 | Mrs. L on Psycho Donuts |
 | bayareafoodie on Bacon and Cabbage Soup |
 | Chris on Bacon and Cabbage Soup |
 | Carrie on Bacon and Cabbage Soup |
It’s been months since Psycho donuts opened in Campbell and all the drama surrounding it’s unusual theme seems to have calmed down. When the doors first opened there were numerous claims that the shop was insensitive to the mental health community because they named donuts “bipolar” among other things. We arrived for our first taste [...]
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Jose/Silicon Valley | Tagged: campbell, psycho donuts | 1 Comment »
Mike’s “V” day gift to me this year was from a little local chocolate shop. The chocolate dream box is hidden in a shopping center in Los Gatos –you may have passed by on your way into Lunardi’s grocery. It’s kind of a hidden treasure.
Mike chose the following treats:
(Listed from bottom to top)
tahiti – milk [...]
Filed under: Los Gatos, Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: chocolate boutique, Chocolate Dream Box, chocolate shop, Los Gatos | 2 Comments »
For our one big night out in Maui we took my sister and husband to Merriman’s to thank them for hosting us. Mike and I became familiar with Merriman’s on our honeymoon in Kona where we had a fantastic meal so we were excited to try the Lahaina location.
We arrived at 6pm just as the [...]
Filed under: Maui, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, TOP RATED RESTAURANTS | Tagged: HI, Lahaina, Merriman's, Peter Merriman | 1 Comment »
Mike and I headed to Maui to visit my newly relocated sister and her hubby & kids in early December. One of our day trips took us upcountry to Kula where there is a cool goat farm. When we arrived 2 baby goats (boy & girl) were being hand fed. They had just been born [...]
Filed under: Maui, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: goat cheese, hawaii, Surfing Goat Dairy | 1 Comment »
The morning after my Gary Danko birthday meal we headed to Tartine for a quick bite before heading back to San Jose. We were unfamiliar with this part of town so we were not sure of the location but as soon as we saw the line we figured we had found it. It’s much smaller [...]
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Francisco | Tagged: Tartine Bakery | Leave a Comment »
My birthday week ended with dinner at Gary Danko in San Francisco. It was time to try the #1 Bay Area Zagat rated restaurant. When we arrived we were seated in a cozy corner booth. We were surprised to see that the place was packed on a Thursday night in November. I guess you don’t [...]
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Francisco | Tagged: gary danko, restaurant, review, San Francisco, zagat rated | Leave a Comment »
I first heard about Sucré Sweet shop on our visit to New Orleans in August. The Pastry chef Tariq Hanna had just won TLC’s “Ultimate Cake-Off” so he was all over the local TV news. I really wanted to stop by while in town but time didn’t allow. Then 2 months later I received an [...]
Filed under: New Orleans, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: confectioner, coupon, discount, hand-crafted artisan chocolates, Magazine Street, New Orleans, NOLA, pastries, spca, Sucré | 2 Comments »
Mike and I took my sister and her husband to Napa for a weekend before they moved from the Bay Area to Hawaii. We decided we would dine at Bottega, Michael Chiarello’s newest creation. On the night we arrived he was actually in the house. While waiting for our table he walked through the bar [...]
Filed under: Napa Valley, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: bottega, Michael Chiarello, napa, napastyle, restaurant, review, Yountville | 1 Comment »
Boon Fly is a cozy cafe located in a bright red barn facade at the Carneros Inn (a Plumpjack resort) in Napa. It is a casual set up with a homey menu. The night we went I ordered the Fried Chicken and Mike had the Meatloaf special. Mike’s meal came with a large carafe of [...]
Filed under: Napa Valley, Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: Boon Fly Cafe, Carneros Inn, fried chicken, napa, review | Leave a Comment »
12 months, 14 visits, 40 cupcakes digested! I did it! The final rankings can be found here
Filed under: PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Palo Alto, REVIEWS OF PRODUCTS, VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: 40, best flavors, food, rankings, sprinkles challange, sprinkles cupcakes | Leave a Comment »
About a month ago we were at a party that was catered by Purple Onion. There were salads, little sandwiches and desserts. Everything was super tasty. Mike and I decided we had to try the place out. We arrived on a Friday just after noon and it was fairly full. We actually bumped into Mike’s [...]
Filed under: Los Gatos, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: cafe, catering, Los Gatos, purple onion, restaurant, review | Leave a Comment »
This was my overall favorite dinner in New Orleans. John Besh’s Lüke is a French brasserie paying homage to NOLA’s past. The decor is bright & simple with a business casual vibe. We were seated in the back room in front of the kitchen. The menu reminded me of Thomas Keller’s Bouchon (which [...]
Filed under: New Orleans, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, TOP RATED RESTAURANTS | Tagged: brasserie, business district, food, french, john besh, luke, New Orleans, NOLA, restaurant, review | 1 Comment »
We went to New Orleans in August because Mike had a convention to attend (not because we are gluttons for punishment!). While Mike was away I had to keep myself busy so I decided to take a cooking class at the New Orleans School of Cooking. Every morning they hold a 3 hour session where [...]
Filed under: New Orleans, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: cajun, cooking class, creole, food, french quarter, review, store, The New Orleans School of Cooking | Leave a Comment »
Would I pass up trying a gourmet cupcake shop? Hell, no! The Kupcake factory is a chain in New Orleans and they just happen to have a location down the street from Cochon. By the look of the place I really wasn’t expecting much. The decor/presentation was lacking.
We bought 2 cupcakes: banana and hummingbird (banana, [...]
Filed under: New Orleans, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: baking, cupcakes, food, New Orleans, review, The Kupcake Factory, warehouse district | Leave a Comment »
When I read about a new hot spot in the warehouse district of New Orleans that featured the pig I put it on our list of things to do. Cochon butcher is the tiny sister cafe for Cochon Restaurant. It serves up house made meats in different forms, beer, wine and also has a full [...]
Filed under: New Orleans, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: cochon, cochon butcher, food, lunch, New Orleans, pig, pork, restaurant, review, warehouse district | Leave a Comment »
I arrived at Cafe Du Monde thinking we were walking into a tourist trap. I expected mediocre food for outrageous prices but knew this is something you just don’t skip when in New Orleans. We sat down at one of the many outdoor tables and a waitress came by and took our order… 2 orders [...]
Filed under: New Orleans, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: beignets, cafe au lait, cafe du monde, food, french quarter, New Orleans, review | 4 Comments »
You can’t go to New Orleans and not eat at one of Emeril’s many restaurants. We decide to try NOLA located in the French Quarter. It’s a 3 story building so we needed to take an elevator to get to our table on the 2nd floor. Mike thought this was so cool. The cuisine is [...]
Filed under: New Orleans, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: duck, Emeril Lagasse, food, french quarter, NOLA, restaurant, review, shrimp and grits | Leave a Comment »
When I heard there was a food tour of NOLA I was intrigued. This was a 3 hour walking tour (mostly inside!) that covers the rich culinary history of New Orleans. Here was our tour schedule:
1st stop – the historic Antoine’s where we received a tour of the many dining rooms as well as the [...]
Filed under: New Orleans, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: Antoine's, Brennan's, culinary tour, food tour, French Quarter Culinary History and Tasting Tour, La Divina Cafe, New Orleans, new orleans culinary history tours, tastings, Tony Seville's Pirates Alley Cafe, Tujague's | 5 Comments »
So I wanted to go to a neighborhood gem. Something away from the French Quarter. After doing some research I came up with Dante’s Kitchen which is located in Uptown. The best way to get there is to hop on the St. Charles streetcar and get off at Carrollton & Maple (close to the end [...]
Filed under: New Orleans, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: Chef Emmanuel Loubier, dante's kitchen, food, New Orleans, restaurant, review, uptown | 1 Comment »
This was our first stop after getting off the plane in New Orleans. Mother’s is a well known establishment featuring down home Southern/Cajun fare. A couple people who are from the area had recommended we come at some point on our trip. When you arrive there will most likely be a line outside. The operating [...]
Filed under: New Orleans, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: food, Mother's Restaurant, New Orleans, review, southern food | 1 Comment »
Mike and I just returned from our trip to the big easy. We had a blast eating our way around NOLA. When people said it’s hot in August I figured I could handle it since I went to school in Arizona but this was a heat that I had never experienced. I could only make [...]
Filed under: New Orleans, VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: cafe du monde, central grocery, cochon butcher, cooking class, culinary tour, food, luke, mothers, New Orleans, NOLA, swamp tour, vampire tour | 1 Comment »
We decided to try a bfast joint in Palo Alto on our way to IKEA. I looked on Yelp for a highly rated place. When we arrived at Joanie’s there was line. When we left, there was a line. I guess there were a lot of 4+ person parties because we were seated immediately. The [...]
Filed under: PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Palo Alto | Tagged: Best Benedicts of the Bay, breakfast, eggs benedict, Joanie's Cafe, restaurant, review | Leave a Comment »
I finally made it to Bouchon, Thomas Keller’s French bistro! The restaurant is tricky to locate in the Venetian hotel but well worth the search. We were lucky enough to get a table outside in the sun (which is next to one of the pools). It took an extraordinarily long time to decide what we [...]
Filed under: Las Vegas | Tagged: Bouchon, brunch, Croque Madame, food, review, thomas keller, vegas, venetian hotel | 5 Comments »
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