The Duck Inn has been a favorite of ours, and of many, since it opened in 2014. We moved to Bridgeport, a neighborhood on the south side of Chicago in 2015 and we’ve been frequenting The Duck Inn several times a year ever since. We’ve spent a New Year’s Eve here, Mother’s Day brunch, an epic tasting menu that was called the “Baller” with gobs of fois gras, and other insanely rich dishes, as well as many other evenings and…
We find ourselves in Valparaiso and Chesterton, Indiana quite a lot. Our kids live here with their mom, so it’s often the case that we’re over here finding something to eat or some activities to do. We’ve been meaning to check out Blockhead for a while, and, after all, I’ve never heard of a brewery/sushi bar combo restaurant before, so we just had to go. Admittedly, I’ve been generally unimpressed with Valpo’s restaurant offerings over the course of the last…
Valle is easily the nicest restaurant in Oceanside, and probably all of North County, San Diego. It’s new, it’s Michelin recommended, and if you’re into elevated, true Mexican cuisine, I wouldn’t skip trying out Valle. Honestly, I knew nothing about the place before coming here with my family this month, but we had really great servers who told us about the owner’s culinary and winemaking history in the Valle de Guadalupe in Northwestern Mexico. This is where most of Mexico’s…
We ate dinner at almost all of the restaurants on offer at the sweeping Nayara Resort in Costa Rica and I can say that they were all good. We only skipped Las Terrazas (though for breakfast, it was the best complimentary buffet breakfast of most resorts and hotels I’ve been to worldwide) and Mis Amores (but we did have their lunch menu by the pool several times and absolutely no complaints there!). There were a few stand-outs, though, and so…
This article is going to cover the other places around Nayara Resort to hang out. First, and most important, is the Las Terrazas restaurant at Nayara Gardens. We never ate here for dinner, but we had our complimentary breakfast here every day. The bright and airy restaurant is right next to the reception area, and is really quite huge, but the atmosphere in the morning is buzzing. Each morning, a different type of coffee is served and they list it…
Nostalgia Wine Bar at Nayara Gardens in Costa Rica was one of our favorite places to dine at the entire Nayara resort, so much so, that we ate here twice! The first time was celebrating our anniversary – we participated in the multi-course wine tasting dinner which was exquisite. The second time was enjoying some of their wines by the glass and spanish tapas menu. I had really low expectations when it came to the wine tasting dinner. Typically, I…
Taverna Violi is the new kid on the block at Oak Brook mall, having taken over the space that was formerly Mon Ami Gabi. Let’s just take a moment to shed a tear for the loss of that superb restaurant at Oak Brook! OK, moving on! Violi is a Greek Taverna, and this is not your regular old Greek diner. It’s most definitely a step up from even the old standard restaurants in Greek Town, and is a worthy replacement…
We loved Asia Luna Restaurant so much, that we ate here twice during our week-long stay at Nayara Gardens! If you search around, you’ll find that most folks who review the resort on Trip Advisor or wherever else, also list Asia Luna as one of the best meals they had at the resort. We ate here on our first and last nights at the resort. Asia Luna is called a fusion restaurant, however it is really mostly heavily Asian influenced….
Amor Loco restaurant is located at Nayara Springs within the sprawling Nayara resort in Costa Rica. This restaurant definitely wins for funkiest decor. Nayara Springs is the adults only section of the resort, and this restaurant is definitely geared towards romance. The vibe was like a hookah-lounge mixed with a steakhouse or bistro. There were plush velvet couches and chairs, purple, red and blue lighting, along with photos of all sorts of celebrities both old-timey and current, plastered along the…
Ayla is the brand-new full service restaurant up at the Nayara Tented Camp at the Nayara Resort in Costa Rica. We ate here on one of our last nights, and considering that at home we are transitioning to a Mediterranean diet, and we recently ate at Galit in Chicago (check out my review here!) which serves very similar fare, eating at Ayla was definitely on the list for us. The ambiance at Ayla is glamping chic. Ayla is in a…