December autobombo extravaganza!

This month features my written work in three different places: first, in the totally free monthly English-language magazine InMadrid, where I have a piece about getting your hands on organic fruit and veg in Madrid on page 18 (pdf); second, in the not free (and somewhat difficult to find) Inside Spain, where I describe Spanish eating and drinking traditions at Christmas (pdf here); and, third, in December’s Condé Nast Traveler, where I have a very short piece about president-elect Barack Obama’s celebrity supporters (this one is in Spanish).

You can pick up a copy of InMadrid at any guiri-friendly establishment in this fine city; there’s also a list here. Your best bet for finding Inside Spain is to go to one of the places on this list. And Condé Nast Traveler can be found at most kiosks and all VIPS (this last location is recommended because you can pick the mag up and read as much as you want without buying it).

Miyama, or where to get a great Japanese menú del día

If you’ve ever tired of bad menus del día, Spanish food, or ornery waiters, make the next weekday lunch menú you eat at Miyama. While it’s a bit pricier than where I would usually eat lunch, the 18.80 euros are well spent on better-than-normal Japanese food, attentive service, and a pleasant atmosphere. The place tends to fill up, so reservations are recommended. My friend and I were seated on a recent Friday only because we put on our best puppy-dog faces and told the maitre d’ it was a birthday lunch (which was true … just two months late). You can choose between a sushi or sashimi menu, both of which consist of a number of courses. Both my friend and I chose the sushi. Before we received our rolls, we ate a tiny tuna aperitivo with our drinks, followed by a bowl of miso soup, a basket each of vegetable and seafood tempura, and then our 12-piece rolls. To wrap things up, we chose the delicious green tea ice cream.