So we are exactly a week into our road trip across the ‘States, and so far, so amazing.

From San Fran we drove to Yosemite which is just incredible. I visited the valley before with my folks as a young child, but I didn’t remember much of it. Probably too young to appreciate it, but it’s a jaw dropping place. Everywhere you look, there are unbelievable postcard views. It really is the big country. Food wise we had to pretty much fend for ourselves, firing up the barbie or gas stove at our camp and packing lunches, which was all good ‘back to nature’ stuff.

Next into Death Valley. Everyone had told us stuff like ‘…it’s just a long road…” or “…there’s not much there…”, so we were unprepared for how beautiful it is. That’s beautiful in a kind of brutal way. En route we stopped by Schat’s bakery cafe in Bishop and gorged on his famous sandwiches. The turkey club was the bomb. We stayed in the heart of the valley in a little settlement called Stovepipe Wells, which felt a bit like a theme village you might get at an amusement park. It was as hot as Hades, and the food wasn’t up to much, but the setting was incredible and they had a pool. Nuff said.

We then drove to Las Vegas. What a contrast. From the serenity and peace of Yosemite and Death Valley into the belly of the beast. I think we knew what to expect from Vegas, but weren’t really prepared for how we’d react to it. In short, we didn’t really get it. The novelty of the tacky glitz and glamour wore off pretty quickly, and it just began to feel a bit empty. We tried our best on the food front, but failed to find anywhere with much soul. Vegas has some World class ‘dining experiences’ from the likes of Alain Ducasse and Wolfgang Puck, but fine dining ain’t really our thing, and and all the restaurants seemed a bit personality less, which is a shame. However, there was one highlight we uncovered in the Venetian hotel. The Reuben Sandwich at Tower’s Deli. A seriously delicious oasis in a culinary desert. We could have been in Katz’s.

From Vegas we drove to Venice Beach, LA for a night. It felt good to be back in California, and the beach, skaters and sunset made in a pretty cool place to hang out for an evening. Not much to report from a food point of view. We wanted to eat at this place called Gjelina which did look seriously amazing, but my hangover, the long drive from Vegas and over an hours wait for a table wore me down, so we decided to get some take-out and retire to our hotel room.

Our next leg is going to take in New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville. See you soon.

The video write up says it all:

“John Nese is the proprietor of Galcos Soda Pop Stop in LA. His father ran it as a grocery store, and when the time came for John to take charge, he decided to convert it into the ultimate soda-lovers destination. About 500 pops line the shelves, sourced lovingly by John from around the world. John has made it his mission to keep small soda-makers afloat and help them find their consumers. Galcos also acts as a distributor for restaurants and bars along the West Coast, spreading the gospel of soda made with cane sugar (no high-fructose corn syrup if John can avoid it)”.

In an age of faceless corporations and consumerism, its a joy to see a guy who’s so committed to his particular niche, his suppliers, and his customers. I hope the Galcos Soda Pop Stop weathers all the financial storms and fashions that come it’s way, and gets passed down to the next generation of soda obsessives. And apologies for the bad Star Wars pun in the title.