Chicken Feet, Grilled Bread and Beer...Perfect

It is 8:15 Monday morning, and I am having a a coffee in the hotel lobby. Last night Zoom had arranged for me to photograph the Restaurant Chim Sáo, so after a short nap, needed from the rice wine incident, we headed there about 5:30. This is a restaurant on a side street and very well decorated with older furnishings and art. On the first floor you have traditional tables and upstairs you eat on the floor, Japanese style. Aunt Hoan was not there last night, fortunately for my liver, but I did miss her. That smile and laugh is contagious. I had a great time shooting in the kitchen. A miniscule kitchen had 5 very busy cooks and a chef. No room to move, greasy floor, sharp cleavers and hot oil was not the perfect combination of graceful photography but I did have a blast. I'm not sure the vent worked very well and I am sure there is no health department inspection. Chest freezers left open all night for easier access and colanders of "washed" produce sitting on the filthy floor, but I got the sense that is just how it works in Vietnam. I got the sense of what I don't know won't hurt me. I shot the exterior, the packed dining rooms, details and the food. Then, we got to eat. The steamed rice cakes with peanuts we dipped in a thin spicy peanut sauce and I found it a bit to sweet overall. Not my favorite. Next, we had these deep fried miniature crabs, a little bigger than a quarter. Now these were pretty tasty but you had to be careful the first bite or two so the claws didn't stab your gums or tongue. They nice a nice crunch and were salty and spicy and came without any dipping sauce. Next was a dish of fried small freshwater fish. I can't remember the name but they are considered a delicacy here. These got dipped into a little fish sauce and chilis. Pretty mild, nice texture but not really a whole lot of flavor.

Then came another bottle of rice wine. Oh no! Well these we got to pour ourselves and did a couple shots with the manager and we were done. Partly because of the smell in the kitchen and partly because the food was just okay, Zoom and I tasted everything but finished nothing and were still very hungery when we left. The answer? Chicken feet!

Zoom knew just the spot across Hanoi. A short motorbike ride later we were down some backstreet sitting on short stools at a short table on the side of the street with 250 other folks craving the same thing. Grilled chicken feet, grilled chicken legs and beer with ice and I was in heaven. Incredible. The location, the ambiance, the smoking grill, the chatter of Vietnamese, the finger licking good chicken, beer with ice and amazing grilled bread with a light honey glaze. Not to sweet and just the right amount of char from the grill... Awesome!

Fried Quail, I Mean Fried Pigeon

Restaurant Chim Sáo

THE Place For Chicken Feet, And They Were Good!

Quick Lunchtime Post

Okay, so it's noon here and I'm a little buzzed. I met my guide Zoom for breakfast and we headed for a bowl of bun oc or bowl of snails with noodles. By far, the best thing I have eaten in Hanoi. From there we went to talk to a restaurant that I want to photograph, and with Zoom's help we were in like Flynn. The restaurant called Chim Sao is a traditional Franco Vietnamese place owned by a Frenchmen and his Vietnamese wife and the wife's aunt is the woman running the show when we get there. Zoom explains what we are looking to do and she happily agrees. Without hesitation she gives us some tea and cucumbers with some dipping salt. Then after a quick tour of the kitchen and dining rooms we are standing at the service station when I ask about a lot of very phallic bottles on the shelf. Aunt Xian (sp?) smiles and next thing I know Zoom and I each have shot of homemade apple rice wine. Next thing I know, I have another shot poured. Not wanting to insult her, down the hatch it goes. Four more times and she and Zoom are laughing. Then Xian gets a bottle of unflavored rice wine. Three shots of that jet fuel and then, when I think I'm done, she pulls out the Mum flower flavored rice wine. Not sure how to describe that one and hope I never have too again. One final shot of the Mum and we are finally done. All of that in twenty minutes while Xian and Zoom are laughing the whole time. I need a Vietnamese ice coffee...

The Woman Who Gave Me Ten Shots Of Homemade Rice Wine Before Lunch, For Real!

My Guide Zoom

Bowl Of Noodles With Snails, Fishcakes, Tofu And Pork For Breakfast

I'll Take Two

Early Morning Street To Yourself

New York, New York by Frank... Really

Red Bridge, Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi, 6:45AM

And Then This Spaceship Landed...

Starting The Day With A Good Conversation

Just Another Walk In The Park

I took another walk around the lake this morning. Sun cutting low through the trees, not a cloud in the sky. Another wonderful walk through some great light. Sunday appears to be no different than Saturday when it comes to getting out early and making the most of the day. I have to say, getting up early is no problem here. I am sitting in the very small hotel lobby having an iced Vietnamese coffee and listening to a table of people speaking French. I like it here!

Last night brought an amazing adventure of riding through Hanoi on the back of Zoom's motorbike. Traffic is crazy here anyway, but on a Saturday night, well... That's an E ticket ride, better than any trip down Fifth Ave. in a cab! On the flight here, I was reading Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw and there is a section where he talks about riding around Hanoi and that he just became comfortable not holding onto the driver or sissy bar. That was all I could think about. The ride to dinner was nerve racking but on the ride to the expat party, across town, I was beginning to feel like an expert, taking video along the way. Jim Clemenson, if you are reading this post, I was thinking of you. FYI... Posting video is ways more involved than photos. Good luck to me.

Dinner was at a local fresh beer hall with Zoom, Dave and a couple other of their friends. A big container of beer sat on the table and kept six us in beer for over an hour for $5 US. I just can't get over the cost of everything here. Dave's girlfriend Quin, ordered for the table. We had sauteed pumpkin leaves (my favorite for the night), another green leave something sauteed, some grilled ribs, sweet and sour soup and ham. All was okay but certainly not my favorite meal of the trip. The whole bill... 64,000 VND per person, or less than $3.20. Sorry to dwell on the price of everything but I just can't get over it.

Then on to an expat halloween party at a bar over near West Lake. Great motorbike ride through the main streets of Hanoi. The whole month of October is a celebration of Hanoi's 1000 year anniversary, so there are spectacular lights everywhere. The expat party turned out to be in a very smoky basement with loud music and a whole lot of Americans, Aussies and Europeans so I bailed and headed back to catch up on email and crash.

Gotta run, shower, meet Zoom and then off to get some snails for breakfast...

First Day In Hanoi

Oh my! If it is possible to fall in love with a destination, then I may have done it! I certainly want a second date tomorrow. It is Saturday here and 12 hours later than those of you in St. Louis. I got in okay last night but even with my lack of sleep while traveling, I was wired and didn't fall asleep until after 2am. I still was up by 6 am, without an alarm and had completed an entire walk around Hoan Kiem Lake in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. Sunrise was spectacular and the narrow park surrounding the lake was already filled with walkers, runners, exercisers, lovers and badminton players. This town gets an early jump on the weekend. I got some images I really like but didn't discover I was only capturing RAW images, so I have no jpegs to post. Sorry but you will have to wait on those till I return. The good news is I have found a way to post images, albeit one at a time.

I was back in time to meet my guide Zoom, and off we went. Started with some steet food of broth, noodles and lightly fried eel. A very typical breakfast and satisfyingly good. Low plastic stool and no table, I didn't feel like a tourist at all, and at $2.50 USD for both of us, I didn't pay like one either. As we walked through more of Hanoi, we stopped for an iced Vietnamese coffee (3000 dong, about 15 cents for both), sat on the sidewalk and chatted about a plan for the rest of the day. Well I wanted to just wander the streets and see what they brought. Well, they brought it. Such a visual city. I don't want to say everyone can get great images here, but as my new friend and expat Dave said, "It is a target rich environment".

Dave is from Houston, living here for two years now and a friend of Zoom's and we joined him for another coffee and then we all went to another joint for some bun cha, a pork (2 ways), broth, papaya, fresh garlic, spicy chilis, lime juice and fresh herbs. Another winner and only $5 for all 3 of us. Then wandered back to the hotel, shooting all the way. Till the next post...

Late Afternoon On A Side Street

Back Alley Lunch Ready To Serve

76 Year Young Woman Preparing Pumpkin Leaves

Just Plates

Eel and Noodles for Breakfast

Lacking the ability to post images

How about that? A photo blog and I can't post images. I didn't find out until Hanoi that the blog host and iPad's Safari browser aren't really compatible. I am continuing to work on it but I am on way to shoot now. My apologies but more soon.

Finally In Hanoi

Almost 29 hours from drop off at STL to being checked into my hotel in Hanoi. The tailbone is still sore and I should go to sleep, but I am wired. It is just after 2 in the morning here and I only napped for a few hours during the journey so it is the perfect time to go to sleep, get a full nights and fight the jet lag. I can hit the ground running in the morning.

All of the info about driving, motorbikes and lack of obeying traffic signals was very evident on my ride from the airport. My driver hardly stayed in his lane and used the horn with vigor. Along the way, I saw lots of stuff to photograph. Lots of street food vendors out on the sidewalks and a great flower market. 

Sitting next to two Vietnamese gentleman on the plane from Seoul that wanted to help me was great, but what I mostly realized is that I am so glad I have a translator/guide for the entire trip, having bought, tried and failed the Rosetta Stone Vietnamese DVD.

I think I have figured a way to post images to this blog. I found out in Seoul that safari on iPad is not supportive of the posting of images, to this blog anyway. But here we go. This first image is just a travel snapshot anyway. It has my chariot in the background and notice the pared down camera bag and 40 liter backpack has everything for 3 1/2 weeks. Traveling light! Time to crash... More tomorrow. 

Long Flight And Still Not There

Let's just say that 16 hours is a long time to sit on a plane, no matter how nice that plane is. I must say that Korean Air has it down, real service, real food and video on demand. I could actually watch the progress of the flight. Anyhow, this is a short update while I wait for the final 4 1/2 hour leg from Seoul to Hanoi. More soon.

Welcome to Goldman Photo Blog

Welcome everyone to my blog. I will try and keep anything interesting about the studio and my photo exploits up to date, but I really wanted to get this up before my trip to Vietnam and then to Barcelona. Two spots on the globe I have never been. This is a self assigned photo journey. It has been too long since I have shot for myself. Well, now I am again and I can't wait. My intended focus will be to photograph anything I can that is food related. Street vendors, farmers, fishermen, family dinners, noodle makers, what ever comes my way. I fly into Hanoi and out of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) two and a half weeks later and then a full week in Barcelona. I am not exactly sure what my path is in Vietnam. I have a general idea where I want to go and I will keep my fingers crossed that I can do it all. Barcelona will be the same idea without traveling around Spain.


I have gotten my shots, six of them! Those of you that know me well, know how bad I want to go to get stuck with a needle that many times on purpose. I have my malaria pills, my Cipro, Imodium and a strong, adventurous stomach. I have my backpack, minimal clothes, one pair of shoes and a carefully chosen pared down camera bag. No laptop, just an iPad, an iPod and an iPhone. I consider myself a seasoned traveler even though I have never been to Asia. I simply can not wait! As for Barcelona, I have never been to Spain and the worst story I have heard is they can't wait to go back.

I will do my best to keep everyone updated on my true around the world photo journey.