Jack’s Wife Freda

It’s been…forever since I’ve blogged – I just checked today and February 21st was the last time I posted something! Mostly because I have been really busy with finalizing wedding plans (only 96 days left!) and hosting friends in the city. A quick post today – I caught up with an old coworker for lunch – I was coming from uptown and she works in Tribeca so we thought we could meet in Soho. I’m not great with restaurants in Soho for lunch because most of the places I know are more for dinner, but she suggested Jack’s Wife Freda, which I’ve walked past multiple times but have never stepped inside.

The restaurant is owned by a husband and wife team that met at Balthazar (which is right around the corner) – it’s an eclectic menu that features fresh salads, fried fish balls and other foods that are simple but delicious.

I ordered the kale salad with a nice hunk of feta:

Kale is so versatile and I love how healthy it is (lots of vitamin C!) – this kale salad was very filling with the feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and pickled red onions. Very fresh and Mediterranean (this salad goes along with the other items of the menu, which also includes couscous, rosewater waffles, and Shakshuka).

The restaurant was really packed with strollers, young children, and people shopping in Soho looking for a little coffee and a sweet croissant. It was charming and definitely a good place to visit after shopping in Soho!

The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch

On Sunday, we moved from The Pines Lodge to The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch. There are shuttles that take you from one resort to another in Beaver Creek so we were able to get to the Ritz-Carlton very easily. We decided to take it easy on Sunday because we were skiing on Monday and Tuesday, so instead of skiing during the day before the Super Bowl party, we went to the gym, worked out, and got massages and facials at the Ritz-Carlton spa. The day was very relaxing and it was another sunny afternoon outside. The Ritz-Carlton’s ski in/ski out was amazing; you literally walk out of the hotel and you’re at the ski lift! This is the hotel from the ski lift:

And the ski lift from the hotel pool:

We were fitted for new ski equipment on Sunday afternoon and were able to quickly pick up our gear on Monday morning right outside the hotel. All of the blue ski jackets were our ski guides on Monday and Tuesday:

The hotel was really picturesque – doesn’t it look like it’s out of a fairy tale:

Here are the ski runs that were right by the hotel:

And while we were getting our ski gear on Sunday, we met Bachelor, the Saint Bernard puppy that lives at the Ritz:

The Super Bowl game was very fun – we hung out, ate a lot of crudite, and watched in amazement when the lights went out after halftime. After watching the game, Ken and I retired to our room to get ready for a full day of skiing on Monday!

Beaver Creek: Grouse Mountain Grill

After we arrived and settled into the hotel, we wanted to grab a quick bite to eat since we were hungry from flying all day. The hotel lobby has Grouse Mountain Grill, which was close, has seasonal and local ingredients and had an open reservation. We sat down by the windows and had a great view of the mountains while we were dining. The menu is very fresh, using ingredients they get from local farmer’s markets when possible – we started with some bread and three different types of butters and dipping sauces:

As an amuse bouche, they gave us each a beef short rib lettuce wrap:

The meat was very lean, braised in local coffee, and topped with micro cilantro and pickled jalapeno. The butter lettuce made it perfectly bite-sized for us – Ken and I were saying it would be great to have it as an appetizer at our wedding!

For our first course, we ordered the seafood crudo, which was tuna and yellowtail wrapped with cilantro and radishes:

Very delicious – they also used yuzu and soy sauce, which added a nice fresh citrusy flavor.

For Ken’s entree, he ordered the pan roasted Florida grouper:

The grouper was topped with cippolini onions, savoy cabbage, and white beans. Ken thoroughly enjoyed the hearty dish that he paired with a glass of wine.

And I didn’t see anything I wanted on the menu so I asked if they could prepare something protein-based – they were able to make chicken breast with carrots and green beans:

The chicken breast was very delicious (why isn’t it on their regular menu?) and the carrots and green beans were very fresh and sweet.

We finished dinner and retired to our rooms because we were getting ready for a full day of skiing. I had taken Diamox earlier in the week after being scared into calling in a prescription by my coworkers, but was so glad that I did because after skiing in the morning, I completely lost all of my energy and felt drained while we were skiing down a run – I can’t even imagine what it would’ve been like if I hadn’t taken the medication! The one side effect that got to me was that carbonated beverages started tasting very different and some foods tasted a little weird – luckily, none of the foods at Grouse Mountain Grill tasted weird because of the medication!

Beaver Creek Trip: The Pines Lodge, Skiing Day 1

A few weekends ago, I was lucky enough to be invited on Ken’s office’s annual ski trip. They go to Colorado every year around the Super Bowl – some year’s they’ve gone to Vail but this year the trip was at Beaver Creek. Ken and I headed there a bit early so we could get some extra skiing in before the rest of his office arrived in Colorado. The Ritz-Carlton, where we stayed with Ken’s office, was fully booked for the first two nights so we stayed at The Pines Lodge, a ski-in/ski-out resort that was cozy and close to the slopes. Right before we arrived in Colorado, they had a lot of snow (over two feet!) so we were really lucky because the skiing conditions were great. They didn’t have great snow until then so there were a lot of locals also skiing during the weekend, but we skied on Monday and Tuesday as well when the slopes were completely empty, except for us. The Pines Lodge from our room:

Another shot of the beautiful snow:

The Pines Lodge had a cozy lodge feel with lots of pine everywhere. The wood used for all of the cabinets was actually quite beautiful:

There was even a nice large bathtub for soaking after a long day on the slopes:

The best part about the Pines Lodge was the outdoor hot tub and swimming pool – both heated so you can go in year-round:

After we arrived and unpacked on Friday night, we got a good night’s rest and prepared to wake up super early on Saturday morning so we could ski all day. On Saturday morning, Ken and I ate at the breakfast buffet (lots of protein from the eggs and black beans) and then went to the ski shop to get our gear for the two days we were staying at the lodge. I layered with multiple turtlenecks (Lululemon sports tank, then heat-tech from Uni-qlo, a cashmere turtleneck, and my jacket kept me warm on the slopes):

The weather each day on the slopes was perfect – blue skies, sunny, and cold but not too cold. On the first day, we skied around Arrowhead, Bachelor Gulch and Beaver Creek to get a lay of the land:

After a full day of skiing and a super tiring trek to return to our hotel (when we were trying to ski back to the hotel, we took the wrong path and ended up at a random resort REALLY far from our hotel!), we did a little apres ski at the Pines Lodge, where they set up a little hot chocolate, apple cider, hot green tea and warm chocolate chip cookies. We had an amazing first day of skiing by ourselves and were so exhausted by the end of the day that we fell asleep around 10pm! Perfect Saturday in Beaver Creek.

AFC Championship Game!

A few weekends ago, Ken secured tickets to the AFC championship game in Boston (The Patriots vs. the Ravens). We were going to entertain some of his clients and went the night before to meet up with his friend, Jon, who recently moved from Chicago to Boston for work. We met up at Del Frisco’s by the water (it was much trendier than the one in New York) and had a nice dinner while catching up with John:

After eating, however, I had terrible food poisoning and thought I was going to die (seriously, the last time I had food poisoning that bad, I was in Paris and was in the hotel room for a solid three days. On the plus side, I had never looked so thin afterwards…but I’m just kidding. Kind of). The next day, we met up with Ken’s clients and took them to the game at Gillette Stadium. I wasn’t eating solid food and had no energy; luckily, we were sitting in the company box seats and were able to sit for the majority of the game:

I thought it would be super warm the entire game since we were upstairs away from the field, but they open the windows right when the game starts because then you can hear the cheering and feel like you’re closer to the field:

They had a ton of blankets and I wore my jacket the entire time, but I was so happy when we left the game (I also predicted, correctly, that the Ravens would win.) The drive back from Boston was pretty quick, mostly because I was asleep for it and Ken was driving. I recovered from food poisoning but then had throat problems from throwing up so much. That, combined with the flu, was how I spent the end of January. Luckily, I recovered right in time for our trip to Colorado (more on that next week!)