Burough Market, London

The Burough Market on the backside of London Bridge is a must stop if your travel brings you to London. I wandered through the stalls for a couple of hours; sampling lots freebies from local artisans and global purveyors. I finally settled for the "Toastie" grilled cheese sandwich that was irresistible.

Aside from being a foodie heaven, the market is a photographers paradise. So bring your camera and snap away. You

Belgo Restaurant, London

The Belgo Kitchen Line

This is one of my go-to restaurants in central London. A perfect stop after a day of shopping in Covent Garden. If you love home-style mussels, then this is the place. Belgo is like going to church without having to sit through a boring

The Delicious Dozen on EightWest TV Show

The Delicious Dozen: woodtv.com

The Asian-Italian Family Dinner

Beef Shabu-Shabu

At the request of my kids, I made our family an Asian-Italian feast for our Christmas dinner. On the menu: Malfadine with Baseball Size Meatballs (my favorite), Sweet Peppers with Spicy Italian Sausage and Beef Shabu-Shabu (Japanese Hot Pot). It was the idyllic Christmas Day. No agenda. No parties to go to. Just the five of us around a table of

New Year's Eve at the JW Marriott

New Year's Eve in downtown Grand Rapids just keeps getting bigger every year.

40,000 revelers packed Monroe St. for the HOT FM outdoor concert featuring The Romantics. There wasn't a single seat available for last minute dinner reservations and every bar was pretty much packed to the gills. This is definitely no longer the sleepy town it used to be.

My wife and I had great intentions of hitting our regular spots before ending up at the JW Marriott. Reserve Wine Bar

2011: What a Year at the JW!

JLe's Black & White Party in 2009 kicked off the JW Social Media Parties

Do you remember the days before Facebook and JW Social Media Parties? Social life in GR was pretty much limited to the bars and a few street parties. The JW Marriott Grand Rapids has been going strong since the first social media event 3 years ago when we kicked off the Social Media Party Phenomenon with Jimmy Le's Birthday Black & White Party. We've come a long way, baby! Thanks to our loyal fans and street team of guerilla promoters. 

To say that 2011 was a banner year for the jdub is truly the understatement of the year. Let's recap our social media

The Delicious Dozen

Are you a list hoarder?

If you are like me, New Year’s Day marks the day I jot down a million things I want to accomplish over the next 365 days. Creating to-do lists make me feel like I’m organized and in control even though I have more lists - between my phone, computers, Moleskine notebooks and loose scraps of paper in my office and home - than my actual number of “things to do.” But, what the heck? Lists are fun, and in some auspicious way, a therapeutic remedy to the hectic lives we live. So here I am adding another list, but this one will be worth hanging on to and accomplishing this year.

West Michigan eateries have raised the bar this past year by employing impressive talent and by producing the most memorable dishes I’ve had in the area. So here I am adding another list, but this one will be worth hanging on to and