My Top 10 Meals Of 2014

10) Wakin’ Bakin’ - New Orleans, LA

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and this fresh, delicious and homemade meal made my day.

 

9) Fins & Things Caribbean Seafood Bar & Grill - Sunrise, FL

Caribbean and seafood, these are two of my favorite things!

  

8) Swine Southern Table & Bar - Coral Gables, FL

A salad shouldn't be anyone's favorite meal, but cornbread as croutons made it delish. Plus it was a great start to an even better meal.

7) SAIA Sushi Asian Grill - Fort Lauderdale, FL

Sushi is everywhere; some good, some bad. However, it is hardly ever memorable and this was.

6) Pincho Factory - Coral Gables, FL

A tasty twist on the original burger. Plus a shout out to my South Florida roots.

5) Machiya - Miami, FL

Ramen became a craze, just like cronuts and many others but this right here surpasses the frenzy.

4) Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill - Miami, FL

Happiest hour! Drink are fresh and the food is spectacular.

3) Yardbird Southern Table & Bar Restaurant - Miami Beach, FL

Miami Beach is for tourists, but food like the Old School easily becomes a favorite even among locals.

2) LP Steamers - Baltimore, MD

I am in love with seafood (the true reason I could never be vegetarian, plus the fact that I love bacon). I wish I had some of these right now.

 

1) Gott's Roadside - Napa Valley, CA

Simple but so so good! I could eat these Ahi Poke Crispy Tacos everyday for the rest of my life.

Visit Napa Valley: Gott's Roadside, Buster's Southern BBQ & Scoops and Swirls + Sterling Vineyards, Tamber Bey & Castello de Amorosa

The highlight of the trip definitely had to be Napa Valley. It is such a beautiful, quiet and laid back, old town that I could envision myself living there when I am old, retired and wish to get drunk all day.

 

A smart drinker knows that drinking without food is a no-no so the first stop we made upon arriving in town was to Gott's Roadside. Although the name suggests it some sort of truck pitstop, it is here that I had the best, freshest and most delicious tacos, EVER! The avocado was perfection. I could eat those Ahi Poke Crispy Tacos everyday for the rest of my life.

 

The Garlic fries were off the chain too.

 

 

My fiancé had a Cheeseburger. He said it was nothing special, but noted that the meat was fresh, quality.

 

With out stomach's full, we were ready to drink!!! Quite frankly, Napa has endless wineries but with limited time (only one day), I decided three should be the max since we had a flight the next day.

 

The first winery on the list was Sterling Vineyards. In my past experience, I don't enjoy their wine, but since they had the gondolas and I always wanted to go on one, that was excuse enough to visit them.

 

After taking the ride up on the gondola, we sampled wine and I was able to find a couple I enjoyed so coming to their winery was actually beneficial, because it changed my opinion about Sterling.

 

After Sterling, I felt that a visit to a small winery would be more suitable so we went to Tamber Bey, for the small, family aspect and the horses.
 

 

As far as tastings go, it was extraordinary. It was a personalized experience, with a very friendly and witty girl with full knowledge of tasting and wine. Tamber Bey is a great place to visit for a beginner or someone really wanting to learn about wine.

 

Last but not least, we headed to Castello de Amorosa. This visit was all about the castle.

 

There were some good wines here as well. With entry, you get 5 tasting, so as a couple we choose 10 different things so that we could try as many as possible. Our pourer here was also great and very willing to provide a great deal of information.
 

 

Hours of drinking led to hunger so afterwards we headed to Buster's Southern BBQ for some well, BBQ. We got the works; ribs, pulled pork, tri-tip, mac and cheese, coleslaw and cornbread. The corn was moist and very good but way too sweet and the food as a whole was pretty cold.
 

 

After dinner, we headed into downtown where we found an ice cream shop called Scoops and Swirls and I was able to get my usual Vanilla soft serve with Sprinkles.