The Taj is fit for a Queen (aka Mother's Day)

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!

Product: Nutella Snack & Drink

Happy World Nutella Day!

Lately, I've been snacking on Nutella on marble rye toast, which is positively better than Nutella on crepes, but which also reminded me of this product that Lurgs brought in to work one day; her sister bought it in Italy:

If there's anything that sounds better than this, please let me know, 'cause the words Nutella and Snack go hand in hand...and whilst the drink is iced tea, it's still a good package.

Compact. Cute. NUTELLA! Portable. Fits in your purse. NUTELLA!

Okay so the biscuity bits were a bit strange but what a great idea for kids and real kids!

Love.

Boston: L'Espalier

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!

picasion.com_4743b1c5791602b72f1c4eabda0c51ef.gif

NYC: Baked by Melissa with Stilettos & Sequins

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.....

Miami: Fontainbleau Hotel: Hakkasan

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.

Greece: Mykonos, Snack + Sunset

One of the best things to do no matter where you are, is a picnic outdoors whilst watching the sun go down.

Provincetown, MA: Fudge Factory

Location:

210 Commercial St # 1 Provincetown, MA

Go for the fudge, don't stay for the service.

I guess you have to stay for the service in order to get the fudge, though.

As it was the only fudge store open in Provincetown over the MLK weekend, and as we didn't know any better, we went into the Fudge Factory. Contrary to Yelp reviews, you're not able to try the fudge anymore and also contrary to Yelp reviews, our server was quite rude. Perhaps it was an off day for him, or it was someone new, but it left us with a bad taste in our mouths, which we quickly sweetened up with their yummy fudge.

TRAVEL: Paris: Paul's

Location:

Outside the Louvre.

Paul, the French bakery (since 1889) came highly recommended by our friend A, so when we discovered a kiosk outside the Louvre, we stood right in line!

I must say, eating a chocolate chip baguette and tomato, mozzarella and basil sandwich under the shade of a tree in the Carrousel Gardens was one of the best experiences of the whole trip.

TRAVEL: India, Delhi: Yo China!

Location:

Third Floor, City Square Mall, Rajouri Garden, Delhi

www.yo-china.com

Definitely one of the highlights from our trip to Delhi was eating chinese food. That may sound weird, but chinese food in India is simply superb! It's spicy and flavourful in the way that chinese food isn't in the west. The closest you can get to that taste is haka chinese and Spadina Garden comes close, which is why it's a fave of mine.

We were treated to an open menu dinner by the wonderful owners of Yo China!

The service was outstanding, and the presentation of the dishes, exquisite.

Just take a look:

Honey Chilly Potato Fries, which is their signature dish - crispy potato fingers, stir fried in the wok with honey chilly sauce & sesame seeds

Honey Chilly Potato - RS 79

Chilli Chicken, Dry:

Chilli Chicken Dry - RS 89

Prawns tossed with ginger lemon coriander sauce:

Prawn Singtu RS 159

Chicken Satay:

Chicken Satay RS 139

Legendary Malha Sizzler:Babycorn, Beans, Broccoli, Mushroom and black mushroom, red and yellow peppers tossed in the legendary Malha sauce served on a sizzler

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576" caption="Chicken Satay RS 139"]

Legendary Malha
Sizzler

[/caption] Dumplings Dumplings Inside the dumplings Lobster (off menu) ChickenFried Rice 69 American Chop suey Devil's Chocolate Cake With Ice Cream [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="342" caption=" Yo ! Snicker Sundae"] [/caption] By the time the lobster came out, we were fully stuffed 'cause the portions are massive. And then when the dessert came out, well, I wasn't going to refuse this: Highly recommended!!! All around a fantastic place to get chinese food!

Sloan's, Florida

Location:
112 Clematis St West Palm Beach FL

www.sloansonline.com
One of the prettiest candy stores I've ever been to has got to be Sloan's in West Palm Beach, Florida.

It's PINK! And has fancy lamps and a painted ceiling and they have chocolates and delicious ice-creams!!

We had a caramel-and-nut-filled chocolate which got wrapped up all prettily!

I'm sad to say I missed out on the bathroom which is apparently incredible!! Check out the review on Crappers Quarterly (yep, I'm just as surprised as you that this site exists!)

Fascinating!

Worth going there for that, alone!

Chocolate Festival

October 19 - 25

It's the 4th year of Toronto's Chocolate Festival! And it's happening right now in the city!

Print your coupons here and sample some of the tastiest desserts in town!

You're welcome ;)

TRAVEL: Montreal : Les Glaceurs

Location:

453 Rue Saint-Sulpice
Montreal, QC

www.lesglaceurs.ca/

We just happened upon this cute pink cafe on our walk through Old Montreal and boy were we happy we did! Our friends C&K hadn't been to this ice-cream/cupcake place before either, so it was a real treat for all of us.

There were many gorgeous cupcakes; it was so hard to decide!

So, much like the Seinfeldian black and white cookie, we went with the vanilla cupcake and the brownie cupcake.

Iz..how you say...pretty, non?

And damn, that frosting was kickass!

Product: Mo's Bacon Bar

Everyone who knows me knows I love bacon.

Peter Pan Bistro

Location:

373 Queen Street West, Toronto

Cost: $10 per entree

www.peterpanbistro.com

A landmark on Queen St. West since 1921 (read the history here), Peter Pan Bistro has always been a prime lunch time spot, perhaps for it's ambiance (spectacular tin ceiling) or delicious lunch dishes for under $10.

Whatever the case, how befitting it was to have a baby-shower gathering at a venue named Peter Pan.

I was more interested in the dessert menu than anything else that day.

Mmm.....Death by chocolate sounded like the way to go!

Very rich, very deadly. (I think I passed out about 1/2 an hour after eating this. :))

Everyone else's dishes looked fantastic (and from what I heard, tasted just as good!)

You can see the expectant Mom's beautiful polka-dotted belly in the background of this shot, nicely contrasted by the pretty almond cheesecake and wildberry tea. Here's a close-up of the almond cheesecake.

Lemon tart.

Warm beet salad, honey roasted pears, walnuts, goat cheese on mixed greens $9 - photo credit: Jen D.

Daily special - Omlette - photo credit: Jen D.

"Bistro Salad", olive oil & rosemary cake, arugula, proscuitto & tomato, finished w/ a two minute egg, truffle oil and shaved parmagiano $10 - photo credit: Jen D.

With new condos springing up everywhere, Peter Pan Bistro, now in it's 88th year at the corner of Peter and Queen, is practically a historic site, so go now! Go and enjoy it.

Product: Dufflet Small Indulgences

Dufflet Pure & Sweet: Cranberries & Blueberries in Pure Dark Chocolate

Cost: $10.99

www.dufflet.com

Everyone knows the name Dufflet. It's synonymous with heavenly baked goods. If you haven't had a cake, tart or pastry from Dufflet, then there's something horribly wrong with your life. And you don't have to visit a Dufflet store to buy the cakes (although, it is fun 'cause you get to buy miniature treats for yourself other people). Dufflet cakes are available at many grocery stores such as Loblaws, The Kitchen Table, Rabba's, Longo's and Grocery Gateway (online). For a full list, go here.

But the reason to go to a Dufflet store is so that you can buy 'small indulgences' like the one pictured here. Cranberries and blueberries drowned in pure dark Belgian chocolate! No artificial flavours...really. I looked.

I bought this tin at 25% off, which is still pricey, but worth it if you really want to indulge. Just have a little handful..it's better than, say, having a whole cake.