La Bicyclette: Carmel-by-the-Sea

Carmel is one of those places that I absolutely adore. It's not far enough from Sacramento to really consider a road trip per se, but it's not exactly a quick drive either. However, it is definitely worth sitting in a car for three hours (not to mention, once you get on Highway 1, the view isn't too shabby ;-)). One on-again, off-again overcast afternoon, a group of us arrived in Carmel just in time for lunch. My friend Sulamita convinced us to check out La Bicyclette. She'd been there before a few times, and I remembered her raving about her past experiences. I'm a complete sucker for cute cafes, especially when they are cute French cafes, so I was all in.

It would only make sense for a bicycle to be sitting out front, right?

I love the idea of a chalk wall, especially in a restaurant where patrons can leave behind short messages.

All hands on deck!

Fromage: A tasting of artisan cheeses

Charcuterie: Sweet Coppa, house made salami, La Quercia Speck & wild boar salami (served with pickled onions)

I managed to get a semi-decent action shot of our pizza dough being tossed!

Butternut squash wood-fired pizza with sage, gruyère, speck ham, arugula, and butternut squash puree

Local strawberry & chèvre (goat cheese) salad with honeyed walnuts, wild arugula and frisée served with late harvest Riesling dressing

I can't tell you what this was because we weren't the ones to order it, but I can tell you it looked amazing!

La Bicyclette is located at 29 Dolores St. in Carmel, CA.

Selland's Market-Café: El Dorado Hills

I feel like Sellands is one of those places where everyone can find something they like...even if it has to be something from their dessert menu. Up until winter of 2012, Selland's only had one location, and that was in East Sacramento. So I was totally surprised when I discovered a Selland's in El Dorado Hills in the Town Center. I'm not in the El Dorado Hills area very often, but every once in a while, it's nice to venture out to the East side. 

A la carte options vary from fruit salad to crab cakes to a chickpea salad.

Sometimes, it's just really hard to say "no" to this (especially when it comes to chocolate and red velvet).

Love their outdoor patio, especially on a day like this. How could anyone not love California?!

Goat cheese & apple salad with mixed greens, toasted walnuts red onions and golden balsamic vinaigrette.

Wood-fire roasted chicken breast.

A split pizza with arugula and prosciutto.

Turkey sandwich with citrus and curry marinated turkey breast, brie cheese, caramelized onions and curry mayo on a soft roll.

Wood-fire roasted teriyaki chicken thigh.

Selland's is located at 4370 Town Center Blvd., suite 120 in El Dorado Hills.

Lombardi's Pizza: New York City

One of the items on my NYC bucketlist was "eat pizza." Really simple, right? Well apparently when you do a Google search on "best pizza in NYC," there are tons of listings. However, one pizza joint that seemed to be a recurring one on the lists was Lombardi's Pizza. This particular restaurant is actually considered to be America's First Pizzeria. Pretty cool, huh? Lombardi's embodied the typical New York hustle and bustle, as the servers hurried around to take orders and carry out pizzas. All I know is, I checked off another item on my bucket list after Lombardi's, and I got to do it on a satisfied stomach!

The walls were decked out with various awards, photos and autographs from celebs and athletes.

The menu was pretty simple - the pizzas all start out as Margherita pizzas with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and basil. Then, you choose your toppings from their options!

We went with wild mushrooms and sweet Italian sausage.

One of the best pizzas I've ever had!

Lombardi's is located at 32 Spring St. in New York, NY.

Hook & Ladder

My first time at Hook & Ladder was during October of last year, just a month or so after the restaurant had their grand opening. The last time I went in was for dinner, and I can still distinctly remember the delicious house-made roasted beet linguine. Fast forward to Spring of 2013. My lovely co-workers and I decided to escape the confines of our office and go out for lunch at this midtown joint during a warm Sacramento afternoon.

Strawberry lemonade.

Pancetta & poached duck egg salad with frisee, radicchio and almonds.

Three meat ragu made with paccheri pasta.

Clara's Chicken Salad with mixed baby lettuces, roasted chicken, shaved red onion, cucumber, roasted red bell pepper, garlic croutons, kabocha squash and goat cheese.

This pizza was on their list of daily specials. Wish I remembered all of the ingredients. Speaking of pizza, Hook & Ladder had one on their menu that sounded delish - fuji apples, peppered bacon, goat cheese, walnuts & honey. Umm....yum!!

Hook & Ladder Manufacturing Co. is located at 1630 S St. in Sacramento.