Dinner at "The Whip" in Stowe Vermont

Dinner was at The Whip. Two amazing chowders as starters.  The corn chowder had lots of bacony goodness. My favorite was the cauliflower and cheddar.  So creamy with just enough aged cheddar flavor.  Also had a refreshing Green Mountain salad with romaine, arugula, walnuts and cranberries.  Lightly tossed with a balsamic.  

Mains were herb crusted cod and a classic turkey dinner. 

 The cod had a super flavorful crust but still remained moist. Served with some tasty curried rice and bok choy.  The turkey dinner had some amazing sides including well cooked baby peas, savory stuffing , creamy mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.  The turkey itself was disappointing.  It was moist but had no flavor.   Desperately needed salt.   And the gravy had a great consistency but also had no flavor.  After I added some salt and pepper it improved.  But I shouldn't have to do that with turkey from a restaurant of this quality.  

Dessert was a strawberry rhubarb crisp. 

 It was fairly well balanced between the strawberry and rhubarb. Definitely needed more rhubarb flavor for my taste. And the "crisp" part was lacking as the topping was a bit mushy. It was more like a cobbler.

A "Roadie" Dinner in Stowe Vermont

Last night we stopped at a place called Alfie's Wild Ride.  It is a former auto mechanic shop that has been converted into a few things.  There are a couple of  lounge spaces, a game lounge with table shuffleboard, cornhole and video games.   A huge bar with 20+ beers in draft.  And a take out window which has a great selection of tacos. The el.pastor taco was my favorite. Good selection of sauces.   On some nights they have live music on their stage.  They had a band last night but they were going to be starting a couple hours after we left.  

For proper dinner, we went to Ranch Camp. This is a "biker" bar.  But not for motorcycles - at least not predominantly.  This is for mountain bikers.  They have a shop that sells all kinds of equipment for mountain bikers. There is even a take out window so bikers don't have to come inside. They had a really interesting menu of comfort foods and more interesting salads and bowls.  And so many of their offerings are prepared or available a gluten free.  Most of the fried items were prepared in a GF rice flour.  

We started with the Sticky Balls (Brussels sprouts in a spicy soy glaze) and  the Fried Chokes which were tempura fried artichoke hearts with a sauce of soy sauce  maple syrup, tamari and lemongrass.  The artichokes were definitely were my favorite. I had never had artichokes prepared this way.  Super crispy with the rice flour and a satisfying dipping sauce.  

Mains were the Roadie Salas with chicken and a burger.  The Roadie Salad was the favorite.   Warm kale, organic dried cranberries, toasted pumpkin seeds, sliced granny smith apples, VT cheddar with cranberry vinaigrette.  And the chicken was a moist rotisserie style chicken that has then been quickly grilled to give it somw char and extra flavor.  A perfect dressing to bring everything together.  

The burger was tasty but cooked medium well when I had asked for medium.  The bun also had a bit too long in the flat top.  Definitely needed some ketchup to add back some moisture. The burger had some delicious pickled onions, Vermont cheddar and bacon. 

Dessert was near our hotel.  I love a good soft serve and they had maple!   So creamy and delicious!!

Dinner at Di Roza at Hyatt Ziva

Di Rosa is the Italian restaurant at the Hyatt Zilara and Ziva Rose Hall in Montego Bay Jamaica.  The dishes didn't disappoint.   

Started with beef carpaccio.  

We were asked how we wanted the beef prepared.  I have never been asked that before for a carpaccio since it is always raw/rare beef.  But maybe they have some guests who wanted it cooked more. In any case, we ordered it rare and it came out as ordered.   Thin medallions which melted in your mouth.  Topped with some callaloo for crunch and a mustard vinaigrette.  The vinaigrette was tasty but there was simply too much of it. 

Next was a mini pizza.   They have many types to choose from and I loved that you could get a small four inch pizza or a larger twelve inch. We went with the smaller four inch (probably closer to six) of the mushroom pizza.  

Thin crust with slightly sweet sauce and savory mushrooms.  Plenty of cheese also. 

Next was lasagna.  

Under all that creamy sauce were delicate layers of pasta, cheese and ground beef.  Some flash fried basil on top for crunch and extra flavor.  Some of the best lasagna I have ever had.  

Also tried the shrimp Alfredo with fettuccine.  

Well cooked shrimp in a delicate velvety sauce.  

And also tried the truffle campanelle

I was a bit nervous about ordering this one since sometimes a restaurant will use truffle oil which can be overly perfumed.  Not in this case.  There was a great earthy flavor from the truffle which went well with the Alfredo.  

Finished off the night with some olive oil cake.  

This was like a moist pound cake.  Full of vanilla flavor.  The slightly sour passion fruit sauce on the plate helped balance the sweetness.  

Dinner at RootZ Jamaican at Hyatt Zilara

RootZ is a Jamaican-themed restaurant at Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall just outside of Montego Bay Jamaica. Many authentic dishes in this open air restaurant.  

Tried several appetizers including the pumpkin soup, vegetable summer rolls, chicken tenders with passion fruit BBW sauce, jerk chicken Caesar salad and the codfish poppers.  

Mains were Coffee BBQ ribs and oxtail with rice and peas.  

Desserts were the smoked pimento cheesecake and mango sorbet.   

Dinner at Petit PariZ at Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall

Tried the French restaurant for our first night at Zilara Rose Hall.  Some wonderful dishes.  Started with the scallop St Jaques. 

These were small bay scallops in a creamy rich sauce topped with gruyere cheese.  Then broiled in the oven.  Very tasty, especially the bits of melted cheese.  

Also tried the French onion soup. 

This was a thinner broth than many onion soups I have had but it didn't lack flavor.  It focused more on onions than the traditional beefy flavor.  I didn't care for the soggy bread, but the melted cheese more than made up for it. 

Next was a nicoise salad with seared tuna.   

Wonderfully rare tuna with fresh greens and hard boiled egg.  At first I thought there wasn't any dressing. However the chef was clever.  The salad was served on top of the mustardy vinegrette.  Perfectly balanced with the tuna and creamy egg. 

Also tried the goat cheese salad which had a chocolate vinegrette.  That sounded so odd that we had to try it.  And it was wonderful.  Really would have been better to call it a cocoa vinegrette since they smarly avoided the sweetness of milk chocolate and celebrated the delicious bitter notes of cocoa beans which went well with the creamy cheese.  

For main dishes we had the beef medallions and grilled salmon.  

I usually avoid getting beef at an all inclusive since you often can't get it cooked anyway except medium or medium well.  Not here.  I ordered them medium rare and it was perfect.  Really more like a tenderloin. Tender but still beefy.  And served with some creamy bearnaise sauce and Al dente asparagus.   

Salmon is another main that often gets overcooked at restaurants.  If you have a nice piece of salmon, it is a shame to see them overcook it so it is dry and tasteless.  We prefer salmon cooked medium rare.  And surprisingly this was cooked to our preference.  

There are so many other restaurants to try at the resort.  Based on how this meal was, makes me hopeful for more great meals.  

Lunch at HorizonZ at Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall

Trying out Frontier's new non stop to MBJ  from TPA. As long as you clearly follow their ticketing and boarding rules, you will have a great experience. 

Lunch time at the resort.    What would you have?  

We went with shrimp crustini, fried chicken, beet salad, curry fettuccine with vegetables and snapper sandwich.  The shrimp crustini was my favorite.  A nice heat from the scotch bonnet pepper. Served on a thin piece of garlicly bread.    A perfect bite of food.  

The snapper sandwich came with the best sweet potato fries I have ever had.  Often sweet potato are either soggy or crispy and dry.  Somehow they reached a balance here where the outside was super crispy yet the inside still has the consistency and sweetness.   Well done.  

Second place was the fried chicken.  Moist and flavorful served with a mild jerk sauce.   Served on a callaloo stir fry with red peppers and a sweet potato mash.  A very well composed plate.