I spent Monday-Thursday in Bismarck attending a behavioral health conference. Husband stayed home, so I was on my own for meals and entertainment.
The business office at my agency arranged for and paid for me to stay at a quite adequate Bismarck hotel, nothing fancy. It had the typical “free” breakfast that was pretty awful, so I grabbed coffee and a pastry at a coffee shop on the way to the conference site. The conference provided quite fatty and sugary snacks at breaks. I walked to a noodle shop near the conference for lunch, and ate grocery store salads, hummus, naan bites, cheese, and fruit in the evenings in my room. Entertainment was just watching Forensic Files until I was ready to fall asleep.
I don’t like to eat in restaurants by myself, and I know that I am pretty spoiled regarding the food I eat at home. I know that in other parts of the country the options for food on the fly are better than in Bismarck. I was so glad to get home on Thursday afternoon and start planning the menu for the weekend. We are having white beans with clams and Spanish chorizo.
I was also in Bismarck during the the recent super moon and eclipse. A friend of ours who lives on the Fort Berthold Reservation was at a sports event in Mandan and took the following photo.
I couldn’t see the moon from my hotel room in Bismarck. I am not much of a star gazer, but I sure wish I could have got a glimpse of this in real life.
What foods do you opt for in food deserts or places like Bismarck? What would you like to view with a telescope? What is the best travel food you ever had?
Trail Baboon 
When I was still working/traveling, most of my meals were with either clients or suppliers. Breakfasts and lunches in restaurants on my own – no problem. Dinners were either something I picked up or room service.
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Two great meals that rival each other. #1 at a vineyard outside of Rome. Buffet table groaning under the weight of all kinds of vegetable dishes, breads, cheeses. And the best tiramisu I’ve ever had. (I keep trying tiramisu but after 20 years, I still haven’t had better.)
#2 was also at a vineyard on Mount Etna in Sicily. Food was served family style – again, cheeses, breads, veggies, pasta, OLIVES! And it just kept coming. Then the chef came out and made cannoli fresh at the table. Wow. Except for cannoli that I made fresh at home (I bought the little cannoli tubes right after this trip), I will probably never eat cannoli out again. Unless I return to the vineyard in Sicily!
These two meals were about 15 years apart – not the same trip! But interesting that they both stand out and were both at vineyard restaurants.
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When I lived in Brooklyn, we went to a tiny restaurant in The Village – well known but low key… Had for the first time a Northern Italian pasta (I was told) – first time I had something Italian without red sauce. I imagine it was an alfredo type sauce, but OMG, I’ll never forget it.
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I believe it was called Mary’s Restaurant…
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I go for the local joints when traveling, and don’t mind eating “poorly” for the time I’m on the road. I make up for it when I return. These days, I’d probably opt for ethnic restaurants–Latin American, Asian, French, Italian, etc., because they will often feature fresher foods, more veggies, handmade dishes, etc.
Best travel food I ever had was a 2-star Michelin restaurant lunch in Burgundy back in the mid-80s. Right behind that were the olives fresh from a grower along the Canal du Midi who grew olives as well as grapes. They were the biggest, juiciest, meatiest green olives I’d ever tried. That happened about 30 years ago. You know the food was incredible if you remember it decades later.
Telescope viewing? I suppose all the planets, maybe some comets or asteroids. Not a big stargazer.
Chris in Owatonna
***BSP*** I and about 25 other authors will be at the Steeple Center in Rosemount tomorrow (Saturday) from 10-4 for the annual Rosemount Country Faire. In addition to lots of books to browse and buy, there will be artists, artisans, crafters, food trucks, and music, so it’s a lovely fall social gathering as well. And you can’t use the weather as an excuse NOT to come, either! 🙂 ***END BSP***
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One of the conference presenters commented that he had a hard time finding a place to eat in downtown Bismarck after he arrived, as all the places seemed to be bars. He finally found an Indian restaurant, which he said had some of the best Indian food he had ever had. Imagine going to North Dakota for Indian food!
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a bag of chips and a bag of grapes lemon water and earl gray with keep me going forever celery and peanut butter are a protein filler
i can look through a relescopw forever. moon stars if it had the strength all the little stuff you cant see
even people watching from the heights in hotels
san fransisco gnocci with pesto in north beach upstairs little joint was eye and tastebud opening
idaho gas station mexican food prepared as i instructed what to assemble (they had never done vegetarian before) for tiramisu a spot in milan was the best ever. china was always an adventure but the best was at the kooch street fish houe where 8 chefs eack made a special veggie side dish and that was my dinner they each tried to out do the other
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I’ll go with a restaurant overlooking Florence, Italy. Not so much the food but location, location, location.
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Lemon ricotta pancakes at a little place the Village in NYC – light, fluffy, and oh so good. Twenty years ago – a memorable visit with a dear friend. And she did not steer is wrong on the pancakes. Second would probably be an amazing, fresh-that-day-from-the-fjord halibut served with asparagus and a light cream sauce I had on a trip to Norway – restaurant was right on the Oslo fjord with a view of the nightlife (including, memorably, a “hen’s party” out with the bride-to-be on roller skates).
Daughter and I make an annual trip to the Brainerd Lakes area each summer – I know during those days that a lot of the food will be fatty, fried, and if I get a salad it will likely have an above average amount of iceberg lettuce. Breakfasts usually have some fresh fruit, but veggies can be scarce. It’s only for a few days – and the company (and the call of the loons) more than makes up for the lack of food options.
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Rise and Shine, Baboons,
Best food: A little subterranean restaurant in Rome in 2009 that was new to the scene. They had a jazz track on the stereo that we discussed with the owner for some time. Fabulous food and fish dishes. Also in Rome, the Hosteria. We had a memorable meal there after being caught in a lightening storm outside of it. They took mercy on us and let us in off the street to wait for them to open that day. Unforgettable pasta dishes.
Italy shows up a lot in these answers. There are reasons for that. What a cuisine! Stanley Tucci’s books and TV shows about Italian food are wonderful. How does he stay so skinny?
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And then there was San Francisco! The Char Siu Bao in Chinatown – little pork filled buns, kind of a sweet dough, also unforgettable. And the burgers at the Bratskeller, Ghiradelli Square… (this was early 70s) And the Enchiladas Suizas at Tia Margarita out on Clement Ave…
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I think that moon looks just like the pink doughnut in the header.
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Without sprinkles!
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Soft shell crab at Tara Thai in Wash DC and Panzanella salad at Fuel in Snowmass CO in the summer
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I just made Panzanella today. Any recipe that calls for cherry tomatoes is getting made at our house these days!!
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Well, tonight we are having Spanish white beans with little neck clams, Spanish chorizo, and sauted garden chard. Can’t find that in Bismarck.
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You might not find that in Mpls.
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I see I never really answered any of the questions – if I’m in a food desert, I’d probably find a local bar-n-grill and ask the waitstaff what’s good.
I don’t really enjoy looking through telescopes, binoculars, anything with eyepieces – can never seem to get them in focus for both eyes, which at this point have very different vision. I’m sure I could learn how to make it more enjoyable if I did it often enough.
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A very memorable experience was getting some sourdough bread at Fisherman’s Wharf when I was a kid. I was hungry and the bread was so good. The air had a fishy smell to it that enhanced the flavor of the bread somehow.
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I’m not sure what qualifies as “travel food.” If I’m on vacation somewhere, does what I eat there qualify? I think of travel food as something you eat when you’re on a road trip, and stop in some obscure out of the way place. Some of my more memorable meals are memorable because of circumstances and not the quality of the food.
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Yes.
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