CHRISTMAS NEGLECT

I have been very neglectful of my blog this month, as you may have noticed. Preparing for our long trip (housesitter, dogsitter, plant-sitter, work-sitter) the holidays, and some minor illness meant I was not able to give the proper attention to AHFAH. Well, we leave tomorrow for Australia and the South Pacific. Here's to a happy holiday and great new year, and a promise to TRY to post while traveling as often as possible.

BOOKED

After three weekends in a row of nearly solid reading, googling, researching, phone calls, emails guidebook indices, and currency conversion charts, I have the major details of our winter trip to the South Pacific booked.  Here is a little rundown of the itinerary:

We fly from New York on Christmas Eve, because that was the only day there were any seats available for purchase with miles.  It was a tight spot, because we have to be there by December 28th (the origin of this trip is boyfriend-work-related) and apparently Quantas books out 11 months in advance for mileage cash-ins, so we were lucky to get seats at all.  In any event, we fly Christmas Eve, which means we actually miss Christmas Day as a result of crossing the international date line!  We land in Melbourne on the 26th and have a few days to recover from the flight and jet lag, and to enjoy summer time by the hotel pool before the BF has to go to work.

The Australian portion of the trip is centered around work, so the schedule is a bit hectic:

December 26-29: Melbourne, Victoria

December 29-30: Lorne, Victoria

December 31: Hobart, Tasmania

January 1-3: We have a few days off, so are retreating to the Victorian countryside outside Melbourne (as close to the outback as I am going to get, I am afraid) and taking a few days at the Royal Mail Hotel and restaurant, made famous by Anthony Bourdain in his Melbourne episode of No Reservations.  I hope to visit some of his other featured food stops while in town as well.

January 4-5: Melbourne

January 6-7: Brisbane

January 8-10: Perth

January 11-14: Sydney

These days are going to be fun, but exhausting, I expect.  Luckily after Australia we are heading to New Zealand for some rest and relaxation on the North Island, and then some sight seeing on the South Island.

January 15-17: Mangonui, North Island, New Zealand at the house of friends.  I have been told about subtropical climate, sailing to abandoned beaches to swim with wild dolphins, eating good food, etc.  From here we fly to the South Island to see the sights.  We are staying in little hostels and motels (with a few punctuations of more luxurious accommodation here and there).

January 18-19: Picton and Queen Charlotte Track, South Island for some hiking, kayaking, and maybe wine tasting.

January 20-21: Kaikoura for some whale watching and cool tree houses at the Hapuku Lodge
January 22: Hokitika, on the west coast of the South Island

January 23-24: Lake Wanaka in the southern Alps

January 25-26: Te Anau, which we are using as a base to explore Milford Sound, the fjordlands, the glow worm caves, and maybe Doubtful Sound (we will see how motivated I can get my BF).

January 27: Queenstown

January 28: We are flying back to Auckland for a night before leaving the country.

And here is where things get a little crazy.  In order to get home with miles, we had to book with Air Tahiti Nui, with a layover in Tahiti.  Not a problem for me, getting to stay in Tahiti for a night... except when you are that close to what is, in my imagination, one of the most exotic, faraway destinations in the world-- Bora Bora-- you are obligated to go... even if it is the rainy season there (gulp).

January 29-February 2: Bora Bora (!)

February 3: Fly home...

When I was a kid I used to pour over old atlases, and I would dream up itineraries for month-long trips I never thought I would ever actually get to go on.  This, it is turning out, is one of those trips.  I cannot wait!

Images via travelideas.au, The Telegraph UK, and hawaii 5-0

MOMENTS AWAY: THE MEAT HOOK

As reported last month, the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs and the Meat Hook, Tom Mylan and Brent Young's new project, is opening up around the corner soon.  I just found out that it is in fact going to open late this weekend!

Follow the Meat Hook's every frantic pre-opening move on Facebook, Twitter, or on their blog.  Read details here and here about all the Lab is going to be offering and feel tingly with anticipation!

So exciting!

The Brooklyn Kitchen Labs and The Meat Hook are located at 100 Frost Street at Meeker Avenue in Williamsburg.

Image via Eating in Translation's flickr

EATING IN LONDON, PART II

The real reason behind the trip to London: Fergus Henderson's St. Johns restaurants.  There is St. John near Smithfield Market, and St. John Bread and Wine Spitalfields.  Henderson was one of the originators of the nose-to-tail, locally sourced, traditional and seasonal-centric restaurant trends that, 10 years on, inform all my favorite food spots around the world.  It is like going home to the mothership.  Some people I know call the original restaurant "Big Girl," which I think is very funny.  I couldn't get a table on our open night at the original St. John, but was able to eat twice at Bread and Wine.  Here is the menu for dinner (sorry it isn't a better photo):

A little pate as well as mussels with seaweed to start things off.

Then some beetroot and goat's curd.

The smoked fish with horseraddish was not my favorite, but they were pretty.

Snails and Black Cabbage.  I had it at lunch the following day.

The ox liver, watercress and pickled walnut was also delicious.

A masterpiece: pheasant with kale and bacon.  One of my fellow diners found shot in his bite... which I decided is good luck.

If I lived in London I would eat at these places everyday.

COMING SOON

I am very very excited, because soon Tom Mylan and Brett Young, formerly of Marlow & Daughters, are opening their own locally supplied butcher shop here in Williamsburg.  The Meat Hook is going to be part of a complex called The Lab, opening in conjunction with the team behind The Brooklyn Kitchen.  The Lab will be a cooking school for home cooks as well as a specialty supply shop and sort-of-grocery.  It's the geniuses behind two of my favorite shops working together to make the the ultimate food/ cooking/ learning/ happiness bonanza.  Right around the corner from my house!  Once it opens I am going to be there every weekend.  I count the days!  Read more about Tom and his view on locally raised meat here.  And here is a cool video of him at his former work.

Image via ultra clay dot com