One of the perks of being a road warrior is sampling new restaurants in whatever city I’m visiting.  I have a steadfast rule  … no chains, ever.  I used to travel with a guy who would insist on eating at godforsaken places like Chili’s or Bennigan’s simply because he was “familiar with the menu”.  After a lengthy, heated conversation where I enlightened him on the importance of patronizing local businesses, he had a change of heart.

If I’m with my crew, we always try to find the weirdest, most-out-of-the-way place.  A true Mom and Pop joint.  We’ll drive to a sketchy part of town just because we heard a rumor about a phenomenal vegetarian restaurant.  We’ll argue about which Indian eatery to try based on their menu offerings.  I’ve become quite the connoisseur of eating out.  My waistline can confirm this.

Last night, I hung out with my best friend Dre and her husband.  Her hubby suggested a swank restaurant in Sacramento called Grange.  It’s attached to an even swankier hotel, The Citizen, which helped inspire a renaissance in the downtown area.  Given that I visit SacTown 4-5 times a year, it was strange I’d never dined there.

It’s always a good sign when the executive chef happens to be milling around out front and offers you suggestions on what to get.  Grange is a flesh-eaters paradise.  I had a rib eye the size of my head last night – complimented with a rich blue cheese béarnaise, spinach and gnocchi.  I thought I had died and gone to carnivore heaven.  So did Dre’s hubby – who scored perfectly executed pork chops.  The menu changes almost weekly which helps ensure diners are always treated to exquisite new recipes.  The waiter suggested an impossibly blissful bottle of Chardonnay to go along with our meal, DuMol Russian River.   (Yes, I know … red meat = red wine … don’t judge me.)

There’s something to be said about the dining out experience.  For a foodie like me, it’s hard to beat a great meal with friends – complete with sparkling conversation.  The perfect finish was the chef’s gourmet Butterscotch pudding.  Somebody tell me again why I’ve never eaten here?  I think I’ve reached Nirvana.

My boss recently suggested I do a story on something called “The Bar Method”.  I immediately said yes because “bar” was in the title.  Naturally, I assumed there was alcohol involved.  I could not have been more wrong.

Imagine my surprise when “The Bar Method” turn out to be a killer workout … featuring – yep, you guessed it – a ballet bar.  Since I teach yoga, I thought this would be similar.  Again, woefully wrong.  The Bar Method is a specialized type of body sculpting … with a lot of the moves, stretches and isometric holds originating off of the ballet bar.

I went in with my head held high and left in traction.  Not only did I need coordination, the moves required fluid grace.  The only fluids I had were caused by insane sweating.  I was drenched by the end of the workout.  I’ve perspired less in hot yoga.

The owner of the local facility was Hoddy Potter.  She’s a powerful 6′2″ Glamazon who could easily pass for Xena: Warrior Princess’ stunt double.  She had a good natured, goofy attitude that I found refreshing … until that class started, that is.

At that point I started using muscles I didn’t even know existed.  There was stretching, pulsing, more stretching and an ungodly amount of bending.  Fifteen minutes in to class and I thought I had polio.  My legs were shaking so badly that I was getting dizzy.  30 minutes in to class, I pretended to have an epileptic fit just to get out of class.  No such luck.

Watch the story here:

The moral of the story is … you should always try new things. Just when you think you’ve done it all, along comes something else new to attempt. (You’ll note the smile on my face was taken BEFORE class. I was too tired to hand my camera to anyone AFTER class to get a picture.) Did I enjoy it? Yes. Did I enjoying getting a margarita at an actual bar afterwards? Even more.

Don’t tell Hoddy, though – I don’t want her on my bad side. Or my good side for that matter. In fact, if you could just keep her away from me until after I get out of this body cast … that would be great!