In June of 2010, Ray Williams left Boston’s shores and arrived in the majestic terra firma of Iceland with little more than the idea to make a travel film about . . . something. Armed with just a love of travel, a camera, and a loose plan, Williams and his crew — essentially himself and a camera person — had a production budget limited to what he was able to amass bartending and waiting tables. There wasn’t a script. Soon after, they met a perfect stranger, handed him a camera and audio equipment, including some earphones purchased for a few bucks on a recent JetBlue flight, and dubbed him “sound guy.” “He had the time of his life,” says Williams. “He came to Iceland to go camping, but we sucked him in.”Williams, 34, who lives in Boston, says the sudden addition of a crew member made the group seem somewhat more professional, and by the end of the trip, locals and even the Icelandic club scene welcomed them in to party as VIPs. Sign up for more newsletters here

Back then it would have been hard to believe that in five or so years, “Hostile Living,” the nascent, episodic docu-travel-culture-comedy series created by Williams and featuring a cast of friends and co-workers as they immerse themselves in foreign cultures, would find its footing enough to take home a film festival award. youda sushi chef game free downloadIn this case, “Best Experimental Film” at the Manhattan Film Festival in April.sushi grade tuna columbus ohio “This is a series [about] passionate guys doing this with no experience, learning on the fly, on a shoestring budget, with long-shot odds,” says Williams, noting that the project’s name is a play on both hostels, which budget travelers know well, and the plight to break into the travel film and television industry.sushi rice cooker ratio

The winning installment, “Hostile Living Vietnam: The Bourdain Experiment,” is essentially a scripted cat-and-mouse search to find Anthony Bourdain, a popular Travel Channel personality, chef, and author, while he filmed his own program in Vietnam.sushi grade fish grand rapids The theme that connects that Vietnam episode back to the first sojourn to Iceland, and to every trip since, is a love of travel. sushi roll mat at walmartThat, and working together at Haru Sushi in the Back Bay.“sushi bochum online bestellenThere’s this revolving door of characters that travel and are also serving tables [with us] at Haru,” says Williams. jiro dreams of sushi direct download

“It’s this odd place where we all met, and I had this crazy idealistic idea that I was going to turn my passion for travel into a career.” The original concept was to highlight world travel on the cheap through the lens of that initial Iceland trip. But Williams and his co-writer, cameraman, and editor Mark Kelley, 31, say the team realized the loose footage they were amassing demonstrated everyone had a lot to learn about how the travel filmmaking sausage was made, and maybe that was part of the story, too. They weren’t film students, after all.Subsequent trips for other “Hostile Living” episodes have taken the crew to Iceland, Panama, and China, as well as two expeditions to Colombia — the latter involving successfully tracking down and meeting with Pablo Escobar’s brother by way of being smuggled in the back of a truck filled with scrap metal and 10 other people. For Williams, the film festival award is validation for a primarily self-financed passion project, and for the effort that went into actually getting Bourdain’s attention, which was key to wrapping up the celebrated Vietnam episode.

In 2015, the team launched a Kickstarter campaign aimed at raising a thousand dollars, an arbitrary amount they set to “purchase” an hour of Bourdain’s time. They hit their target in just a few days, eventually growing their Bourdain-meeting war chest to more than $6,000. All they needed then was for the man himself to catch wind of it. Enter Tim Williams (no relation to Ray Williams), otherwise known as “Trivago Guy.” The filmmakers reached out to the discount travel website pitchman through his fanpage, and the two Williamses met for a few lunches in New York City. Eventually Trivago Guy connected the “Hostile Living” crew with Bourdain’s assistant. The Trivago pitchman’s willingness to help them connect with Bourdain’s people proved to be the big break they needed.Bourdain eventually agreed to check out the group’s project if they donated the money they’d raised on Kickstarter to charity. And while they never got to meet with Bourdain in person, he sent the “Hostile Living” crew a filmed response of him watching their work and commenting on it, and that footage was later edited into the film.

The critique scene underscored the filmmakers’ underdog status and the lumps one must take when soliciting feedback. As for what’s next, Williams and company are hoping the attention will lead them to the kind of deep-pocketed backers that could make a full-time career traveling the world and making films possible.Williams offers with a smile, “We’re just waiting.” I was first acquainted with Haru a few years back on one balmy New York summer night. Feeling slightly frustrated at the thought of another Friday evening spent in the office (especially while my more fortunate 9-to-7 friends were on there way to the Hamptons), I decided to treat myself to a sushi dinner to make up for my lack of…ermmm….life. As I browse through the Japanese restaurant selection on Seamlessweb, my eyes landed on Haru. I placed my order and looked forward to the thought of at least a pleasant dinner to get me through the stack of 10Ks still unread on my desk. But if life (or dinner) were that simple, then there would be no need for Prozac.

The order arrived blatantly late (30 minutes after the stated delivery time) and the salmon and tuna ended up “cooked” from the warm summer weather during transit. I fell into despair – no yummy dinner and a long night of work ahead – this experience put Haru on my “Miss” list. Flashing forward two years, I found myself with a dinner invitation to check out the Haru in Boston with my blogger friend Rich from The Passionate Foodie. Even though, Haru New York failed to impress, I wanted to give Haru Boston a chance (especially since takeout sushi can be quite different from sushi served on site – taste wise and aesthetically). After we were seated, I started off with Haru’s special Cherry Blossom cocktail* (made with Svedka cherry vodka). The drink, although very aesthetically pleasing, had a faint cherry cough syrup after taste in the initial few sips. Ordering cherry flavored anything is always a gamble – it’s either really good or really Dimetapp-astic - this time, unfortunately, was the latter.

Luckily, the sushi (first course) more than made up for the slightly medicinal tasting cocktail. All five pieces (oh toro, super white fish, surf clam, king crab, and mackerel) were incredibly fresh and generously portioned – I especially loved the oh toro which melted in my mouth. The lobster mango ceviche was HANDS DOWN my favorite dish of the night! The appetizer was beautifully and creatively presented - whole chunks of lobster, mango and sweet peppers were wrapped in the whitefish – and perfectly bite sized. The citrus sauce was a nice tangy touch and enhanced the flavors of the seafood nicely. The lobster tempura* was served nice and hot – right out of the deep fryer! Although Rich thought the batter was a bit thick, I actually thought this appetizer was pretty tasty (but I do like my deep fried carbs a lot!). The pan seared scallop with shiso tempura* was also another winner! The scallops was plump, firm, and well seasoned, and the contrasting shiso leaf tempura was nice, crisp, and airy.

I was starting to feel parched so I ordered another cocktail at this juncture in the meal. The Elderflower Cucumber Beefeater Gin drink was refreshing and definitely more to my liking. On to the main course! I had two rolls – the strawberry whitefish roll topped with wasabi tobiko* and the Golden Passion roll (super white tuna wrapped around asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, cucumber and carrots, topped with yuzu tobiko). Both were delectable, but the strawberry whitefish roll completely blew me away! The crunchy fried whitefish enveloped by the rice was perfectly complemented by the sweet juiciness of the freshly sliced strawberries and the the wasabi tobiko added a nice "pop" to the mix. At this point, I was pretty full (yes, even though sushi is technically known to be light and healthy, its possible to get full of sushi when consumed in large quantities) but I knew I couldn’t leave without a sweet treat to wrap up the amazing night. For dessert, I had vanilla, mango, and green tea mochi (sticky rice filled with ice cream), along with some hot green tea.