Happy Birthday to my sister Andria. I marked the occasion by phoning her up and singing Happy Birthday, complete with a stunning sixty second long final note that sent my dogs into full panic – after which I was informed she was going to lunch with a bunch of friends and had me on speaker phone the whole time.
After my morning workout, I showered, shaved, dressed, and then it was off to lunch – or, in this case, brunch. We happened to find parking right in front of DB Bistro, a sure sign from the food gods that we were fated to eat there. They started us off with a tasty, complimentary little fruit parfait before we moved on to the heavy hitters: a very delicious terrine, one of the best Quiche Lorraine’s I’ve ever tasted (for her), and phenomenal smoked salmon club for yours truly…
As much as I would have loved some dessert (I was eyeing that flourless chocolate cake), I was so stuffed I felt I’d regret ordering. On the other hand, I knew I’d probably regret NOT ordering as well. Fortunately, General Manager Chris Gonzalez was on hand to offer up a compromise solution in the form of some home made lemon Madeleines…
Chris boxed up the leftovers and had them waiting for us as we headed out.
From there, we headed out to the Japanese Street Festival going on down in Oppenheimer Park. After driving aimlessly around for some twenty minutes looking for parking, winding my way through drug addicts and drunks, it was decided we’d made the most of our outing and we headed home.
But, on the way, I decided to stop off at…
Like it says on the sign in the picture: Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France. And what were we there for?
With the untimely demise of Chocoatl, this has now become my go-to place for my chocolate fix. Owner Anne-Geneviève Poitras puts much love into her delectable little creations – well, love and cacao – and has, over time, built a discerning and loyal customer base. On this day, while I was waiting for the dark chocolate and sea salt tablettes to cool, about a half-dozen regulars came through, each one picking up “their usual” indulgences be they the delicate house truffles or the home made dark chocolate. Speaking of the truffles, Akemi had the Earl Grey and was mightily impressed by its elegance and flavor.
Today’s was a much more successful lunch outing than yesterday when we checked out local ramen-ya Benkei.
The ramen here was just alright, surprisingly lacking in the fuller flavor of many of its competitors (and, in this neighborhood, there are quite a few of them). The side order of chashu (pork) was rather dry and had me yearning for rival Santouka’s simmered pork jowl toroniku.
Since we were in the neighborhood and Akemi was in the market for a new English language manga to tackle, we stopped by Sakura Media – the place for all your anime and manga needs. For a brief instant, I thought I’d been transported to Comic Con –
Leave a Reply