Breakfast At The Basel Marktplatz

Basel is so freakin cute. Like seriously cute. As far as Europe goes, I haven't seen much of it, but it's definitely up there on the cute scale. Like postcard cute. And it's quite a manageable little city. Quite walkable, trams take you everywhere, and it's nice to look at.
Every morning at the Marktplatz, there is an open air market where locals hawk their food wares. Like these beautiful veggies.
More veggies. I think.
Olives, my nemesis, and some cured meats.
More of my little enemies.
Fresh stuffed pastas!
Laugenbread. Looks just like challah, huh?
Fruits and nuts.
Strange berries. There are blackberries and blueberries, but there are some blue and red ones that I am not familiar with.
Who wouldn't want to buy fresh foods at a place this picturesque?
On this morning I got a delicious little latte from that adorable cart and a special crepe made with grapes. I had to wait awhile for this crepe, as the lone crepemaker had taken a break, but unfortunately, it was kind of awful. It was just super sweet and mushy. But that's ok, I forgive for the surroundings.

Flying Again

The next leg in this journey was in Switzerland, so I headed off to the airport to catch my flight to Zurich. Grabbed a lovely latte at Soho Coffee. It was excellent.
Swiss Air, my first time on this fine carrier. Great flight. They even gave us sandwiches, and I didn't have to pay for it. This is laugenbread, which I've been seeing all over the place now. There was sliced chicken, cheese, and mustard on it. At first, I freaked out about the mustard because I'm not a mustard fan, but I just decided to eat it anyway, and it was just fine. I could barely taste the mustard, even though it was very seedy looking. I am definitely a fan of this bread though! They even asked us if we wanted seconds... but I did not partake. The other sandwiches were laugenbread also, but just with mozzarella cheese.
And yes, they gave us little mini toblerones too.

Lemon Crepes

What an amazing first meal to have in Dublin. I was seriously lacking sleep having just flown overnight into a european morning. While roaming around the Grafton St area a bit, I happened upon Lemon Crepe & Coffee. I actually remembered the location of this place. I don't necessarily remember the restaurant being this restaurant when I was last in Dublin (years ago now) but I definitely remember the corner it was on. And that whatever restaurant it may have been those many years ago, it was always busy and full of people. I was not only tired, but starving, so I gave this a go. I thought this place would be a safe bet. Good decision girl!

I got the house special lemon crepe. It's served with organic syrup and a lemon wedge. And I also got a latte. Yes, I needed to stay awake! I honestly don't think much was in this crepe, if anything, but it doesn't really matter, because it's perfect. I haven't had that many crepes in my life, but this was the best one yet, and it had no fillings of any kind. It was the batter that made it so good. I could eat this all the time. Just plain. It needs no accessories!!! Not that the syrup and lemon weren't good on it, but it's not necessary. And it's big too! The latte was also excellent. He asked me if I wanted it strong or not, and I said not. I'm still in the process of acclimating myself to caffeine again. But it must have been not too strong, because I did just fine. This place is teeny tiny, and there are only a few spots inside and a few spots outside. Cash only folks, so bring your Euros!

Free Donuts

I love it when you go to Dunkin Donuts on really off times (late nights, weekend afternoons) and order a donut and they throw in a bunch of free ones. Yet another reason for me to heart DD!

Dolores Park Cafe

Right across from Dolores Park, there's the adorable Dolores Park Cafe. I don't know how they scored such an awesome location, they must have signed some kind of pact with the devil. There's indoor seating along with some limited seating out front.

A cool and refreshing smoothie along with a cafe au lait. We wanted to fuel up before playing tennis across the street. And no, I can't play tennis... not at all.
Cobb salad! I don't know what kind of bacon this was, but it was especially good. Blue cheese on the side, and also blue cheese dressing. A little too much blue cheese if you ask me. Would have been better with something less creamy and super light. But all the components of this salad were super tasty. Excellent tomatoes!

I wasn't super hungry, so along with the smoothie, I just had this lemon blackberry muffin. Super good. It's a lovely little spot.

Ritual Coffee

So... there's a lot of coffee shops in San Francisco. And this may be an understatement. I thought there were lots in Seattle, but no, I think there are more in San Francisco. And while there are lots of chains like Starbucks, Peets, etc, there are many more independent shops, and small local chains. One of the better ones we discovered is Ritual Coffee. These pics are from their site at Oxbow. We also visited a shop in the Mission, located far down on Valencia.
They're serious about their coffee here. They pick their own beans, roast it on their own, and take painstaking steps in brewing the finest cup. Plus, we dig their logo and the aesthetic of their shops.
The menu options are few. You can also buy beans and paraphernalia to take home.A simple iced coffee, served in green cups. These are the ones made from corn, so they're completely compostable. These coffees are strong, but not bitter, and super smooth. They brew a mean cup. If I had to choose between Blue Bottle and Ritual, I think I'd have to go with Ritual. It's just a gut feel.

Blue Bottle Coffee

I'd been reading lots of good things about Blue Bottle Coffee. There was a spot in the Ferry Building so J got a latte.

Each cup is brewed using an individual drip filter. They put the coffee in the filter, the filter in the ceramic dripper, and then they pour the hot water into the filter and let it drip. Fancy!

And the finished latte! Ooh la la! J admitted that this was an excellent cup of joe. I tasted it and it was super smooth.

Lovers and Madmen

My friend G just recently starting holding additional movie nights at Lovers and Madmen, a fairly new coffee shop, in University City. It's adorable. Just damn adorable. I love the paint color combinations on the outside. Totally adorable, it sickens me.

The menu? Sparse. But I can appreciate that. Just do a few things well instead of doing a crapload of things meh. I wanted a decaf iced coffee (y'all know I can't do caffeine) but they said they were out. But he suggested making me a decaf iced americano instead. It was perfect. And the barista was so nice. The place is small, but not claustrophobic. It's decorated very tastefully. They do have some food for sale, but not too much. And they have a nice flatscreen where we can watch our movie. And couches too! It's a place for lovers, it's a place for madmen, it's a place for everyone.

Lovers & Madmen Coffee Lounge
28 S 40th St
Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 243-9851

Free Sandwich!

I met up with P and J for lunch the other day. Since we all live nearby, we just decided to stop at Saxby's. Since the first time I was here and discovered that they actually have food here, I wanted to try it out. So here we were. They have sandwiches, salads, smoothies, fro yo. We wanted real food, so we all got sandwiches. You get to pick what kind you want and on what kind of bread. I ordered an egg salad on ciabatta. When I got it and took it back to my table, I noticed that there was no egg salad in it. But instead, it was the prociutto sandwich. Oops. I took it back, but he said I could keep it and he would make me my egg salad. Score! Free sandwich!

So ok, I eventually got my egg sandwich. It was a nice heaping of egg salad with lettuce, tomato, pickle, pepper jack cheese, and a red pepper spread. Really quite nice. But the best, I mean BEST, part of the sandwich was this ciabatta bread. Goodness! It was amazing! Like perfection! There was something about it, and I can't even put my finger on it, but it was just the perfectest sandwich bread ever. It was lightly toasted so it was crunchy, but good crunchy, not tear up your gums crunchy, yet still soft. I don't even know. It was just the best sandwich bread ever. And it came with chips. I don't really eat potato chips much, and I certainly never buy it, but if it's there, I'll eat them. Man, I wolfed these down.

So since I ended up with a free sandwich, I ate the other one for dinner. I enjoyed it even more because it was free! The free one was a prociutto sandwich, with a hunk of mozzarella, avocado, roasted red peppers, basil, and an olive tapenade. I could have done without the olive tapenade, because I loathe olives, but otherwise, another excellent sandwich. Count two wins in the sandwich column for Saxby's.

They have outdoor dining here, which is a plus. It was just a bit too hot for that on this day. I had a nice iced coffee too. The sandwiches are not cheap, but I think it's a good place to grab a bite and a coffee. The place itself is nice, the workers are friendlyl, and the quality of the food is good. Try it out!

Saxbys - More Than Just Coffee

Some of you may have noticed a new coffee chain popping up all over philadelphia - Saxbys. They're a local chain that is trying to compete with starbucks. I've started to see them all over. They recently opened a fairly large location in Ardmore. It looks like a big old house, I'm not sure what it was before Saxbys took over. It's Saxbys Coffee, but dude, they have so much more. Not only do they have coffee of all kinds, they also have smoothies, frozen yogurt, salads, and sandwiches, breakfast items, and desserts. Really, everything you could ask for. And the place is really large, so there's tons of seating, including some comfy leather chairs. If you're thirsty or hungry, there's bound to be something you want. They have hot coffees, iced coffees, tons of crazy flavored lattes, frozen lattes, teas, juices, and smoothies. I would never have guessed there would be so much stuff here. Never ever. I just thought they sold coffee. We both got some of the flavored lattes, iced. A got a caramel macchiato and I got a british islander. They were pretty darn good. The cups they use for the iced coffees are made from corn and fully biodegradable and compostable. I find this to be very cool. In fact, a lot of their stuff seems to be green. Kudos to them. It's not cheap here. They're obviously competing with starbucks so you know it's going to have starbucks price tags. I like this place. It's comfortable without being snooty. And I like the variety. Even though variety can be bad, as I am horrible at making decisions. I'll do my part to help a local chain out.

Viva Venezuela

J wanted something "interesting" to eat on friday night, so that's how we ended up at Sazon. Usually, friday night involves deciding which pho place to go to on washington ave, as it's easy, close, cheap, filling, etc. But sometimes, we go buck wild crazy.

Sazon is an adorable little venezuelan restaurant on Spring Garden, near the spaghetti warehouse. It's not the nicest location in the world. But once you're insice, it feels positively south american. A husband and wife own the place, he works the tables, she cooks the food. J got a cafe con leche. Loved it.

For a starter, we got sweet plantains with queso blanco. I love me some sweet plantains. This should come as a side with every meal I ever have.
J got the arroz con pollo, good ol rice and chicken. Beans were great, so was the rice, as were the plantains, but the chicken was a bit on the dry and bland side. It seemed like they cut the chicken into too big chunks, cooked it separately, and then threw them into the rice. So it was dry and didn't have enough of the same flavor that was infused into the rice. A bummer really.

I was continuing my non-beef kick, so I got an arepa, of the reina pepiada variety, which was shredded chicken with avocado and mayo. Basically, a glorified chicken salad with avocados in the mix. Excellent sandwich. The chicken here was not bland or dry and now I wish all chicken salads to be made with avocados. There's a little bit too much filling on this sandwich, no? There's actually no way to eat it like a sandwich. You have to fork it. Service is good. This is a BYOB. There was a nice mix of people here and they also have excellent looking desserts, including a wide variety of truffles. If you're up for a food adventure off the beaten path, go for a ride to Spring Garden and try out some food, south american style. For you veggies, there are plenty of vegetarian options for you as well.

Goin Home! O'Hare's Got Food!

O'Hare has tons of food options. It makes me so jealous. It sure beats Philly and it certainly beats Tulsa. I shouldn't even count Tulsa as a real airport. While I typically enjoy the cheese danish from starbucks, I tried the apple one this time. I think I was trying to be "healthy" after all the damn beef. It was good, but I think I like the cheese one better!

Latte Art Contest

A hop skip and a jump from Oscar's, I inadvertently ran into DoubleShot Coffee Company. They roast their own beans and they sell retail and wholesale. I don't know if these sacks were decorative or actually had viable beans in them. The shop is nice and big and has plenty of seating. You can tell they take their coffee very seriously. While they're normally closed in the evenings, they were still open this night because they were having a latte art throwdown. The whole thing was being streamed live onto ustream and was being shown on various monitors throughout the shop (sorry my photo sucks, but trust me, these lattes looked beautiful). And they were serving complimentary coffee the whole time. If I ever have to come back to Tulsa, I'll make a proper stop at DoubleShot and have myself a cup.

The Last Drop

After lunch, we went back to the Last Drop and finally found some seats. Of course, by the time we were ready to leave, we found out there's a downstairs that has plenty of room. Oops. This place is a mish mash of stuff... furniture, decor, colors, art, it's all just a random mix of stuff. That's not a bad thing. There was a photo exhibit of some interesting pics... of a guy that had taken pictures of himself doing romantical date type activities with himself. It was quite hilarious, yet slightly disturbing when you first notice them. Some of them are a bit on the explicit side.
I was stuffed from the smoothie and the brunch so I didn't drink anything. But J just got an iced coffee and he enjoyed it very much. He said it was quite coffee-y. Isn't that the point? We both liked this place, but be prepared to not be able to get a seat on a nice day.

Enjoying Coffee Time

While Sunday was a bit less warm, it was still a lovely day out. After stopping briefly at Cafe L'aube in the morning and enjoying sitting outside, we hit up a few more coffee spots later on that day. First to Bean Exchange Coffeehouse. We drive by here all the time, but have never stopped here. It's a lovely little place. I dig the simple and tasteful decor. If only my own house looked like this. We snagged one of the tables outside and just enjoyed good coffee, the fine weather, and some books.
Then when we got cold, we walked down the street to Chapterhouse. Oh how I love this place, despite it being crowded most of the time. And despite it not being able to have outdoor seating. ~SIGH~

Hangin at Tryst

After festing it, we headed over to the Adams Morgan neighborhood. There's a main drag with a bazillion restaurants. Like seriously, it seemed way too many. After walking around awhile and exploring, we luckily ended up at Tryst. This place is a bar / lounge / coffee shop / cafe. You can drink, get coffee, eat, hang out, surf the net. I totally loved the concept.

By the time we got to Adams Morgan, I wasn't feeling too hot, so I didn't drink. I just lounged. They have tons of tables, chairs, and a mish mash of couches. Their menu looked really good as well. I wish we could have eaten. There was a nacho dish that we were both very interested in.

J did have a couple of beers though. A bit on the expensive side, but I think it's pretty normal for DC. Service was good, our waitress was super nice and accommodating. The crowd here is nice and varied. If I lived in DC, I'd definitely frequent this joint!

Quick To Go's at Tim Hortons

We didn't get to eat a proper lunch in ohio, so we had to eat a little snack before heading back to Indiana. My bro lives in Columbus, so I asked him where toe at. He pointed us to his favorite sushi spot but when we got there, it hadn't opened yet. We could not wait one more minute to eat, so we hopped on over to the Tim Hortons instead. J got two little egg salad wraps. I got a turkey sandwich on a bagel. And a donut. Don't forget about the donut. My sandwich was awesome, by the way. It had some delicious honey mustard on it, much to my surprise.
I told you this is a coffee place, so similar to our dunkin donuts, you can get your own tim hortons roasts and brew it at home.

Oh, the delectable display of donuts, muffins, and pastries. They are from canada, so there are things with "maple" in the name. They were super nice too, and yes, it was attached to Wendy's. We were in Columbus, home of Wendy's, so it all made sense.