For this episode, I once again enlist the help of my friend Ananya for advice on the best spots in St Paul and Minneapolis. We discuss what the Mississippi River looks like in the snow, the various parks in St Paul and Minneapolis including Minnehaha Falls in the latter, discovering good restaurants like Cossetta on dates, where to find meat in ‘pulled formats’ or get a great burger, and why Lake Street is like Diagon Alley.

Links to places mentioned:

St Paul:
Grand Avenue http://www.grandave.com/
Salut Bar Americain http://salutbaramericain.com/
Cafe Latte http://www.cafelatte.com/
Shish Cafe http://www.shishongrand.com/
Como Park http://www.comozooconservatory.org/
Hmong Market http://www.hmongtownmarketplace.com/
Mears Park http://mearspark.com/
Lowertown, St. Paul http://www.lowertown.org/
Barrio http://barriotequila.com/
Summit Avenue http://minneapolis.about.com/od/citiesneighborhoods/ss/cathedralhill_7.htm
Cossetta http://cossettas.com/

Minneapolis:
Fogo de Chao http://www.fogodechao.com/locations/minneapolis/
Crave http://craveminneapolis.com/
Lake Nokomis http://www.yelp.com/biz/lake-nokomis-minneapolis-2
Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, Minnehaha Falls https://www.minneapolisparks.org/
Pizza Luce http://pizzaluce.com/locations/downtown-minneapolis
Punch Pizza http://www.punchpizza.com/
Sea Salt https://seasalteatery.wordpress.com/
Walker Art Center http://www.walkerart.org
Minneapolis Institute of Arts http://new.artsmia.org/
5-8 Club http://www.5-8club.com/
Matt’s Bar http://mattsbar.com/
Chatterbox Pub http://www.chatterboxpub.net/
Brasa http://www.brasa.us/
St Anthony Main http://www.stanthonymain.com/
Nicollet Island Inn http://www.nicolletislandinn.com/
Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge http://psychosuzis.com/
Chiang Mai Thai http://www.chiangmaithai.com/
Stella’s Fish Cafe http://www.stellasfishcafe.com/menus.html
Union Rooftop http://unionrooftop.com/
Chino Latino http://www.chinolatino.com/
112 Eatery http://www.112eatery.com/
Lake Street http://visitlakestreet.com/
Loring Pasta Bar http://loringpastabar.com/ (Bob Dylan lived in this building!)

This is a special episode covering the one day I spent in Austin, Texas last summer. The day was entirely planned by a friend who had been to Austin a few times. We started at South Congress Avenue, went to the Texas State Capitol and UT Austin and ended up at the Congress Avenue bridge to see the bats!

South Congress Avenue http://austin.smallplanetguide.com/rentals/?p=soco_austin_neighborhood First Thursday @ SOCO http://www.firstthursday.info/ South Congress Cafe http://www.southcongresscafe.com/ Hopdoddy http://www.hopdoddy.com/ Texas State Capitol (State Preservation Board) http://www.tspb.state.tx.us/ University of Texas at Austin http://www.utexas.edu/ Congress Avenue Bridge (Bat Bridge) http://www.batcon.org/index.php/our-work/regions/usa-canada/protect-mega-populations/cab-intro

This episode features a special guest host, my friend Ananya, who is also relatively new to LA. We try to figure out why food truck culture is so popular in Southern California, get distracted by talking about a lady that killed her cat by forcing it to become vegan and the recent Jon Favreau movie, ‘Chef’, and chat about our favorite food trucks. Food trucks include: Kogi BBQ, Armando’s, The Grilled Cheese Truck, The Boba Truck, Rice Balls of Fire, India Jones Chow Truck, the now defunct Frysmith and our new obsession, the Jogasaki Sushi Burrito truck.

 A note! We talk about The Boba Truck charging 50 cents for boba, but it's actually included in the price of the drink and there is no additional charge!

A second note! I followed up on the vegan cat story and it turns out the cat didn't die! It was very ill, and the vet apparently prescribed meat to save it, and this seems to be a just a story mistakenly forwarded since it happened in mid-2013. Please exercise caution and always consult your vet on what to feed your pets!

Kogi BBQ: @kogibbq
Armando's: https://www.facebook.com/ArmandosTruck
The Grilled Cheese Truck: @grlldcheesetruk
The Boba Truck: @thebobatruck
Rice Balls of Fire: @riceballsoffire
India Jones Chow Truck: @indiajonesct
Frysmith: @frysmith (no longer operating)
Jogasaki Sushi Burrito: @jogasakiburrito

This episode, Capilano Suspension Bridge Park and Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver and Robson St and Canada Place in downtown Vancouver. I also discuss possible winter activities in North Vancouver, the ridiculously expensive ticket prices for tourist activities in Vancouver and why it’s better to just not drive in downtown Vancouver and just take public transit.

 Capilano Suspension Bridge Park (www.capbridge.com)

Grouse Mountain (www.grousemountain.com)

Canada Place (www.canadaplace.ca)

This episode, Canadian fast food. Includes Harvey’s, A&W Canada, Mary Browns Famous Chicken and Taters and of course the iconic, Tim Hortons.  In addition to menu items that I love, I also discuss Harvey’s famous ads (‘Harvey’s makes your hamburger a beautiful thing!’), the differences between A&W USA and Canada, my love of the discontinued and morbidly named ‘A&W Baby Twins Burgers’, and why muffins are somehow one of the most calorific items on the Timmies menu.

Harvey's suggested order: Great Canadian with a side of Frings or Poutine. Harvey's twitter: @HarveysCanada

A&W Canada suggested order: Mama burger with a side of sweet potato fries and root beer. A&W Canada website: http://www.aw.ca/

Mary Brown's suggested order: Big Mary sandwich with taters. Mary Brown's website: http://marybrowns.com/

Tim Hortons suggested order: Combo of turkey bacon club, chicken noodle soup, double double coffee and a Boston cream doughnut. Tim Horton's twitter: @timhortons

Eat Work Wander: The Diary of a Perpetually Hungry, Extremely Frugal and Immensely Enthusiastic Amateur Traveler/Frequent Mover/Current California Dweller.

This episode, LA and California-centric fast food. Includes: Kyochon Fried Chicken, Umami Burger and In N Out Burger. I also discuss the California origins of some popular fast food restaurants, the oddly inexpensive valet option at Kyochon, why Umami Burger is named Umami Burger and try to figure out why there is so much hype surrounding In N Out Burger – before promptly going on a spiel about how much I love their animal style French fries. Pictured, Kyochon Fried Chicken potato wedges.

Kyochon Fried Chicken twitter: @KyochonNY (not sure if the LA location has its own twitter?)
Umami Burger twitter: @UmamiBurger
In-N-Out Burger website: http://www.in-n-out.com/