ran into Edward Kennedy’s funeral procession driving through downtown. It was a very moving moment.

Then it was off to the subway, to continue a perfect day…..