2014: A Foodie's Year

Amongst other things, 2014 was a year of exploring food quality. I'm sure I spent at least 30% more on food than I did in 2013 in shopping at more expensive grocery stores, but I feel it's worth it.


Growing up, the main grocery stores we shopped from by time period were:

Pac N Save: Early 80s
Lucky's: Late 80s
Safeway: 90s
Trader Joe's: 2000s
Sprouts: 2013 - 2015

While food quality increased with each successive grocery store, prices actually came down post Safeway with Trader Joe's and Sprouts with local brands instead of major brands.

Here's my experience:

In college, I got my groceries from La Verde's a convenience / grocery store on campus.
In New York, I shopped at Gistrede's a local grocery store.
In San Francisco in 2006, I shopped at Safeway.
In India in 2007 / 2008, I got my groceries from a local convenience store and obtained fresh vegetables from local food stalls.
In Philadelphia, I shopped at Trader Joe's.
In my 2 years in LA, I shopped at Trader Joe's.
Last year, I mostly shopped at Whole Foods (something I never thought I would do).


With each passing year, I've become more interested in food quality. In India, I learned how tasty fresh vegetables could be. In Philadelphia, amidst the crowded aisles of a tightly cramped Trader Joe's, I learned that the major national brands weren't always the best tasting ones.

Last year, I discovered that organic and high quality produce and other food does taste better. Here are some of my favorite items and where I can get them. Note pretty much nothing on this list is cheap!

Produce: Whole Foods (hands down!). The produce here is consistently high quality. I especially like Driscoll berries, especially the organic variety. Note this will set you back a pretty penny - a small box of organic Driscoll strawberries (from Watsonville), will cost $7. I eat a lot of broccoli, and Whole Foods broccoli (and really any of their vegetables) are especially juicy.

Juice: Santa Cruz is excellent. I especially like the Limeade and Grape Juice. Santa Cruz can be purchased at many stores. They key to good grape juice is high quality Concord grapes. Even better - Navarro vineyards in Napa produces excellent grape juice from the same grapes use to make wine! 

Nuts: I enjoy Trader Joes Almonds. I also enjoy nuts from Bravo Farms (in Kettleman City). Pistachios and almonds are my favorite nuts, followed by walnuts.

Cheese: Whole Foods has great selection. I especially like aged Gruyere.

Sparkling Water: Give me cool, refreshing Mountain Valley or Ty'Nant with limeade or grape juice after an intense game of ultimate frisbee and I'm in 7th heaven.

Honey: I prefer raw honey from the comb, and I've heard its better for you.

Crackers: I recently discovered Mary's Gone crackers (and cookies) from Whole Foods. They are very crispy and are made from brown rice and quinoa. The Jalapeno brand is delicious!

Tea: I much prefer loose leaf tea to dust tea. The taste is smoother and more flavorful. Currently I have 2nd flush Darjeeling and Blue Flower Early Grey tea from Townshen's tea shop in Eugene, Oregon.

So there you have it - my evolution of food buying and my favorite foods and brands. What do you like and where do you like to shop?

Chico & Sierra Nevada

Over Memorial Day, I made a pilgrimage to Chico and the Sierra Nevada Brewery. Sierra Nevada has been my favorite beer for as long as I can remember - so it was time to visit the source. The trip was a lot of fun, as most of my road trips north of California have been. It was also very hot - Chico is 4 hours north of the Bay Area and just off the 5 freeway, located in the central part of the state. It’s a college town with an alternative feel, a mix of vibes from LA and crunchy Bay Area.

Due to our late departure from Los Gatos, we missed our sustainability tour at the brewery. Instead we went to Sierra Nevada’s restaurant. They had 19 beers for us to try, and we tried all 19! From our tasting, it was apparent that Sierra Nevada is looking to expand beyond its hoppy roots into lighter beers. Unfortunately, I didn’t like most of their new selection of beers – I prefer the crispness of their original, hoppy varieties. The hops come from the Cascade Mountain Range. We also ordered pretzels and mustard (Sierra Nevada makes and sells their own mustard based on their beer flavors). This, I absolutely loved. I bought souvenirs and samples galore for friends, family, and co-workers: a pint glass featuring the Ruthless Rye label (a brilliant and sinister label, the best in the business), a 4-pack of Ovila, a beer made through a collaboration of Sierra Nevada and the monks at the Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina, CA (just north of Chico of the 99), and a “Growler” of Belgian white beer. A growler is an oddly shaped container that fits about 4 pints of beer.

Outside of the Sierra Nevada brewery, Chico is a small but fun college town with unique bars and restaurants, including Banshee and Madison “Bear” Garden. No matter where you go in Chico, Sierra Nevada will always be on tap. We met a lot of students, some still studying (with many stops and starts), and some who have graduated and are figuring out what to do next. Chico is a free-spirited city with free-spirited people. It’s surprisingly green, despite being so far inland. It would be more fun to come back to this city in the winter when there is more rain, and perhaps go inner tubing down the American River.Then, I can try more of Sierra Nevada's winter specialties...yum!

Panama

After two long years where my only travel was domestic, mostly through work, I made my first trip out of the US a few months ago when I spent 5 days in Panama. It was great to be able to dust off my passport and travel again.

I traveled to Panama with Neilesh, my old faithful travel companion. He and I hadn’t travelled together since Morocco – which was 4 years ago – so it was good to venture out again. I spent a few days in Bocas del Toro by myself before joining Neilesh in Panama City. Bocas Del Toro is set of islands on the border of Panama and Costa Rica. It’s paradise – just like the name of the scuba diving shop, La Buga. While in Bocas, I surfed a little on a remote beach, did 2 scuba dives, and generally walked around the town. Despite not having scuba dove in several years, I was able to remember the basics pretty easily. Plus, the dive masters are still impressed when they see my Rescue Diver card. I also visited Aqua Lounge which is a bumping nightclub with places to jump in the water in swim. 

Panama City was a next on the itinerary. It’s nice but expensive (and they accept the dollar). My last visit to Central America was 11 years ago when I went to Costa Rica. Compared to that trip, a lot of development seems to have taken place.  We mostly hung out in the casino except for some brief sightseeing in the capital, which included the Panama Canal. Fortunately, we arrived at a time when we could see two ships passing through. 

Panama was a good, quick, fun trip after 2 years of staying stateside. I’ve now been to two countries in Central America – time to turn my focus beyond Latin America for my next trip. Is Europe calling?

The Napa Triathlon…and why I compete in endurance races

I recently participated in the Napa Triathlon (Olympic distance) in Napa, CA. This was my first triathlon and I enjoyed it, though it was more challenging than my running races. The Olympic distance triathlon was 1500m swimming in Lake Berryessa, 25 miles biking through the surrounding hills, and 6.2 miles (10K) running through those same hills.

Why did I do this triathlon? That’s an important question that I will address further down, but the short answer is that I did this race because I wanted to try something different from running, and liked the variety of this event. Training for biking and swimming puts you in different shape than just running – biking works your quads and hamstrings while swimming tones your back and arms. You come out looking like more of an all-around athlete.  

In training for the race, I focused on swimming and running to a certain extent. Lake swimming was my most challenging event, and I find swimming in the pool hard enough. In the lake, you can’t see anything in the water and you have people swimming all around you and you are at risk of getting kicked in the head. Not to mention it’s tough to swim in the right direction to each buoy.

Biking was almost as difficult. I hadn’t practiced cycling at all in training, nor had I ever truly ridden a road bike before this race. Despite all of that, I managed to complete the bike portion though I truly hit the wall (worse than any of my recent running races) at the turnaround point for the bike.

The run was my best leg, as I passed many of the people who passed me on the bike. I have a lot more experience with running and it showed in the race. I finished in just over 4 hours, with long transition times as I had no real plan for this important part of the race.

Lately, I’ve been getting the questions (and asking myself the question) – why do you do it? Why do you run long distance, and why do you do triathlons? Will you do more, and what is your goal? What are you trying to prove?

 

My philosophy - return to a Natural state

These are good questions, and the answer has changed somewhat over time. The first time I raced was the Boston Marathon in 2004 (a story you are probably familiar with). Then, I raced because I wanted to part of the event, to experience the thrill as a participant and not a spectator. In a way, that same sentiment has driven me in all subsequent races, and even in my career. I chose Product Management as a post-MBA career path because I wanted to be in the trenches, “in” the “experience” rather looking at in from the outside (which is the way I perceive professions like consulting, investing, etc.).

Of course after Boston, I took a long break from racing, only to resume my career with the Big Sur Marathon. There, the motivation was to do the marathon properly and to enjoy the stunning scenery that I knew would wait for me. Now, the desire to be one with nature drives me as much as other factors. In a long endurance race, the participant gets to know his scenery intimately. Route 1 in Big Sur will have a special meaning for me that is different for someone who is simply driving it. In Napa, I swam “in” Lake Berryessa, at sunrise no less. It’s humbling to stand next to a 64 degree lake as the sun rises over it to lift the mist on the lake. I had the privilege to swim in it. I now look at endurance racing this way - that it is my “privilege” to participate and to be one with nature. When submerged in the lake, you can’t see anything but an algae green color. But that is nature, unfiltered in all its glory. I want the real thing – I wouldn’t have it any other way.

When I race, I feel alive. I am focused but I transcend to another state. Maybe it’s the endorphins but I when I connect with nature I also find myself connecting with …… myself. I become more conscious of each of my limbs, my breathing, and my muscles. Each morsel of drink or food during the race becomes that much more valuable. Unlike normal life where we take eating and drinking for granted, when endurance racing, we return to a more natural caveman state when food and drink were hard to come by. When it came, you were eternally grateful. When it was gone, you longed for it again and fought to get it back (i.e. run 3 more miles to the next aid station). The natural challenge of finding food, and earning your food, exists in endurance racing.

Competition and cooperation are also part of the equation. Sometimes you want to beat the person next to you, and sometimes you want to help them. Racing mimics life and career like that. But through it all, you know that everyone is in it together. It feels like my MIT experience where everyone is suffering together and trying to finish and achieve their goals. It’s not about being sadistic or torturing yourself – it’s about challenging yourself in a collective experience. There’s a significant difference here.  

The health benefits of racing and training are obvious and probably need the least explanation. Suffice it to say that I like to eat and workout, so this is how I try to stay fit.

So, in the end, what am I trying to prove? That I can run 26 miles? That I can swim ~1 mile? No, I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone. Anyone can do these things if he is focused on it – in fact people do much more. The human body was built for it. I don’t do this for the approval or praise of the outside world. I do this for myself, for all the reasons above. And I choose a distance and venue (like Malibu in September) that give me the connection to nature and myself that I’m looking for. It’s about being in the moment, actively living life rather than passively existing in it, and returning to a more natural state of being. I hope you can see why this is more than just a hobby for me, and how it relates to my overall philosophy towards life.

Up next – Malibu Triathlon (Olympic distance) on my birthday (9/13) and the Chicago Marathon on 10/12, and probably some smaller events along the way. I’m hoping to raise money for the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles for the Malibu race.

Charleston

While Atlanta was a good introduction to the South, the “Old” South really came alive in Charleston. We took a horse carriage tour through the city and enjoyed excellent food at Café Paradiso and Five Loaves. But the highlight of Charleston, and perhaps of the entire South trip, were the Magnolia and Boone Hall and plantations.

Magnolia is sprawling. We took a mini train tour around 7 square miles of swampy plantation. Along the way, through the humid, warm air, we saw exotic birds and alligators. These animals were sometimes propped up on wooden planks set in the ponds to allow visitors to see the animals sunbathe. Imagine what it would have been like to work at this plantation as a slave 200 years ago, especially in the more remote areas. Behind every bush could be an alligator eyeing you as you picked cotton. 

Visiting Boone Hall was a last minute decision. As we were enjoying our continental breakfast on our last morning in Charleston, we considered our sightseeing options: leave soon for Savannah, go to Fort Sumter, or visit Boone Hall. We decided on the last option based on a recommendation from the hotel concierge and because Fort Sumter would take at least half a day. As we started on the drive to Boone Hall, it began to rain. When we arrived at the gates of the plantation, it began to pour. We struggled with whether or not to visit Boone Hall in the rain and eventually decided to turn back. Five minutes into our return journey, we decided “damn the rain,” changed our minds, and turned back to the plantation. This was the best decision we made on the trip.


Upon entry into Boone Hall, we were rewarded by a magnificent drive through a seemingly never-ending oak tree linked driveway. I have never seen a grander entrance to a home, and this includes all of the castles I have seen in Europe. Inside the plantation, we took shelter from the rain in the cafeteria. There, we saw a Gullah woman acting / performing to educate visitors about the history of the Gullah people. The Gullah people originated from various countries in West Africa and came to Charleston (and other Southeastern cities) to work as slaves on plantations like Boone Hall. The theme of her excellent performance was that during the slave trade to the South, all ethnic groups influenced the others. On the slave ship, Africans from different countries influenced each other on the lower decks were slaves lived. Above, Europeans from different countries (French, Dutch, English, etc.) influenced each other. And of course, the Africans and the European cultures inter-mingled on slave plantations to create modern day Southern culture. Ever heard of Gumbo? This is a classic Southern dish that is thought to have been brought over from the Gullah people.

 After the performance, my dad and I walked through 9 slave cabins, which were turned into several exhibits on African American history, from the time the first slaves arrived in America to the present. I was amazed at the accurate historical records of each and every slave who was transported to the Port of Charleston. My dad commented that the slave cabin exhibit was very enlightening, especially to one who had not experienced American History classes. Before leaving the plantation, I walked through the oak-tree lined driveway (in the rain, which had not let up). What a sight, and what a feeling to walk under those mighty oaks. This will be my most enduring memory from the trip. Rain soaked and happy, we went to the Boone Hall Family Farm to eat lunch prepared from vegetables grown at Boone Hall. Then, it was time to head south to Savannah.

Atlanta

Our sojourn into the South began and ended in Atlanta. My parents arrived a day earlier and saw a few extra sites, including the house of Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind. This ended up being my mom's favorite spot on the entire trip.

Before moving to the highlights of Atlanta, I need to give a shout out to Delta airlines, which I flew direct from LAX to ATL. I have written off United and American Airlines as terrible domestic airlines, and now actively try to fly Delta when possible. The service is a step above American and United. I recently learned that Delta has a non-unionized workforce. I wonder if Delta employees are especially compensated on customer service. I recently flew Delta direct to JFK had a good experience as well.
 
Here are the highlights of Atlanta:

Margaret Mitchell House & Museum

I missed this attraction, so hopefully my mom will comment about this in the comments area. I have seen Gone with the Wind, but have not read the book. Maybe I will someday.


World of Coca-Cola

I am a soda fanatic, as you probably gathered a few blog articles ago. This is a fun attraction, even if over the top. Basically, the secret of Coca-Cola must stay a secret so that future generations can continue to the soda. The tasting room on the top floor is the real treat in the museum. Here, you can enjoy Coke flavors from all over the world, and even try some experimental flavors. As you leave, you're given a cold 8oz Coke bottle for the road. 

CNN Center

CNN is fun to visit if you are interested in media. The studio was fairly quiet when we went, but we did see a few news anchors getting ready for the Sunday news.

Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum

The Cyclorama, located in historic Grant Park, is interesting way of telling the story of the Battle for Atlanta (which the Yankees won). It is one of the largest of its kind. 

Atlanta History Center

The Atlanta History Center is amazing. Our time was cut short here since I had to fly back later that day. However, we had enough time to go through the Civil War exhibit. If you know nothing about the Civil War, or even if you have a solid understanding, this exhibit is worth it. It will fill in the gaps in your knowledge.

Silver Skillet

Only one of the most Southern breakfast joints you could dine at. The Silver Skillet has barely changed since 1956. The meals are cheap and good, and the waitstaff has been here for a long time. Make sure you have the grits and biscuits. 



Up next, Charleston....

Dixie

Over the July 4^th break, I took a road trip to the American South with my parents. When I tell people about my trip, the first question I get is – why there? Many people associate the South with poverty and backwardness. This is unfortunate because the South is one of the most culturally rich parts of the United States and is definitely worth a visit for history lovers. In fact, before the Civil War, the South was richer than the North, and was one of the most prosperous regions in the entire world. The power and influence of the region from that era is still visible today.

Our trip started in Atlanta. From there, we drove 5 hours to Charleston, then 2 hours south to Savannah, and then back to Atlanta. It was a manageable 5-6 day trip that provided us with a good overview of the South’s oldest and finest cities. In Atlanta we explored the World of Coke museum, the CNN Center, and several other museums relating to the Civil War. In Charleston, we visited 2 plantations – Magnolia and Boone Hall. In Savannah, we strolled through squares, climbed a lighthouse on Tybee Island, and dined at the Pink House. Through it all, I drank large amounts of sweet tea, which is thoroughly refreshing on hot, humid days.

So sit back and relax as I take you through sprawling oak trees, buzzing cicadae, warm buttered biscuits, and stately Georgian mansions as we explore the South’s most historic cities in the days to come.