In Cincinnati eating a big German pork knuckle!

Haufbrau House

In Cincinnati. Tuesday night BBQ at the famous Montgomery Inn

The beginning of The Wall. Pink Floyd. The Wall. About to experience ...

Roger Waters. Pink Floyd. The Wall Tour!

Sunset right now in California

A beautiful day.

At yoshi's jazz bar in san Francisco.

Who is Jody Watley?

Enjoying my last Mexican sunset. Cabos is so beautiful.

Narelle in the dessert sun!

In Cabos, Mexico

Enjoying some beach time. My goal this summer was to sit on a beach - but summer slipped away, and I never quite made it. I am taking 4 days here in the Baha of Mexico at Cabos enjoying 90 degree weather in the day, bright sunshine, and wide open and abundant beaches. It is a beautiful place! The resort we are at has a private beach that stretches for a couple of miles. Today - only 7 cabanas on the whole beach. We had one of them. Wonderful…

In Toronto. Delivering a speech to lawyers!

A city of lights. And needles.

In Mexico. Eating one of my favorite foods!

Real. Authentic carnitas! Spit roasted pork and pineapple. So good!

Enjoying a Saturday afternoon thin crust pizza in NY city. Ummm. Fennel sausage.

20 years of coming to NY. Never got off the boat. Until today.

With my niece Sophia on our last day of touring NYC I have always
taken the boat around the island but never got off the boat. We did
today.

Teaching my niece about the beauty of French truffles.

We just saw sunset over Manhattan. Beautiful.

Taking a break from being a tourist. Central park NY.

Big Dinner Out - A 7 course vegetarian vegan and raw dinner that was fantastic!

 

My pilot says hello! On the way to NY.

Heading out for a 10 trip to NY with my niece Sophia on the Uncle Rick trip.

Arrived to New York City. You can bet I will be eating here!

A beautiful day in san Francisco !

In Shanghai, China - at the World's Expo. This is the Chinese Pavilion. Tonight is a full moon.

 

Doing a 70s retro flashback.

Doing a high school reunion. At the post reunion bar 1:00 am. Listening to 70s retro rock. The coolest bar in Topeka. Called Mr. B's. Two dollar cover charge. Sitting next to the high school home coming jock. Quiet then. Alcoholic now. He is dancing with the homely girl from high school. Who is now a model in Dallas. She told me she has 87 pairs of shoes with 3 inch heels. I dated her in junior high. Ok. Only two weeks. But it counts. At the table is the quiet guy. He and his brother now own 9 golf courses. He stil wears t shirts. And tells us tasteless blonde jokes that maybe I once got. A mustard bottle sits on the table at this bar. Permanently. The guys in the band wear tye dye t-shirts. The learned this music from playing rockhand. One old dude is real. He was hear when this music was real. He rocks on. We all rock on. One more day.

In the Mission neighborhood of San Fancisco

At a tamale house. These were so good!

In Orlando. At a Greek bar.

Food. Drink. Dance. Sometimes these corporate consulting jobs can be
fun!

In Bogata Colombia doing a speech for 1000 people.

Me. The next 30 days!

In Kansas dining on Midwestern Mexican

The green chili enchilada Mexican casserole.

In Virginia watching Harry Connick Jr. At Wolf Trap

Sitting at Wolf Trap outdoor theater in Virginia watching Harry
Connick Jr. Beautiful theatre. Great seats. Time with with wonderful
friend Denise.

In San Francisco cooking crawfish for the crawfish festival.

Great volunteer gig. A long four hours. Now I smell like a Bucket of
seafood. This little goy was huge so I had to photograph him. It was
an absolutely beautiful day here in the city.

Waiting back stage for my appearance.

With my partner Karie in Orlando to deliver a speech to hundreds of
people on the future of learning. Hmmm. This is exactly what I said I
wanted to do when I left HP! Cool!

AT HOME on my dock - reading my last real book?

It's a beautiful day in the Bay Area.
I am about to begin 5 weeks of travel.

And so, I am just sitting on my dock. Reading. I had pre- ordered a
"real" book (be Steig Larsson) prior to getting my IPad. Will this by
my last hard copy book I will read?

I have Sierra Nevada beer and smoked trout for sunset!

What are you doing this great Friday?

Happy weekend!

SAN FRANCISCO - Friday night and the Cookie Lady

It is 7:00. I am walking around the city. And a friend called me and said "It is Friday Night. Get to 22nd and Valencia. The cookie lady is out." Each Friday night - two ladies come out with a cookie cart of gourmet cookies. Well - I looked up, and I was literally across the street from them. And so, I had to get cookies. Including this amazing "sandwich cookie." This is not your normal oreo cookie. This is two short bread cookies, with a jam filling and butter cream frosting. And so, with a cookie in my hand, I then had to go to Ritual Coffee, and have a coffee! I love stumbling into wonderful places in a big city! Sent from my iPad



Sent from my iPhone

Random Train exit Friday

Sometimes it us fun to just pick out a random train stop and get off
and check out the neighborhood. Today is a place called Glen Park.
Eclectic ethnic neighborhood. My late lunch is a killer chile relleno
and carnitas (pork) taco. Very tasty.

Smoked Trout!

Beautiful steelhead trout, on sale at $4.99 per pound, let me
introduce you to my alderwood smoker. I know you are going to fall in
live together. And I have a little wedding night surprise tonight at
dinner...

Trying out the bus system in San Francisco

It has been along time since I have tried out public transportation in a "home town." I took the train into the city and then decided that I would use the bus to get around. While enlightening. And interesting to see new streets with, I have to admit that it isn't very fun. It is really time consuming. Unpredictable. A it wastes a lot of time. I can really appreciate all of the folks in town that due to financial reasons don't have much choice. What is interesting is that moment in life when you switch to "time is more important than money. The equation becomes $2 and 45 minutes (for the waiting time and trip across country) or $12 and 15 minutes with a taxi. Some people are here for convenience. Less hassle than hailing a cab. Others justify it with the idea that 30 minutes invested on a bus gives you your first drink. When I was in Boston I never took a cab. The "T" just seemed more romantic. I wonder when I changed. Probably when I got a car.

Sent from my iPhone

CHICAGO: Wine, Swine and Cheese

Tuesday night.
In Chicago.
Work is done. 10:00.
What do you do?

What I won't do is this:

I am surprised at how many people order room service.

We are in a marvelous food city for heavens sake.

And so I took out my new IPAD, went to Yelp, and searched for 4 star restaurants within a mile of my hotel.

I ended up at a place called The Purple Pig.

The menu said the restaurant specialized in Cheese, Swine and Wine.

How wonderful is that?
What better could you ask for in a combination?
(Ok, if they said, "Cheese, Swine, Wine and Pecan Pie" then it might be even better!)

But I was pretty satisfied.

I had small courses that included a dish if deep fried pigs ears, topped with an egg. The second dish was bone marrow - two thick bones with bread to use on the marrow dug from the bones.

For cheese, I asked for a the stinkiest on the menu, plus a piece of blue cheese.

And the best wine for all of this?

A nice French pino noir.

Eating alone?

No worries. I called home to my family to check in on my father. And so, I sat in the corner of the restaurant, eating my gourmet grub, and talked through the day with my folks.

Not a bad way to spend a night in Chicago!

Rick

Friday night in Lawrence Kansas with youngest nephew Aidan.

Blue ice cream. Banana ice cream. Which would you choose?

Home in California admiring my roses one last time before I leave for the Midwest

Fwd: Summer is Here!

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Rick Von Feldt <rvonfeldt@gmail.com>
Date: April 30, 2010 9:05:07 PM PDT
To: FRIDAYINTHECITY <rvonfeldt.fridays@blogger.com>
Subject: Summer is Here!

What better way to celebrate than to eat big chocolate icecream bars, hand dipped in icecream and tossed heavily in coursely chopped roasted almonds. Oh baby! It will spoil my dinner of an 8 hour slow roasted leg of lamb with mint jam. That's ok. I can eat at 10 pm. Because I am going to play with my newly arrived toy - my new 3G Ipad- just arrived today! A very happy boy on a Friday!

Sent from my iPhone

Pizza afternoon.

It's Friday. Friday in the city. Great weather. Eating gourmet pizza
with my friend Narelle in San Jose. Life is great. Happy Friday

Wise words from a Movie

 

Eating Mexican Brunch

Eating a Saturday morning Mexican breakfast. This will make anything
feel better. A plate of huevos rancheros (eggs over easy with a spicy
tomato sauce) and two real tacos of carne asada and al pastor. See
next picture. My friends Mike and Mona are responsible for this. They
described their recent meal at Frontera in Chicago. Once I has that
delicious goodness taste in my brain I had to go get an authentic
Mexican fix. Fortunately California has great Mexican heritage
restaurants.

SPRING or OLD BLOSSOMS

I was / felt a bit / under the weather today - literally - and soulfully.  This morning, my neighbor knocked on my door to say goodbye. She and her dog Harry had packed up, and were heading off to Colorado to begin a new personal life. This has been one of those rare neighbors that you actually find interesting - and want to do things with. And oh how convenient. Like some old sitcom out of the 50s, and along with another neighbor, we would assemble at of our houses, and watch the sun set while contemplating on the week that had just come to an end. Or we would be invited to a party, and just seem to want to take the neighbors with us. I am sure people talked - including the other neighbors. Last night had they peered out the window, they would have seen me scooting across the dark from my house to doors down, with a Moroccan tagine in my hand, and disappearing through the gates of a neighbor. And then, at some point around midnight, two of us quietly exited one door, and both went our ways to other front doors in the neighborhood.

 

I have usually been the one to pack up and go. Others have had to mourn  my departure, knowing our little village of friends had ended and things would never be the same. But this time, it was my neighbor that packed up, and moved to Colorado. She is in a new phase of her life, and was ready to be near family - to start anew - and to go to a place seemed to be calling her. I support her choice and celebrate her boldness.

 

But it is still sad.

 

Today, the weather was gray. I didn't feel like going into the city. The lights next door have never been so black.

 

And then tonight, I came across an ad for Ace Hardware, that somehow, spoke of what I might be feeling. And I wondered if there is secret truth here…

 

 

Hanging out with the Prez this week in DC

Drunk Chimney Sweeps in New York City

Fatal winds for umbrellas today. Every corner is littered with black
ghosts of umbrellas with wires protruding. As if the chimney sweeps on
a drunken craze from a Mary Poppins movie gone wrong. Stop signs
flutter in the wind like playing cards. Doorman give up. Get soaked.
And hope you will recognize them with green to commiserate their awful
day. Flights are delayed or cancelled. They are so backed up at the
airport that just cancelled my 6:15 departure. But then called back
and put me on a flight that was suposed to leave at 3 and will now
leave at 7:00. I still think that arriving home tonight is iffy. No
worries. I have my Zabar Deli bag of groceries for a gourmet picnic
either on a plane, in a lounge or at a airline gate making
announcements as the night goes on.

Midnight Deli in New York City

Even in new York you can find great little dives at midnight. I am on
the upper east side. At Big Nicks Burer Joint. Been here since 1962.
Hmm. That year is special to me. Order a burger stuffed with blue
cheese. Am here for the week. New York that is!

Spring is in the air in California

FIRST food stop - KOREAN TOFu and beef short rib house

My brother Jeff is in town for the San Francisco Beer Festival. Let
the fun begin.