Pisces Sushi - Manhattan Beach

Back from Reno and embracing the dredges of daily life. Unpack, unwind, and forage for the next meal. There's nothing in the fridge that isn't molding, rotting, or just no thanks, and if I eat one more meal after the excess in Reno, I would just dieee...wait I can have sashimi!

I can have an entire Chirashi Bowl at one of the two tiny counters at Pisces. Fresh fish, generous slabs, expertly-sliced. Sweet, plushy salmon makes me melt, meaty yellowtail spirits away the jet lag, and a smooth red snapper whips me back into shape. We get leaner and meaner with the tuna, and scallop nubbins are a spicy-mayo wake-up call. The fish is truly fantastic, but it's actually the rice that stands out. It's vinegared so rightly and sugared just so slightly, and it keeps you eating long after the sashimi is gone.

The same rice sits in the Unagi Bowl, a steaming warmth of comfort-food eel in tender, over-rice slices. Sweet and saucy and you just can't go wrong.

Look elsewhere if you want a romantic, ritzy dinner, but lunch is adorably intimate with someone you know well. Otherwise, opt for the take-out as so many in Manhattan do. Everyone wants a piece of the Pi-sces; your loss if you don't.

The Grill at Quail Corners - Reno, Nevada

With weddings comes a lot of things. The end of your freedom, the end of an era, and the end of a thing called personal space. But there are beginnings as well, notably the beginning of a whole new family, a fusion of the one you start with and the one you acquire.

I already have family on three continents, and three years ago, we conquered both coasts. But my immediate family has always been small, and with the upcoming wedding, my family has been growing fast. There's a stronghold in the west-coast-best-coast now, and I got to meet the best of it in Reno.

I was nervous, but I didn't need to be. After all, these are grandparents, and if anyone knows how to give a warm welcome, it's them. This visit just flew by, and before I knew it, we were at our last lunch, fuel for the flight ahead.

We've eaten so much in so little time, and salads are the only thing our stomachs can take. But I hate those filler-filled plates of iceberg nonsense... Except at Quail Corners Grill.

The Louie-Louie is no-nonsense, a dead-serious salad, dense with cold crab and cocktail shrimp. Goes well with chunks of avocado and a couple of asparagus spears, and the bed of romaine is in just the right proportion to tie it all together.

The Sesame Seared Ahi is just as impressive, with surprisingly fresh inland tuna and a dash of Asian flair. Wasabi and pickled ginger add some zing, and what's not to like about water chestnuts and wontons over bitter mixed greens?

Good salads, nice grill, totally ready to go... Wait there are Cookies. Chocolate chip. Fresh out of the oven and soft enough to crumble. Salad then cookies. Finally, someone who understands a balanced diet.

Off to the airport for my shortest, most pleasant flight to date, and I smile the whole way home. Because there's no better family than grandparents, and these two are some of the best. I've never met a pair as sweet nor a pair as sharp. In their 80s, smarter than most in their 20s, more classy than I can handle, with charm and wit to spare. I'm sad to see this visit end, but at least I know there are more to come!

Adele's - Carson City, Nevada

From Virginia City to Carson City, she'll be coming the mountain when she comes. Paradise lake on one side, silver mines on the other. Carson City is a capitol happy medium, industrial minus the mining gimmick, politics minus all the stickers for Trump.

From a church with no nails to practical capitol. But we didn't go to Carson City for the sites, we just came for the food.

I've heard so much about Adele's, and the tall tales have me seeing a castle; giant swan-boat plates and meat towers, straight out of Game of Thrones. I'm surprised to see just a pretty little cottage, but I'm quick to fall for its cheery charm.

My cheeriness turns to bewilderment the moment I sit down. The first thing we hear about is the specials menu, an in-your-face onslaught of dishes and plates, of every meat and every fish, made to the whims of the chef that day.

Specials always make me raise an eyebrow, ever since my friend told me that they're usually a last-ditch effort to unload the less fresh leftovers. (Thanks a lot, Alex!) Fortunately it's just the opposite at Adele's; the specials are the freshest and the specials are their menu... if you don't count the 4-page magnum opus containing their regular menu.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the menu was created by a genius... With a lot of energy... And a lot of ADD. It shows in the menu, and it shows in the items themselves. Case and point the house special Escargot en Casserole, a skeptical stream-of-consciousness starter, about a million items stuffed into a concise, 6-well plate.

But it works. I don't know how it works, but it works. The escargot are simply perfect, cooked into soft, warm little garlic gobs. I had serious doubts about the sweet fruit pairing with garlic and snails, but the combination of tart apples, sweet grapes, and hearty cranberry is so crazy it's perfect. We were sopping it up with extra bread long after the escargot was gone, and we couldn't get enough.

A menu like that and someone still finds time to house-make limoncello. It's a force to be reckoned with in the Dragoncello, where a touch of tarragon takes the sugary edge off and hides it's alcoholic undertones. Too sweet for me but still impressed.

The Bently Ranch Rib Steak is the first sign of focus I've seen. The steak is juicy and just-right-red in the middle, but it can stand alone. The horseradish cream doesn't need to be there, and garlic chips finish bitter.

And again we're back to the omg-so-many-things-going-on. The Duck Two Ways is exceptional, and why just have it one way when both ways are soooo good? The leg and thigh are done in a soft, confit-like braise, and the breast is tender and dense with an orange glaze kissing the crispy skin.

Dessert is a classic, Strawberry Shortcake with fluffy angel food, the first sane item I've seen.

The desserts sure are sweet but nothing is sweeter than a Birthday Sundae when it comes with a grandpa's smile.

I really love Adele's. Maybe because I really get Adele's. There's a genuine love for food that can be felt with every bite, and the menu, however crazy, is just a simple desire to cram every good thing into a single kitchen. And I'm so scatterbrained that all of this actually makes sense.

Our last night of our first trip to Reno begins and ends at Adele's. New city, new restaurant, new family. A lot of good news this trip, and one of them was definitely Adele's.

Gar Woods Grill & Pier - Carnelian Bay, California

Out of Reno and onto a tour of Tahoe. The winding mountains are a harrowing, hair-raising ordeal, full of crags and cliffs and hairpin turns.

It is worth every bit of carsick nausea for a view of this sapphire lake. Sandy beaches dot the coast, and small waves break on jagged rocks. Gar Woods may scream tourist-trap, but it's worth it for a view like this.

It's bright and brisk, perfect weather for comfort food, and a lakeside Shrimp & Lobster Bisque hits the spot. Lobster-flavored cream in a semi-deep bowl, chunks of sweet rock shrimp in each spoon.

It takes me a moment to realize we've crossed the border, and we're not in Nevada anymore. Pre-Calexit California welcomes us with a Filet California Burger. The patty is the softest non-Kobe patty I've had, and though I'm not a fan of teriyaki, it goes with a smushed guacamole. Add thick strips of bacon and a slice of jack cheese, and it's almost impossible to fit your mouth around this monstrosity.

The Dungeness Crab Sandwich is a much lighter option...except not really. The sweet shreds of chilled crab are the filet mignon of shellfish, but it's loaded with a savory mayo. Goes great with sourdough bread for a lightly-ritzy lunch.

Lunch is gorgeous, but we don't linger too long. There are two places to go on our one-day-three-cities whirlwind, and we're swept off to Virginia City right after we pay the bill.

Beaujolais Bistro - Reno, Nevada

"160 feet??!? I'm going be supportive and then I'm going to boulder." Justin has a fear of heights, and I can't keep my feet on the ground. To each their own.

We do our different things together; we're different but we're still the same. I high-five him when he nails a new route, and when I hook both hands over the top of America's highest wall, he tells me I killed it.

Off the wall and onto Branded Hearts Distillery, a victory drink well-earned. Somebody said whiskey, and I came running. Ryan comes running too, opening his distillery on a day they're closed just to give us the best distillery tour I've ever had. He even lets us sample bourbon straight out of the barrel, and at 120 proof, that bourbon is one heck of a pre-dinner pre-game. Even grandma Pauline drinks like a champ.

By the time we sit down at Beaujolais Bistro (which we did NOT drive to), we are not exactly sober. 

But there is always room for wine, and my glass of red really pops with the Bacon-Wrapped Dates. Belly, fat, and belly fat, crispy-on-gooey with pungent blue cheese, all swimming in a thick romesco sauce. The tiniest spicy little kick keeps an otherwise-heavy dish from being too much.

Heavy turns heavier as the meat falls right off the Braised Lamb Shank bone, with the subtlest flick of a fork. Couscous adds it's grainy, airy texture, and the harissa-lamb jus spa bathes the meat in a rich cloak of darkness.

The lamb is great, but the Cassoulet is a masterpiece. A hot pot of the softest cannellini beans, soaked in pork-belly-turned-liquid-fat, topped with the most perfect duck confit, complete with crispy skin and a layer of melty glory underneath.

We're still reeling from the cassoulet, but there's always room for dessert. The Profiteroles are so simple yet so satisfying; roomy little cream puffs full of airy vanilla cream.

I don't know what was more impressive, the fact that the cassoulet blew my mind or the fact that an 82 year-old woman just drank me under the table. But one thing's for sure. Bistro Beaujolais isn't just the best meal I had in Reno, it's one of the most impressive meals I've had this year.