What are my qualifications, you might ask.

As you are reading my blog, you might ask yourself what are the qualifications I have to say the things I say

 I thought I would take a minute before I do anymore reviews to explain my background. 

      

1. For the first 30 years of my life my father was in the restaurant business, so it is what I grow up with.  While in high school my dad would have me and my boyfriend do "shoppers" on the chain restaurant that he worked for. We had to score our visit for service, food and cleanliness.  We even had to take the temperature and weight the food.  I did this for several years for him and this for sure gave me the base of how I looked at restaurants the rest of my life.  I am picky to a fault, so bad at times that my family doesn't like to be with me.  I have matured over the years in how I address issues.  Constructive suggestions are a much better way of voicing something not to my liking.
2.  I have worked as an ice cream scooper (my first job), dishwasher, cocktail waitress, bartender, waitress, assistant manager and manager.  At one point I worked for my dad at the fast food place he owned.  All of this was a couple decades ago, but I have walked the walk shall we say.
3. I have been taking cooking classes for years.  I have studied Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Italian, Greek, Spanish cuisines as just an example.  I have taken knife skills classes as well as other basic classes.  In summer 2014 my best friend and I spent a week just outside of Venice Italy taking cooking classes and wine tours of Veneto.  Plus I have hosted chefs in my home and friends homes for demo classes for small groups. 
4. As for wines, beers and alcohols I have been to more wineries then I can remember or count.  I have seen wine, beer or alcohol making of different fashions and theories in England, Scotland, Italy, France, Belgium, California, Oregon & Washington. I am also currently studying for my sommeliers certificate, but see my blog later this week for those details.
5. I have eaten at Michelin starred restaurants in Hong Kong, Menton, Nice, Eze & Paris France, Florence, Italy, Chicago, and New York.  I have also eaten at Michelin reviewed restaurants in Glasgow Scotland, London England, San Francisco and Venice, Sestri Levante, San Gimignano, Florence all in Italy.  So I know really good food and service.
6.  I am a cookbook and Food Network and Cooking Channel junkie.  My very first adult  cookbook was "The Complete Galloping Gourmet Cookbook" by Graham Kerr. It was for my 10th birthday.  I still have it too and it is in perfect condition.
7.  I love to travel and have been to a few places, according to my TripAdvisor map 675 cities in 15 countries, not around the world yet, but that is on the bucket list.
8. When I travel I do extensive research on the location where I am going.  I can read about 27 languages at least enough to get around and can speak several as well.  I study the history, culture and architecture as well as normal sightseeing locations, hotels, restaurants, tour groups, B&Bs and private apartments. I also research all the modes of transportation that are available in the location. I have huge spreadsheets with all of the research information on them and use those to plan my trips.
9. I love to eat out, and really love happy hours with really great mixoligist and go as often as I can.  This gives me the opportunity to do reviews.
10. I have been doing reviews on TripAdvisor for February 2012 and have been a member since April 2010.

I am sure I left out some other things that give me a background for running this blog, but I think you get the idea. 

Hope that explains anything that you might want to know or are questioning. 

Ciao