Brian Dokko Online

We left for our 13-day road trip on June 28, setting off for Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Arches National Park, Moab UT, Monument Valley, then home via Las Vegas again. We took a pit stop in Vegas on the way out, staying at the (relatively) new Cosmopolitan on the strip. We began celebrating our summer vacation with dinner at Aureole, maybe not one of Charlie Palmer's best restaurants. It's perhaps best known for its "wine angels," thin women in spandex ascending and descending the tower that is their wine cellar.  They must have had the night off, because we never saw them. Food was very good, though we thought the Michelin critics might have been a bit generous in awarding Aureole a star.

In the morning, we drove up to Draper UT to pick up my buddy Greg and his girlfriend, our companions to Yellowstone. None of us had ever been there, and we were all eager to see all the colorful pools, wildlife, and geysers like Old Faithful (pictured above). It's a fascinating landscape, and it looks more like the surface of another planet than a national park. I wish I could have had a birds-eye view, but regrettably, we left the helicopter at home.

Thermal pools near Old Faithful

Grand Prismatic Spring

Pool at the Lower Geyser Basin

Bison, just chillin' in the parking lot area

There is such a thing as a perfect meal.  Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.  Chili cheese fries from Wienerschnitzel. Yesterday, it was Mélisse in Santa Monica. We were celebrating two (belated) anniversaries and two (recent) birthdays with good friends on Saturday evening, but instead of rambling, here are the pictures, and yes, it was as delicious as it was beautiful. Ten courses, each more amazing than the previous...

Our greetings from the Staff.  Chocolate truffles as parting gifts.

Two amuse-bouches: (left) grapes covered in chevre and ground pistachio, grape gelée (but not quite...); (right) Kushi oyster, Tabasco caviar

(top) Sweet Pea Velouté [English peas, petite onion, black truffle cromesquis (like a meat crouton)];
(bottom left) Egg Caviar [lemon crème fraîche, American caviar;
(bottom right) Florida Big Eye Tuna [Hawaiian heart of palm, cucumber, red shiso]

(top left) Seared Foie Gras [Royal Kay cherries, McGrath farm turnips, wild arugula, oatmeal crumble]
(top right) Santa Barbara Spot Prawn [Zuckerman Farms purple asparagus, morel mushrooms, uni emulsion]
(bottom left) Wild King Salmon [fava beans, snap pears, cauliflower, Marcona almonds, calendula emulsion]
(bottom right) Prime rib eye and Wagyu beef cheek [slow roasted carrot, garlic shoots, potato mousseline, red wine herb jus]

(top left) Apple, Apple, Apple [liquid nitrogen apple sorbet, apple crisps, apple meringue]
(top right) Chantal Plasse Camembert [Périgord truffle, baby radish, chrysanthemum]
(bottom) Chocolate & Caramel fondant [hazelnut crumble, Valrhona Abiano sorbet, Mochaccino]

I have nothing more to say.

I started with brunch at ACKC, or Artfully Chocolate Kingsbury Creations.  Cool little place with an organic personality.  I read somewhere they have delicious caramel fleur de sel macarons and house made chocolates like dark chocolate with brie and black sesame seed, or cognac and creme de cassis.

Lavender French toast with dark chocolate (and mimosas)

Walked the West Mall monuments after brunch, including Washington, WWII, Korean War, Lincoln, and Vietnam--all monuments to liberation and freedom.  It's easy to associate these memorials with the thousands that died as a result, but deeper is the message:

Freedom is not free.

4,048 stars, each representing 100 American service personnel who died or remain missing from WWII

A few of the 58,175 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The not-so-reflective Reflecting Pool (currently being restored)

I had to return to the National History Museum because I forgot the Hope Diamond (and plenty of other bling) is displayed there.  *Begin rant*  I HATE displays like this--the Mona Lisa comes to mind--where you spend most of your time battling the crowd instead of being able to look at it without distraction.  Everyone is crowded around this tiny display case (which thankfully rotates), borderline pushing and shoving to get their four seconds with their nose pressed up against the glass.  People are always more interested in snapping their damn photo than actually looking at the work of art (Mona Lisa included).  Hey, there's nothing wrong with pictures, but it's not the same as being able to study the actually work.  If I were rich, I'd pay to rent out the entire museum when I visit, like Julie Roberts in Ocean's Twelve. I wonder if they'd actually do that... *End rant*

I took a quick trip to the National Archives (all barely legible) then rested my dying feet for about 30 minutes before dinner at DC Coast.  A girl/lady I met while at Old Ebbitt Grill suggested this place when I asked where the best crab cakes D.C. were.  Glad I went.  It was my birthday present to myself, and no I don't eat like this all the time.

American Hackleback Caviar (accompaniments clockwise from top: crème fraiche, chives, egg white, capers, red onion, egg yolk)

Chinese Style Smoked Lobster (stir-fry vegetables, crispy fried spinach)

Slept in today, then headed back toward the Mall, stopping very briefly at the Museum of National History.  10 minutes--that's all I could handle with how many 8th graders were running around.  I went for lunch at the Café below the National Gallery of Art.  Some tasty Italian fare at the very fine buffet, appropriate for a Tuscan picnic.  Salumeria included prosciutto San Daniele, sopresseta, and chunks of Parmigiano-Reggiano, Catelvetrano olives, brodetto di pesce alla Veneta (seafood soup), lemon-arugula salad, DELICIOUS buccatini e pancetta, melanzane alla Parmigiana (baked eggplant), and lattarolo (vanilla and honey custard).

First plate

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I spent more time in the Museum Shop than I did in the museum itself.  I took a troll through the beautiful Rotunda and through the terraces on the opposite ends, took in a few works from the Rembrandt school, but then spent most of my time sifting through the rather extensive gift shop.  Hey, sometimes shopping is more important than art.

The Rotunda of the National Gallery of Art

I spent the remainder of the day at the Museum of American History.  There's the collection of Inaugural Ball gowns of former First Ladies, and exhibit dedicated to America's fascination with transportation, and my favorite, Julia Child's kitchen.  It's ironic that a woman who taught, "you only need three knives: a chef's, paring, and bread knife" had way more than that.  Her defense--"I need them."  Sounds familiar...

Where did she store all this?!

Not terribly large...

One thing that's bittersweet is how much of our history is steeped in bloodshed.  From the Revolutionary War to the Civil War to WWII to Afghanistan, American history is stained with blood.  Perhaps it's the price of being the world's beacon of freedom, or perhaps it's a lesson that things will not change until we're willing to bleed for it.