Do you like food? Do you love food? If so, then you may want to consider Lyon as your next travel destination. Besides the food, there are wonderful museums, shops, and parks. On top of that there is the wonderful Fete des Lumieres in the winter season. It is a wonderful, working French city. The people …
I often talk about moving to Europe; specifically France. I’m a “bit” of a Francophile. This means I am constantly weighing the pros and cons of each French city I have visited and I usually end up with two cities in mind: Lyon and Nice. I’ve visited Nice twice and it is simply lovely. Here’s …
Colombian food culture is rich and diverse as the different geographic and cultural regions of the country have strongly maintained their culinary identity. Many dishes in Colombia have Spanish influences but it always reflects the people’s great love for their land, its harvests and the waters that surround it. Colombian Food Culture Colombia is bathed …
Marseille is one of my favorite cities in France. I’ve had many people, predominantly French, give me really weird looks when I say this. To be honest, I hated Marseille day 1. We took the train in from Cannes to Marseille. Our host told us that the walk from the Gare (train station) to the …
Hoboken may be one of the loveliest towns in the USA. Growing up in Bergen County as a Jersey Girl, I remember my stepdad telling me never to go to Hoboken. The town was dangerous, gritty. I found out this was completely wrong when I got into High School and Hoboken was our gateway to …
I have visited San Francisco three times and I still have ambivalent feelings about San Francisco. In one hand, San Francisco is gorgeous. What I love? Nob Hill: Walking through this neighborhood, you can automatically guess at the affluence of its residents. You can take a cable car to the top, or you can work on …
San Francisco: Amazing food, architecture, tech, and lots of hobos Read More »
Our trip to Costa Rica was life changing. It really solidified how we would run out business. Both Antonio and I knew we wanted to travel, which would be impossible with a regular 9-5 job. It would also be impossible with my regular 9-11, 7-10 days of schlepping wines throughout NY & NJ. I had …
I worked for some wonderful people before FriendsEAT: Rich Scelfo and Lucy Lombardi. They are partners in Seaboard Brokers, a wine importer specializing in wines from Chile, Argentina, and Italy. They are the epitome of what bosses should be. They taught me, molded me, and I model my management strategy after them (and Arnold Casamenti …
Antonio and I were still learning how to travel in 2007. We knew we wanted to travel the world, and we already had a feeling that we were not huge fans of hotels, even “luxury” ones. This was our first attempt at renting a vacation property. We were bringing our mothers and knew we’d need …
Cabarete Dominican Republic: Kite Surfing, Spelunking, Sun Worship, & More Read More »
I love art but figured quickly that I was not talented enough to make a living out of it. But, whatevs…I still love painting and do so whenever I get a little spare time between my duties at FriendsEAT and Socialdraft. Here’s a little sampling of “Blanca Valbuena Art”. Blanca Valbuena Art I’m a big fan of …
Any startup entrepreneur has probably heard the stories about The Creamery San Francisco. This is the place where deals are made over a cup of coffee and a croissant. It is the place where entrepreneurs, VC’s, and tech writers gather looking for the latest deal and the latest gossip. It’s the place Michael Arrington “has probably closed …
Paris has some amazing farmer’s markets, I explored Battignoles (9th Arrondisement) as well as the Raspail Market (6th arrondisement). Both were wonderful and “Bio” which is the French version of organic. When the French say organic, they mean it. Their meats have no hormones, are grass fed, and the produce is gorgeous. Head over to …
The French frozen food store chain. I’ve been aware of Picard for years, but I never really gave them much thought. That is until this trip to Lyon. The Picard right next to Les Halles piqued my interest. Think of a supermarket that sells everything, but only in frozen formats. It blew my mind. It …
There is nothing better than traversing markets and stores in other countries. I absolutely adore seeing what locals purchase and sell in all different areas. While I tend to stick to the more down to Earth galerias and les halles; once in a while, I crave a little luxury. When I was in Italy, this craving was sated …
I consider myself to be quite a lucky lady. I’ve made many chef friends, so whenever I need dining recommendations, I simply ask them. After all, who better than a chef would know where to eat. I had met Chef Jean-Christian Dumonet at the Maitres Cuisiniers de France event in Lyon. He’s incredibly funny, cool …