Eating My Way West

One of the things I look forward to the most when on the road is the opportunity for culinary adventures along the way. Our last trip out west was no exception, and we enjoyed revisiting some old favorite haunts, as well as discovering a bunch of new favorites we came upon by recommendation and/or accident, and can't wait to go back to.

*(Coffee also plays a major role in tour life, but the coffee shop list deserves a more extensive post of its own, so this entry will remain focused on restaurants, and more specifically, the ones we loved on our most recent tour.)*

Here's a list of a half dozen of my personal culinary highlights in UT, NV, and southern CA (roughly in the chronological order we ate at them, based on our tour routing):

THE RED IGUANA, SALT LAKE CITY, UT

If a touring musician tells you to eat at a certain place when you're in that city, do it. If more than one touring musician tells you that, DEFINITELY do it. This place was so awesome we ate there twice: once when we arrived, and the evening before we flew home. They are famous for their molé - there were more than 10 available on the menu, plus a whole slew of other amazing Mexican dishes. I had both the green molé (using zucchini and pumpkin seeds) and the more classic dark brown chocolate-based one, and hot damn, they were both mind blowing. This place is famous for a reason (and although it did end up on Guy Fieri's Diners, Dives, and Drive-Ins, the food and the vibe certainly don't seem to have suffered.) There are three locations - we ate at the original. Reservations strongly recommended.

RED DOG SALOON, PIONEERTOWN, CA

We stayed a night in Pioneertown, just outside of Joshua Tree. It being mid-week in the middle of the desert, there weren't a ton of options without going into Yucca Valley, but the Red Dog Saloon, right on the grounds of Pioneertown, proved to be a fantastic surprise. The menu is pretty much limited to tacos and other munchable fare you'd expect in a bar, but the tacos were FANTASTIC! The drinks were also great, and the vibe can't be beat. Nearby Pappy & Harriet's is the cult classic music venue also known for BBQ, but the Red Dog was our favorite Pioneertown surprise.

* While in Yucca Valley/Joshua Tree, check out the Wine and Rock Shop. It's a quirky little shop with an alien out front that sells a thoughtfully curated selection of natural wines... and rocks (crystals, pottery, candles etc.) I enjoyed the offbeat vibe and found a couple nice bottles of wine.

LILY'S, MALIBU, CA

Located in the Point Dume shopping plaza, Lily's has perhaps the best SoCal Mexican food I've ever had! Greg always gets the huevos rancheros, and I always get the fish tacos. These are my contenders for Best Fish Tacos, which in southern CA is a SERIOUS THING. The style here is very light and bright: the fish is grilled or broiled, not battered or fried, and the toppings are green, zesty and spicy. These are my favorite tacos of all time. Yes, yes they are.

MALIBU SEAFOOD, MALIBU, CA

But... if you're a fan of fish tacos that are a bit creamier, richer, with fried fish... you're gonna want to head to Malibu Seafood. Or if you're a fan of fish sandwiches, fish and chips, chowder, ... you get the idea. My Runner Up to Lily's when it comes to fish tacos, that may only be because I prefer my fish not fried and like light, bright cuisine. But these fish tacos are an amazing example of the alternative style, and the rest of the seafood on the menu is equally mind blowing. Located just across the PCH from the beach, this is an iconic roadside eatery (you can also get raw fish and prepared foods at the seafood market next door) and a must-eat when heading up US 1.

URTH CAFFE, SANTA MONICA, CA (ALSO PASADENA + OTHER LOCATIONS)

Urth Caffe is a small chain: great coffee, tea, incredible baked goods, and a great selection of salads, sandwiches, and other fare that’s one of my favorite lunch spots to hit up when in Santa Monica. We grabbed a bite at the Pasadena location on this tour, which was equally lovely.

SOUTH CREEK PIZZA, RENO, NV

Amazing, delectable, thin crust Neopolitan-style pizza in the heart of Reno. South Creek Pizza is owned by Mike and Linda Madan, wonderful musicians and friends. It's a bonus that they're such lovely people and great musicians (check out their band, Reno Swing Set!), but this pizza place stands on its own without any personal connection whatsoever. Try the Spinacci, or The Linda (a mouthwatering combination of ricotta, honey, and lemon that does that sweet/savory balance perfectly!) Don't overlook the appetizers too, and enjoy a nice selection of wine and local craft beer on tap as well.

THE STAR HOTEL, ELKO, NV

Halfway between Reno and Salt Lake City (with not a lot else in between!) lies Elko, a railroad and mining town that happens to be a mecca of... Basque food?!? In the late 1800s, Basque immigrants headed to Elko to take advantage of the gold rush, and those that didn't strike it rich stuck around to work as sheepherders. A vibrant Basque community sprang up, and places like the Star Hotel were founded to serve as boarding houses for bachelor sheepherders when they weren't tending their flocks in the mountains, as well as a community gathering place, an address for mail and parcels to be sent, and more. The Basque cuisine here is of the mountains, not ocean, and features lamb chops and loads of beef dishes, rather than seafood. I had the beef tongue sandwich (very tasty - reminded me of a sliced steak sandwich with peppers and onions.) Greg enjoyed some chorizo, which was equally good! A regional cocktail was created by this immigrant community - the Picon (pronounced "pee-cawn", like the nut) Punch. It uses Picon, a French apéritif made from dried orange peels, with other bitter herbs like gentian and cinchona. In France, Picon traditionally accompanies beer, but in American Basque areas like Elko, Bakersfield, and Boise, it is served as a cocktail with grenadine, lemon, soda water, and a float of brandy, in a custom stemmed glass. I had one while I was waiting for the food, and it was pretty tasty. If you like bitter, amaro-driven cocktails, you'll probably like this too. The bartender said the record number of Picon Punches he had seen drunk in one day was 23. That guy's wife was not amused.

So that's the brief Restaurant Roundup from our last tour! I'll try to get a coffee shop listing together soon, but feel free to let me know how you enjoyed this post (I hope you did!) and I'll collect some more culinary highlights for the future.

The Smell of Cow Manure Makes Me Homesick (Life on the Road)

The Smell of Cow Manure Makes Me Homesick (AKA Life on the Road)

"Wow, sounds like you had an AMAZING vacation." I've just run into a friend at the coffee shop and his offhanded comment (echoed by everyone from family members to total strangers) has me torn between bemusement and laughter. Having just come back from a 9 day ("Thunder run") tour of the Netherlands and Germany, I thought it would be a good time to write about what touring (here at home or abroad) is most often like, in my experience. Including (especially) the things that don't make Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

THE CLIFF NOTES VERSION:

If you want to simulate how it feels physically, just stay up for at least 24 hours, sit in a really uncomfortable chair for enough time that your back aches and various limbs fall asleep, then borrow a car you've never driven, switch your GPS to a foreign language, and use it to navigate to a place several hours away in a town where you don't know anyone, and try to do your work as usual, preferably with some element of public speaking in there. Eat and drink something you don't usually, then try to sleep in an unfamiliar place. Now get up 2-3 hours earlier than normal and lather, rinse, repeat for at least a week, probably two to three weeks if you can spare it. If 36 hours is all you've got, then just throw a small bucket of cash out the window of that borrowed car, and head home.

THE UP: It can be an inspiring, transformative experience.

Although you don't often have the time to see all the museums, restaurants, cultural attractions and other tourist-type things you'd see on an actual vacation, you do get to hang out with the people who actually live and work in the cities and towns you're playing in- the quickest, easiest way to get a real insider's perspective into what life in those areas is like. Want to know where the music stores, record shops, bookstores, coffee shops, farmers' markets, cool bars are? Easy.

Unexpected experiences can pop up out of nowhere and make your day. An impromptu bike ride to a mill that Van Gogh painted? A hike to a beautiful overlook in the Alps? Finding that cool little farm stand with the local cheeses and smoked salmon just off the Northern CA coast? Spontaneous happenings can easily become highlights of the trip.

It's also really special (domestically or internationally) to get to share your art with interested audiences who may not have known about you before. It can be incredibly rewarding to connect, make new friends, and experience your art through a completely fresh (sometimes unexpected) perspective. This is probably the biggest reason why we do it.

It's a truly mind-broadening experience. Seeing firsthand different lifestyles, different viewpoints, different ways of doing and looking at things, without a comfort zone to fall back on can do incredible things for your empathy, humanity, and imagination. When you're in one place for a while, it's easy to assume that there's only one or two ways to do or look at things. "Get out of Dodge" for a bit, and that gets totally upended. It's cross-ventilation for the mind. I always come back feeling more creative, more nimble, more flexible in my thinking and doing and being.  

THE DOWN: It's physically and mentally really, really hard.

You're exhausted the majority of the time. Most of us are familiar with what a drag jet lag is, but trying to be functional without any recovery time is its own form of hell. Most of the time, you'll arrive and have a show the same night. So you'll hit the ground running that night, then get up and do it again the next day, and the next... At some point jet lag will switch to garden-variety tiredness, but it takes an experienced connoisseur of exhaustion to detect the subtle change. You also spend a lot of time sitting on your bum, in cars, planes, trains etc. Your legs will fall asleep and your butt will become very tired, just like the rest of you.

You probably won't get to see those museums, hip restaurants, galleries, spas, natural, or cultural attractions. You just won't have the time. Most days will either be gig days or travel days. Days off are to be avoided if at all possible, because any day you're not playing, you're losing money. (Sometimes there are exceptions, and I always try to add a few days on to the end of a tour to get to see some of those things I wouldn't have the opportunity to see otherwise.)

Speaking of money, you probably won't make much. Sometimes you'll be in the black, sometimes you'll be in the red, sometimes you'll break even. The overhead required to make it happen in the first place can be overwhelming and take a long time to recoup. Just Google some airfares (either domestic or international) and then multiply by the number of band members you'd like to bring. Add in a car rental, throw in for gas, tolls, lodging on nights the venue doesn't provide a place to stay, meals, and other unexpected expenses, like gear repair, socks, or your 37th replacement iPhone charger.

The weirdest things will make you weep. (Mostly because of the exhaustion- it's not lost on us that sleep deprivation is an interrogation tactic.) For me, it's the smell of cow manure. Or new-mown hay. This puts me in a minority, I know, but whenever we're in farm country, look out. (City-dwellers have other triggers that I know far less about. They always seem to have something to do with the smell of rain on asphalt.) Other weird things will make you laugh. It's trippy.

THE CONCLUSION (IF THERE REALLY IS ONE):

In short (or long), this is what it's like, much of the time. We generally only post the really cool stuff on social media- the awe-inspiring views, the fabulous dinners, the cool venues. Because nobody really wants to see half the band asleep and drooling in the back of the van, or hauling gear up several flights of hotel stairs (no elevator!) at 2 am, or the tiny bed in a hostel in the middle of nowhere where you hit your head on the sloped ceiling in the middle of the night, or the hours you sat in traffic, or the piles of dirty laundry...

Touring is an alternate reality, an enhanced state brought on by completely uprooting yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally. It's strange, inspiring, rewarding, exhausting, exciting, boring, and in the end can serve as a mental brush fire of sorts, forcing you to focus on things that might not be possible in the tedium of everyday. This can be a very useful thing, and I recommend that everyone try it, if possible. It's hard, and you might not come home with a lot of financial reward to show for it. (It's also not for everyone, and for those with small children, I can't even fathom how you do it!) But you get to share art with new friends in new places, and although the road is harder now than it's ever been, there are still a bunch of us crazy fools out there doing it. Maybe we'll be coming to your town soon. Can we do some laundry?