Travoodie Destinations™

Elizabeth is a grassroots kind of restaurant where we found earthly delights. Our first time here was on New Year’s Eve 2014. Chef Iliana Regan started her restaurant in memory of her sister Elizabeth. You can see and taste the passions of Iliana through her whimsical creations of each course. We returned a second time 4 months later for her…

Spectacular dining experience tonight. I asked Chef where he trained and he said “Self-Taught.” It was unfathomable to me that a 2 star Michelin award earned in less than a year could be anywhere less than France or Japan. It was a shocker when the restaurant announced its unexpected and sudden closure in 2017. The husband and wife team never…

Finally got reservations here. The menu is made of wild flower seeds & can be planted to grow, how cool! The food & plating were all perfect. The problem was it took 4 hours to complete the meal. The Sous Chef had called in that day to deliver his baby, yay! The extra time it took for the meal was…

Sophisticated yet approachable atmosphere cuisine tonight. Have you ever tried Wendy’s fries with the frosty? The potato leek soup with vanilla freeze dried ice cream was literally a foggy dream of this. Chef’s interpretation of these simple types of ideas are fun & delicious. This restaurant looked like it was in a warehouse, but once inside it was a moderate…

Eating at Schwa was like an underground dining experience. Nothing about the restaurant was fancy and looked more like a hole in the wall, which is part of its charm. The food was good and creative without any smoke and mirrors tactics. Some of the flavors were unusual and the textures were uncertain to me, but I can appreciate the…

Celebrated Valentine’s Day at The Lobby located in the Peninsula. Our dessert this evening was an impressive lavish dessert & hot chocolate bar. Staring at the towering chocolates and substantial dessert options makes this the ultimate sweet spot.  The most interesting entree was the Santa Barbara Prawns, a shrimp rarity because of its difficulty to catch. We enjoyed everything from…