Location:
2403 Bull Street
Savannah, GA
31401
One thing at the very top of my Savannah list of places to visit was the Back in the Day Bakery. I'd seen it on Jamie Beck's blog and she highly recommended it on the list of must-sees she gave me.
On a rainy day it was an amazing, indulging breakfast pit stop.
I mean, biscuits and jam? I could have those every day.
(Also, who knew that I could have been sitting so close to one of my Instagram connections - wow, small world!)
Location:
318 3rd St, Cambridge, MAI had the pleasure of having tea with these two lovelies recently, after a wonderful afternoon at this place.
Here we are at Tatte Bakery, one of the cutest bakeries in Kendall Square. A bakery that is not new to my Instagram feed!
As part of a new series, here I am having tea withAna and Alaina.
Location:
207 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC
When Melanie recommends something (like best poutine in Montreal), she's right on the money. Nuba was no different.
Scrumptious down to the last swipe of hummus and I guarantee you, there was a final sweep of that hummus!
You can create your own juice combo from Orange, Lime, Apple, Beet, Ginger, Carrot, Celery or Grapefruit. Ours consisted of Apple, Ginger and Celery and was deeeelicious. I'm always a little wary of what is claimed to be "fresh juice" especially when it involves ginger which as you know, aids in digestion, sometimes a little too well, if you get my drift?
I digress.
Everything was fresh, the meat is halal, there are vegetarian options and vegan options, making the food a healthy alternative while still being incredibly filling and satisfying.
Yikes, my mouth is watering. Again.
By Queen, I mean, of course, MOM.
Although our reason for Afternoon Tea at the Taj recently were for a reason other than Mother's Day, I'm recommending this age-old custom to those of you looking for a Mother's Day outing.
Afternoon Tea has never been more elegant than at the French Room at the Taj in Boston. Located at the corner of Newbury St. and Arlington St, the Taj overlooks the beautiful (and especially lush at this time of the year) Boston Public Garden.
Once seated, service is gracious and attentive with beautiful live music wafting through the elegant high and chandeliered ceiling.
The Taj Royal is $38 and comes with finger sandwiches, canapes, tarts, scones, dipped strawberries, with clotted cream and lemon curd.
The tea selection ranges from white, green, black, oolong, herbal and chai, so there's definitely one for everyone. Reservations are recommended and be sure to wear your most floral clothes. We sure did.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
Location:
774 Boylston Street Boston, MA
L'Espalier is one of the restaurants participating in Boston Magazine's TASTE this year, and having dined there after shooting Zac Posen's show, I have to say it capped off the, already elegant, evening very well.
Here's a TASTE of one of the spectacular desserts. Talk about dinner and a show!
It sounds like I stopped by Baked by Melissa in NYC wearing stilettos and sequins, but rather I had Dhruvi, the queen of "Stilettos & Sequins" take me to the delightful cupcake shoppe.
After a trip to the Guggenheim, I met up with Dhruves at Qi (both beautifully decorated and delish, btw), followed by an exploration of the racks at Loehmann's, finally making our way to Baked by Melissa.
The bite-sized cupcakes are the perfect quantity of sweet and each is filled with the exact flavor of their names. Take "Peanut Butter and Jelly" for example, it tastes exactly like a PB&J sandwich, except maybe better. My favorite was the red velvet, but *ahem* I did try them all.....
I'm always up for brunch. Seriously. (Call me.)
So I was really excited when I was invited to join a media brunch at The Cottage at Linden Square.
The trek up to Wellesley was worth it, to say the least.
And it was nice to meet up with several other bloggers (Honest Mom, Boston Fashionista, Suzette from Wellesley Media and of course Beerhogger was also in attendance). We all met Caitlin who organized the brunch.
There was a bevy of magnificent dishes from fried calamari, "Cottage" nachos, ahi tuna nachos, fish tacos, crab melts, stuffed avacadoes to desserts of chocolate cakes, cheese cakes and fruity sorbets.
Afterward, with arms laden with The Cottage's famous granola (a must-try, the crunchy medley is madly addictive!), gift certificates to Sara Campbell, Belle Sante salon and side walk sales taking place all over Linden Square I knew where I was headed to, next!
Beerhogger's review of what we coined "breakfast" beers, is coming soon!
Location:
4441 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach
http://www.hakkasan.com/miami/
You know when you're sunburned and so relaxed, that even though you want to get dressed up and go out, you really don't want to go too far?
That's when dining in one of the hotel's restaurants is the best idea, ever.
Hakkasan fit the bill. Although they were fully booked, they were gracious and got us a table after a short wait.
The dumplings were the highlight for sure. Incredibly moist, and with abundant flavor and texture, we held that as the standard. Alas the fish dish was not up to par. Am not a fan of bland steamed fish with sauce poured over it. The eggplant didn't have too much oomph and the fried rice was forgettable.
Redemption came in the form of chocolate (naturally) and won us over again. If you're staying at the Fontainbleau Hotel, I highly recommend dining there. If you're not, I wouldn't bother with the trek.
Location:
509 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101
To me, there's nothing better than a warm croissant and coffee or tea with breakfast.
Nothing.
Except, maybe with bacon.
Chocolat in the Gaslamp District of San Diego, appears to be a gelato/dessert bar, but they have warm croissants and pastries as well, served right to your table if you wish to sit down to eat for breakfast.
Which I did, savouring the moment (like this stylish patron was).
Their gelato spread looked divine, and is definitely worthy of a second visit!
Location:
Zoto's
It was the same place where we got the gelato. This time around it was for the magnificent and ENORMOUS sugared puff pastry.
YUM!
This is the best Martha Stewart idea I've ever implemented into my own parties. It's the DIY 3-tier stand for cupcakes or sandwiches!
It's ridiculously easy and looks fantastic in any table setting, especially when covered with pretty edibles. (This can also be done with paper plates, if you wish)
You will need:
3 plates of 3 sizes, large to small
2 bowls of the same size, but smaller than the plates
1. Take a large square plate, (can be square or round, I prefer square)
2. Place one bowl upside down on the 1st plate
3. Add a smaller sized plate on top of the upside down bowl
4. Repeat with remaining bowl and smallest plate, TA DA!
If that wasn't the easiest thing, ever, I don't know what is!
Add whatever fancy finger foods to each tier, and there you have a 3-tier stand!
We visited Zoto's Family Pastry TWICE in three days, first, for this.
After seeing the entire Ancient Agora, it was time for lunch! We wanted a cafe that wasn't touristy. Alas, they all were, so in the end, we came back to this one because the view could not be beat.
The name of it? Anyone read Greek? Let me know. The service was quick and efficient and the iced coffee was heavenly after the longest walk. The baklava? Tell me you don't want a bit of that, right now?
Location:
1240 6 Avenue, New York, NY
You knew it was coming (if you follow me on Instagram, that is). There are several locations of Magnolia in NYC, and although I never made it to the original location in West Village, this one at Bloomingdale's wasn't too shabby.
Have you been? The cupcakes are divine - the red velvet cupcake was mighty tasty.
Sssssh, I'm going to let you in on a little secret.
Costco, yes, mega wholesaler COSTCO, has THE BEST hand dipped chocolate vanilla ice cream covered in almonds, bar.
Plus it's only $1.50 and it's the size of a baby elephant. (photos via iphone)
