Aukland won our affection not alone through the views on to the water from every street almost, or the pleasant temperature while Europe is hiding under a blanket of white but truly by its food and its little cafes and restaurants we ate in.
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I'm always on the lookout for a unique view of New York's ever changing and ever beautiful skyline. Last week I made my way up to Times Square on a rare visit to Midtown during happy hour courtesy of my friend Dillon. The Skylark is a gorgeous space on 39th street with incredible views of the Empire State
The lovely people over at the Back Room at the new Park Hyatt on 57th invited me over for a tasting of their new lunch menu.
The farm to table cuisine movement has been around for a while now, but there always seems to be room for another entry and Cafe Clover is no exception. I've eaten here for brunch and dinner and was impressed by the level of flavor in every dish, not to mention the attention to detail, especially when it comes to interior design. During the weekend you might even struggle with getting a table, as seemingly all of New York's foodies congregate here. My personal favorites include the avocado toast, granola and hemp biscuits (I can never say no to a good biscuit with butter and jam) on the brunch menu and the risotto and the burrata on the dinner menu.
Find them here:
On my second day in Seattle, we did the unthinkable. We skipped Seattle entirely and started our roadtrip through Oregon. If you ever head out to see the Pacific Northwest I highly recommend renting a car and trying to see as much of the surrounding nature as possible. Start out in either Seattle or Portland, but make sure you see the other city too! They're only 2.5 hours apart! I've driven in the states before, but this time it hit me again how vast this country really is.
We got up bright and early at 6 so we could make use of the whole day properly. This strategy of course included massive cups of coffee and keeping ourselves awake and alert by continuously eating. Our first stop were the infamous Multnomah Falls. I'd seen this waterfall so many times in pictures, but I was so impressed by the scale of it, not to mention how great it was to be able to walk across it on a bridge.
Our next stop on the agenda was Trillium Lake with views of Mt Hood. We were hoping to capture the reflection of the mountains across the lake, but the weather was against us. It was extremely sunny and windy so we decided to just rest and take in the scenery instead of walking around the lake to get good shots of every angle.
After Trillium Lake we were hit with a sever case of hunger after over four hours of driving so we decided to head into Portland. The first stop on our list was Stumptown Coffee at the Ace Hotel. It was so interesting to be in the city were Stumptown began!
Stumptown left us recaffeinated and ready to continue exploring Downtown Portland. I was amazed at how many oldtimers we saw during my time there and I think I started annoying Vincent with my fangirling every time I saw one. If you're ever in Portland I would also highly recommend Heart Coffee, Blue Star Donuts (they're made of brioche dough!!) and make sure you check out Nob Hill for a stoll in an adorable neighborhood.
Last, but certainly not least, Salt and Straw ice cream. Over the past two years I had increasingly heard about Salt and Straw, so naturally I needed to see what all the fuss was about. When we arrived on location there was a line that wrapped around the block and while I don't usually participate in queues I patiently got in line. However, my patience soon wore thin so I figured out an alternative to waiting for another hour: you can skip the line if you buy a pint! With a pint of Sea Salt ice cream and caramel ribbons in hand, the world immediately looked much rosier and it was the perfect end to our time in Portland before we headed back to Seattle
As always you can follow along in real time over Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat (sophiesvob).
I just got back from my trip to Seattle at 1 am today, but even after a long day back at work I feel incredibly inspired and refreshed. Before I share the pictures from our crazy road trips around Oregon and Washington State (and of course a Seattle Shortlist), I wanted to devote one post entirely to The London Plane. Half restaurant, a quarter flower shop and a quarter concept store, but 100% beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. Not to mention the food was amazing (any restaurant that serves home made hazelnut butter with salt on toast earns a solid place in my heart). Before we had our main courses, we all had a round of warm biscuits with seasonal preserve and creme fraiche. I immediately knew we were in for a treat, the kind of treat I wouldn't be mad about having every day. We also shared the chicken salad, focaccia, avocado toast and snap pea salad. I was so happy to hang out with Cory and Bethany again and meet Daniel for the first time to chat about our passions, photography and travel!
Find them right off of leafy green Occidental Square in Downtown Seattle:
If you guys have been following along for while, you might remember this post about Spot Dessert Bar. Last week, they invited us in to taste and photograph some of their classics along with some upcoming specials that will be featured on their summer menu. And who in their right mind says no to free dessert? They work closely with Ian Kittichai from Iron Chef Thailand to develop new and creative dessert tapas year round. I also decided to include some behind the scenes photos here, because I'm so impressed at the effort that goes into each of their dessert creations. You already know how much I love food, but you might not know that I currently work in the food industry. If you're interested in behind the scenes from food photo shoots, NYC restaurants and locations and of course my travels, follow me on snap chat: sophiesvob (for more professional photos, as always, instagram). Keep scrolling for more precise descriptions of these desserts! Thank you for reading as always!
The classics: Green Tea chocolate lava cake and golden french toast with vanilla ice cream (my personal favorite).
Pistachio dusted chocolate mousse cake.
Coconut smoke infused coconut truffle.
Lychee Panna Cotta with raspberry sorbet, chocolate caviar and edible flowers.
This semester of college, I made it my mission to stop being lazy and get out of my Manhattan comfort zone to explore Brooklyn in all its hipster glory. So far I haven't been disappointed once and I've actually managed to take the subway to Williamsburg every single weekend to try a new cafe, bakery or restaurant. I know this sounds cheesy, but in many ways just making that effort to explore new areas of this vibrant city I'm lucky enough to call home and keep putting myself out there and meeting new creatives has changed my view on life and encouraged me to become happier, more passionate and more content with everything I have.
As soon as I walked through the door of 12 Chairs Cafe with my dear friend Sam, I was struck by how grateful I am to be in a city that values design, good food and passionate entrepreneurs so much. 12 Chairs had incredible Mediterranean inspired food (including some of the best hummus I've had in NYC thus far) along with a passion for locally sourced ingredients and attention to detail. You can tell they love what they do with heart and soul the moment you taste the food, leaving me inspired to keep improving the quality of my own food and photography in turn.
Waking up in Rome felt different than I had expected. I've wanted to visit for such a long time that I could barely believe it was happening while I was really there. The city seemed almost mythical to me with architecture from copious centuries interspersed throughout the city.
As per usual, when I feel out of place, I inevitably have to return to comfort foods, and by that I mean any type of carbohydrate you could possibly picture, but to make it easier for you to picture dear reader, I took pictures of my meal of course, because I love you so very dearly. When we walked into Caffe Propaganda (which is literally in view of the Collosseum, and it doesn't get much more Roman than that honestly) I felt transported back to New York, more specifically Williamsburg in Brooklyn, I mean let's face it, this place isn't remotely Roman apart from their excellent food. In keeping with virtually every single meal I had in Rome, I had to have Cacio e Pepe pasta, but let's be honest, you can't really go wrong when in Rome.
Find them here the next time you're in Rome and craving a restaurant void of tourists:
