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When you're in a different city every day meeting really cool people, one of the first things they usually do is point you to the most awesome local eateries.

No matter how much you think "you're going to be really good today," you find yourself in situations like "well, I'll never have BBQ like this ever again, so I might as well..." And you do.

Eventually, you begin to crave sugar, fat and meat constantly. We've pretty much accepted that we have a need to eat every two hours now, while on tour. We're naming our meals, too:

Pre-breakfast (at the hotel)
Breakfast (Could be Starbucks, could be waffles)
Snack (highly caffeinated, and something sugary)
Lunch
Linner (the new meal between lunch and dinner)
Snack (highly caffeinated, and something sugary)
Dinner (must include BBQ or many fried things)
Post dinner (a second dinner that some people call dessert)
Snack (this one's optional)

Oh yeah - and most of these meals are complimented with the best local brews. Needless to say, by the time we get to New Orleans, we'll all be wearing sweatpants.

Labels: lifeontheroad, yummy food

posted by darryl ohrt at 7:29 AM 5 Comments

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When we learned of the Bleeding Heart Bakery in Chicago, we knew that we had to visit.

Friends know of the Bleeding Heart as a punk rock bakery.

Call it marketing, call it good business or call it punk rock, but Bleeding Heart has differentiated themselves from nearly every other bakery in the nation. They're organic. Their concoctions are original and have personality. They ship cupcakes. (We've been to a lot of bakeries - and trust us - this is a feat.)

They've extended their brand to ancillary products too - kick ass t-shirts, punk rock tote bags and other things that people who are passionate about sugary goodness will likely enjoy.

They bleed personality. Add all of this up and you get a successful business that's not afraid to be who they are, and speak to a niche audience. Loudly.

We enjoyed meeting the Garcias and enjoyed the Smore's brownies and cupcakes even more.

Labels: branding, chicago, cupcakes, yummy food

posted by darryl ohrt at 9:00 AM 0 Comments

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Our friend Rob turned us onto Pink's. Like no other hot dog joint on earth. Surrounded by production people, production assistants and Hollywood deal makers, we cued up to a line that was well worth the wait.

Especially if you like hot dogs with guacamole, chili, special sauce and other delicious goodies that you've never imagined on a hot dog before.

The best part was that while we waiting in line almost 45 minutes to order our dogs, it only took us about 4 minutes to scarf them down. The long drive to San Diego should be interesting...

Labels: hollywood, yummy food

posted by darryl ohrt at 8:50 PM 0 Comments

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While in Portland today, we got to meet the crew at Ascentium. They're one of AdAge's Top 50 interactive firms. And some really cool people. And we're not just saying that because they greeted us with a ginormous box of cupcakes. (Plaid runs on cupcakes and donuts.)

After a tour of their offices, we got to chat with Mason and learn more about some of the cool stuff that they're doing. They're a unique firm that's a mix of great creative people, backed by a massive crew of back-end geniuses that could write code that would launch missiles, if they wanted to.

They also have one of the most impressive internship programs that we've ever seen. Their interns get stints at several firms, work with a real creative team and real clients. We met intern Christine Vo, who was video taping the Plaid visit. That's a hell of a lot better than the envelope stuffing crapwork that interns get at a lot of bigger agencies. If you're a student out west, you should be looking them up.

Mason not only played awesome host at Ascentium, but gave us the best rundown of what to do in town too. He helped us discover the Rogue Brew Pub. Mmmm. Beer and cupcakes all within 24 hours. Good times.

Thanks Mason, and the entire crew at Ascentium!

Labels: agencies, portland, yummy food

posted by darryl ohrt at 7:20 PM 1 Comments

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If you mashed up punk rock with a doughnut, it would look a lot like Voodoo Doughnuts.

This is the hottest, coolest doughnut shop in the entire world. Definitely check out their website, and our photos on the tour's Flickr page.

While at Voodoo, we met two awesome people:

Bill Baker, from Baker Communications Group stopped by for some sugary goodness. What's especially funny is that Bill's shop is about a 20 minute drive from our agency in CT. We never have time to get together while at home - but we did get to share a doughnut in Portland.

Aaron Draplin from Field Notes also stopped by. (And thanks Mitch, at Fitch for turning Aaron onto the Plaid tour). Aaron has invented something that you need in your back pocket right now. Field Notes are these sweet little notebooks that fit handsomely into your back pocket or purse. Perfect for jotting down that quick idea. Or taking notes about whatever you're doing right at this moment.

What cell phone cams are to digital photography - Field Notes are to note taking. We've got a bunch for the van, and we're all already hooked on them.

Today's experience at VooDoo was exactly what this tour is all about. Meeting interesting people. Sharing creative inspiration. And making connections with people across the country and next door. Hoooray for Voodoo!

Labels: portland, yummy food

posted by darryl ohrt at 4:11 PM 0 Comments

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The crew at Jones Soda totally rocked Plaid today.

While we were waiting for a tour of their headquarters, Chris at the front desk gave us the scoop on the cool neighborhoods in Seattle, and shared some pretty funny stories about some lunatic woman who calls him daily.

Zack gave us a full on tour of their facility, and we met some of the faces behind the brand. Even better, we got to peek inside the secret refrigerators, where they keep the test flavors and soda experiments. We can't say anything or they'll send the Jones police after us.

A really relaxed vibe, where you can tell that people are proud of where they work, and believe in their brand. Always inspiring. Especially exciting to hear that pretty much anyone in the company can suggest new flavors.

Swag was traded, and then we loaded the van with Jones Creme and Apple soda. Woohoo Jones!

Labels: seattle, yummy food

posted by darryl ohrt at 10:07 PM 0 Comments

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A few thousand miles is never too far to travel for a good cupcake. So today we visited Cupcakes Online.

Cupcakes online in Vancouver is one of those really sweet places. Sweet because the entire facade is pink and frilly. With pink furniture on the sidewalk. And the inside is filled with more pink magic and super sugary goodness. It's the type of place that makes a guy who'd rather be at a Yankees game (not naming anyone) a little uncomfortable.

But Plaid has a sweet tooth. And the Plaid van must stop at every awesomely delicious donut or cupcake joint along our journey. (And we promised the cupcake queenie, our coworker Sara that we'd at least get some yummy photos for her.)

While enjoying the most scrumptious cupcakes on earth, sitting on pink frilly furniture, we happened on a suburban mom and her little girl.

Mom: (pointing to Renato, with a shaved head and kick ass goatee) "See?? Even tough guys like cupcakes."

And there you have it. Our quote of the day.

Labels: vancouver, yummy food

posted by darryl ohrt at 9:23 PM 1 Comments