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Eat & Drink: Blue Eyes & Deano Burgers.

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Here's a weekend grilling recipe for you, signed, sealed and delivered according to how Dean Martin and Blue Eyes himself enjoyed their patties.

While the original recipe here doesn't call for a grilling these burgers over a hot flame, and I don't want to insult "The King of Cool" here, but cooking a burger on a kitchen frying pan? What are we, savages? 

Martin Burgers

Ingredients

  • 1lb. ground beef
  • 2 oz. bourbon — chilled

Instructions

Preheat a heavy frying pan and sprinkle bottom lightly with table salt. Mix meat, handle lightly, just enough to form into four patties. Grill over medium-high heat about 4 minutes on each side.

Pour chilled bourbon in chilled shot glass and serve meat and bourbon on a TV tray.

Sinatra Burgers

  1. Call for Deano.
  2. Tell him to make you a fuckin' burger.
  3. Drink his bourbon.

And there you have it. The original recipes are below and so is a 43 minute performance by Dean Martin that you can listen to while chugging burgers and cooking bourbon this weekend.

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On the Road With Lifetime Collective: Holbox, Mexico Part Two

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While swimming on a trip off the Caribbean coast, I asked myself, “Do I mention the two, large, shiny grey sharks directly below me in case chaos ensues… or keep it to myself so I don’t ruin the moment for the mothers and children swimming around us? Nah, don’t say anything. We’re fine.”

But that's another story, click here for the rest of that Holbox story on Medium.

Below is a quick recap of some of the other highlights and the rest of some of the images that didn't make it into the Medium post. 

Where We Stayed, What We Ate, Things We Did

Hotel Puerto Holbox — There are plenty of boutique hotels on the island that sit with beachfront access. We found staying to the west of town was quieter since the central area and east of it has more main streets, which means more pedestrian and diesel golf cart action. It seems slightly more peaceful on this side of town. Plus, Freddy's your boy when you stay here. He'll take care of anything — including chopping up some fresh coconuts for your rum.

Check them out on Trip Advisor here or their own site here. 

Los Peleones — This second storey spot is currently #1 on Trip Advisor for restaurants in Holbox, with a certificate of excellence for 2013. While it's not the cheapest place to find food on the island, it's by no means expensive for the service and food you get. Our plates were somewhere between $120-150pesos each. Beers are $30 while mix drinks are the standard $60-80pesos. We had some quality, homemade pasta and as attentive service as you'd ever want.

Follow them on Twitter or Facebook (personal page, not a brand page).

Cariocas Pizza — This was the first dinner we had on Isla Holbox. The place was packed, but they seemed to manage the rush well, even after a misstep with our order. The owner is from Napoli and must've brought over his mama's Italian recipes, because what they were serving on those pies was a damned fine marinara sauce. If you like pizza, which you do, go here.

Raices — We ate here two lunches in a row. It's a small palapa bar on a quiet part of the beach just out of town. Their fish ceviche could just be the best ceviche I've ever had. I'm not going to pretend I'm some kind of culinary expert or anything, but I eat a lot of ceviche. A lot. You get huge chunks of freshly caught fish, a great mix of lime, onions and peppers. Ask for the fresh chopped habanero for an added bonus.

I'd go back to the island just to eat here, but don't expect anything fancy, just good ceviche, a run-down palapa, cold beer and a view of the ocean.

The view at Raices Restaurant and Bar. Holbox, Mexico.

Golf Cart Rentals —  We rented ours from a spot next to Hotel Casa Barbara. The owners were mellow, just hanging outside with their friends on some plastic chairs. We didn't have ID and only half of what we needed to rent up front. When we suggested we'd go to a bank machine first to get the balance, they waved us off and just said, "See you in four hours. It's okay."

So basically, without ID, any proof of having funds or even so much as taking our names, we got to roll out for about $8 an hour. Not like you can really take off anywhere with their cart on this mini island. Good people, there are dozens of places to get carts, but go on and rent from them.

Vroom, Vroom. Golf Cart rentals on Holbox, heading out to Punta Mosquito.

 Pedro Rodriguez — This guy was the only person who ripped us off over the whole trip. At first he explained it was because we were late at night taking a taxi "after 11pm" that caused this higher-than-normal tariff. Taxis are about $30 pesos anywhere on the island unless you roll with our boy Pedro. Expect to pay more.

The next day he was the taxi that showed up at our hotel to take us to town and didn't even recognize us. This made for a good laugh when he again overcharged us, making up a different excuse that this side of the island is more expensive. Watch out for the sharply dressed, older cabbie with a moustache and gentleman's fedora. He's anything but. Pedro Rodriguez, we will meet again in this life or the next!

Punta Mosquito —  This is about as far east on the island you can go without getting wet first. There's a river that connects to another part of the island that's easy to cross by a short swim. Head out here on bike or with your golf cart. Bring a blanket and some cold drinks, it's a beauty for sunset — but bring some repellent too, once the witching hour hits you're going to be dealing with insects. 

 Tortas, Tacos and Late Night Gambling — I don't know how frequently the evening fair happens around Holbox, but it was on every night we were there. We grabbed street food to walk around with that was pesos on the dollar and delicious.

 


There was an arcade set up, foosball tournament and your other typical fair games: Test your pitching aim, shoot at targets with a wildly inaccurate bb gun, attempt to pop under-inflated balloons with dull darts. You know the scam, but you pay to play anyhow, because maybe tonight is your night for that big pink bunny. It's not.

However, there's one glimmer of hope within the usual cash grabs. A modified version of La Loteria (Mexican bingo) that involves the dealer rolling a set of oversized dice with Loteria symbols on each side. You place your bets on Loteria cards laid on the table, much like roulette. Shake, and read. If your symbol is called, it pays 6:1.

We took our first roll and we won big. $60 pesos big. Katy and I rode that high until the devil played us out. It was a hell of a ride, and there are two valuable lessons I learned that night: Never bet on the devil and always bring more change.

 

Take a look below at some more pictures and hit us up through the contact page if you have any questions or are thinking of heading to Holbox. If I remember some more items, or feel so inclined, I may update this page as a little Holbox resource.

More Photos of Holbox

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Cuteness vs. Tastiness: An Infographic

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It doesn't matter how it came up in conversation, but it did. Why is it that we set standards of cute and cookable for different animals? Shouldn't it just be one way or the other? "Stay away" or, "Sure... farm it, hunt it, whatever, I'll eat it." Anyhow, my friend Gloria whipped this thing up yesterday after talking about it for your enjoyment (or disgust, discuss!).

I don't really want to get into a debate, whatever floats your boat. Try and be sustainable if you can. I eat meat, it's delicious.

Now then... See above infographic, Cuteness vs. Tastiness Cheatsheet; or: That's cute, should I eat it?

Thanks to Gloria for humouring me with this custom infographic about delicious/taboo food.​

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A Trip to Mexico City: Plane, Bus, Taxi and Foot

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Mexico City is big. 8,857,188 big if you're only counting the centre (Distrito Federal). If you look out to Greater Mexico City, we're talking about 21,163,188 people. 

 As you fly in, the view is of buildings and neighbourhoods stretching as far as you can see until they become silhouettes in the distance and meet a landscape of larger silhouettes. Mountains and volcanoes surround the valley which rests in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The peaks reach up to 16,400ft in elevation while Mexico City itself sits at 7,350ft.

Let's wrap that up: 21 million people, 7,350ft above sea level compacted into a valley surrounded by volcanoes.

Note: Walking and talking with a cheeseburger in your mouth causes panting. Because of the altitude!

We stayed just over a week. It was a damned fine time and I've written a bit about arriving, walking, drinking, dancing. We were married in some fake ceremony in a dive while standing on broken peanut shells by the bartender with a giant sombrero and fake moustache. We met some new friends, checked out history, shopped at markets and did some more drinking to close it off. I'll wait for the lady to also summarize some of the pieces of the trip so if you're interested in heading to Mexico City, you'll have a head start on pricing, neighbourhoods, museums and markets.

For now, take a look at some of the photos we took. All images should be clickable to enlarge.

In both the left and right above, this woman was in the Zócalo (pictured below) selling hats and traditional garbs, but mostly sleeping. When taking the few pictures we have of some unique, senior nationals who looked a bit down and out, we gave them some pesos first and asked if it would be okay to take their picture before wishing them well.

These shots are all in or near the Zócalo. That brass dome you see is the Palacio de Bellas Artes It was hard to find a horizon for that shot. That thing is sinking.

"Why is Mexico City Sinking? One bad decision after another." — Ian Sample, The Guardian

Picture of pictures. They were mostly divided into sections. Movie stars, musicians, political rebels, pioneers and builders.

There are more pictures for another post. Maybe one about prices, specific places to see and where to eat. I highly recommend Mexico City for a visit. Hell of a time.

 
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Instagrams & Wedding Plans

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This week we picked the spot where our I Dos and How Do You Dos will happen when our friends come visit the beach, staring at us while we kiss in public.

Tulum is a pretty special place and happens to be sitting in a good period of its history right now. The main hotel and dining strip are right on the beach. The area is developed just enough to enjoy some fine restaurants with quality cocktails, but not enough to bother you with the tourist traps of the north (Cough, Cancun, Fuck). If you want to have high quality food and great company at night while still enjoying quiet beaches during the afternoons, Tulum will be your Huckleberry. 

While we're not having our wedding at Hartwood, through a few back-to-back trips recently we've been stopping off there for drinks or food. Both are damned good and mandatory to be sampled if you hit the region. I soberly, drunkenly, wholeheartedly think their signature drink, "The Hartwood" might be the finest cocktail I've ever had. Sure, I'm only a cocktail expert in the way that I've spent too much time with them on the seated side of the bar, but so what? "The Hartwood" is that kind of drink you don't need a break from while running a marathon. You can stick with it from beginning to end.

It's a perfect mix between ginger steeped simple syrup, Jameson, soda, lime and fresh ginger slices. Dammit.

The owners, Eric Werner and his wife​ Mya Henry relocated from New York a few years back and went to work creating a restaurant where every detail seems so casually appropriate, yet painstakingly planned. I'm probably over thinking it, but they definitely had a vision and it worked out pretty damned well. They have been featured in The New York Times, Bon Appetit and a bunch of other lowlife blogs like this one.

Photos by The Selby​

Photos by The Selby​

​Now that we've got our location, wedding spot, hotel and a few other major details worked out... it's time to start sampling the food and booze around Tulum.