Bay Bridge

There were a few brochures and magazines in our hotel room. One of them had a tantalizing photo on its cover: eggs, bacon, pancakes, sausage and potatoes. It doesn’t sound very special but believe you me, it was.

We decided we couldn’t leave the city without trying that place out for Sunday brunch (proof that we eat with our eyes first).  We hoofed it to SoMa from our hotel in Union Square. It wasn’t the short saunter we were hoping for after having walked six miles the day before (I prefer to say 10 kilometres; it sounds like a bigger feat that way).

Anyway, we got to Prospect a little before eleven and it was closed. Sean sat down on the benches outside and I strolled to The Embarcadero to take photos of the Bay Bridge.

The doors opened at eleven sharp. We were led to a table in a corner with great views of the street and the restaurant. The place is quite big, hip and modern.

I ordered ricotta donuts with chocolate sauce and toffee sauce to start. The donuts were light and fluffy and delicious. Unfortunately, the chocolate sauce tasted a bit like candle wax and the toffee sauce was slightly bitter and the sugar had crystallized. Sean had a warm ham, apple and cheddar cheese hand pie – a fancy name for an empanada. It wasn’t very tasty and had confectioner’s sugar sprinkled on top.

Ricotta donuts

Although the starters weren’t super delicious, the mains more than made up for it. Sean chose the Prospector, the breakfast combo the restaurant is known for and which was pictured on that magazine cover. It looked exactly like the photo. Every component was well cooked and delicious, made with good quality ingredients: two strips of bacon, a pork apple sausage, two over easy eggs, corn skillet cakes and home fries.

The Prospector

I had the egg sandwich, a rather deceptive name as it had more than egg in it. The pork belly was crispy and melted in my mouth, the egg was perfectly cooked and the home fries were very tasty. The egg and pork belly were served on a slightly toasted English muffin and the pork belly half had pepper jelly. The jelly was full of flavour but a touch too sweet for my taste.

Egg sandwich

I’ll definitely come back to Prospect the next time we’re in town. I want to see if the crispy pig trotters and the duck hash are as good as the dishes we had.

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We had a table booked for 8:15 on a Friday. The place was heaving with people. There was an hour’s wait for those without reservations. Ouch!

The layout is very interesting: the bar is on one side and the tables are on the opposite side, divided by a staircase that leads to the restrooms and the small museum that will house a collection of samurai-related art. The eating area opens to the big patio -said the be the biggest in Dallas,- which gives the place a nice flow.

This layout made for very interesting people watching. We noticed the differences in style, hair and even body shape between the ‘burbs and hip, chic downtown/uptown.

We were told that they were planning to change the menu soon and I’m sure the food will be every bit as good as what we were served today.

We ordered two small plates: dates stuffed with chorizo and wrapped in bacon with a roasted tomato-piquillo pepper sauce and the charcuterie platter. The stuffed dates were my favourite:  the sweetness of the date worked very well with the saltiness of the bacon and the smoky flavour of the chorizo. The charcuterie platter included foie gras pate, which wasn’t bad but had no foie gras taste to it, duck prosciutto (it felt greasy), soppressata. Dijon mustard, cornichons and Melba toast.

Charcuterie platter - Saint Ann

Sean ordered the Texas Kobe beef burger with pickled onions, Texas cheddar and arugula on a ciabatta bun with sweet potato fries. I swear I could hear angels playing the harp when I tasted the burger. It was packed with flavour! Our waiter told us that the delicious cheese was local and that we could find it at Central Market. The pickled red onion took it to the next level.

I had a baby lettuce and herb salad dressed with olive oil, sherry vinegar and brioche croutons, Simple as it may sound, it was very fresh and delicious. The brioche croutons were more-ish.

For dessert I had a lemon tart with mascarpone cheese. The filling was tart and flavoursome (and I could taste the lemon zest), well balanced by the creamy mascarpone.

Lemon tart with mascarpone cheese - Saint Ann

(The quality of the photo isn’t very good because I used my phone and cancelled the flash following diner etiquette rules.)

All in all, Saint Ann is a good place to meet friends for a meal or hang out in the patio with a drink.

After walking around Guildford for a while, shopping and seeing the sights, I decided it was time for a much needed break. Now, where to eat? I saw a French bistro that looked interesting but when I’m by myself, I prefer smaller, more intimate environments.

Across the street was this lovely little cafe called Glutton & Glee. What got my attention was the sign outside that read “British food, locally sourced.” So in I went.

 Small and cozy describe it very well: there are three single tables downstairs next to the window, the counter and a couple of ovens (as I was paying, someone was removing a cake from the oven. It smelled delicious.) There is marginally more room upstairs: three single ones and two tables for four. The castle gardens can be seen from the window. I loved the ancient wood beams supporting the ceiling.

I ordered a Sherbourne Farm ham and cheddar with Sussex beer mustard on sourdough bread, a lemonade and a coffee. The sandwich came with some potato crisps (or chips, depending who’s reading this) and cost £ 4.95. I’d forgotten that English mustard was such a great sinus cleanser!

The ingredients were fresh and tasty and the coffee was good. The staff are young, enthusiastic and paid attention to every detail. A lovely experience.

Glutton & Glee Cafe

6, Tunsgate

Guildford

Thank you very much, we’re honoured!

As soon as you sit down, the server brings a plate with samples of different kinds of cake. That’s my favourite moment. I usually scarf them down before the coffee arrives, although I try to pace myself. The coffee’s good and there are endless refills.

Coffe and cake

As a rule, food here is very good. Portions are big enough to share (although it’s not family style) or take home for dinner. The kitchen is efficient and produces food relatively quickly and consistently.

Their buttermilk pancakes are huge, almost as big as the plate, and light and fluffy. One of my favourite dishes is the French ham Benedicts, with smoked ham, asparagus, over easy eggs and hollandaise sauce served over a croissant. It comes with breakfast potatoes or fresh fruit.

French eggs Benedict

Sean’s favourite is the Southwest migas: scrambled eggs, chorizo, tortilla strips, onions, peppers, jalapenos, salsa and soft tortillas.

Southwest migas

The only item on the menu that I didn’t care for was the queen of hearts salad, the dressing felt sandy in my mouth.

Their baked goods are also delicious. We’ve bought their ginger cake is perfect; moist, spicy and not too sweet. The other day I bought a blueberry and lemon muffin to go. It made my flight more enjoyable!

Texas in known for it’s barbeque and Texans take pride in this. Every Texan has a secret family recipe for the sauce or the rub or for they way the meat is smoked. So jealously guarded that they would have to kill you if they told you.

There are so many barbeque restaurants and pits in the Lone Star state that it indeed is an incredible accomplishment to be in the top 5. Many Texan towns have staked a claim to the best barbeque: Lockhart, Taylor, Luling, you name it. And there is Lexington, the Mount Olympus of the gods of barbeque.

Lexington is located about 50 miles northeast of Austin, in the Texas hinterland. It’s so small that if you sneeze while driving, chances are you’ll miss it. Its main attraction, for me, is the weekly cattle auction. Unfortunately, they day we arrived it was cancelled because of inclement weather. At least I was able to say hi to a few cows.

Snow’s BBQ opens at 8 on Saturday mornings and closes when they run out of meat, which can happen pretty early. We got there at around 12:45 and they were already cleaning up. There were a few ribs, a chunk of pork and a lonely sausage on the counter. The kind lady behind the counter was sorry we got the leftovers and that they wouldn’t be as good. We were happy to get anything! She added a half chicken, which she said was dry and overcooked. She  weighed the food and gave us a discount (out of pity?), thirty dollars worth of barbeque for twenty, plus a Styrofoam tub of cole slaw and a tub of potato salad fore less than 30 US dollars altogether. She didn’t charge us for the waters.

To call it a no-frills joint is almost a misnomer. They plonk the meat on a tray and away you go. There is a kitchen roll, salt, pepper and hot sauce on each table. We used sheets of kitchen paper as makeshift plates but mainly ate with our fingers.

The potato salad was very tasty and it had dill and chopped pickles. That’s a good idea I’m going to copy. The slaw had the right amount of dressing. It may have looked dry but was perfectly seasoned and flavorful. And the best part (for me) was that it wasn’t sweet (I can’t stand sweet cole slaw.)

The meat is blissfully sauce-free. You’re supplied with a tub of sauce on the side in case you prefer to smear the meat (not necessary, in my humble opinion.) The sauce is tangy, almost vinegary, and ever so slightly sweet. It’s the best I’ve tasted so far.

The sausage had a lot of flavour and was delicious both hot and cold the day after. Although we were forewarned that the chicken was overcooked, we dug in and found it tender and very flavoursome. I picked up a leg and the meat started to slide smoothly off the bone. Need I say more?

The ribs were perfectly cooked, smoky, delicious. They were so tender that if you stared at them hard, the meat fell off the bone. They didn’t need any sauce because it would have masked the smoky, porky flavour of the meat.

The chunks of pork looked sad and dry. By God were we wrong! The meat was incredibly tender and moist, smoky and salty. It was heavenly. It tasted the way real pork should taste. I have to stop typing now, I’m drooling all over the keyboard.

The owners thoughtfully supply tin foil plastic bags for leftovers.

Hands down, this is the best barbeque we’ve ever eaten (outside Argentina, that is.)

Snow’s BBQ

516 N. Main

Lexington – Tx 78937

“Opes Saturdays only – 8 am till sold out!“

What a disappointment that was! Service was bad: the table Nazi wouldn’t let us choose a table although the place was virtually empty and she never cracked the tiniest smile. The café au lait was good but the croissants were rather dry and over baked, as was the pain au chocolat. We decided not to believe travel guides or users’ comments ever again.

Cut to January 2010. We are in Ottawa again, not on a road trip but on consular business. We had an appointment at the American Consulate at 9 am last Tuesday. Since for security reasons, you’re not allowed to bring phones or cameras inside (even my lip gloss and chewing gum were confiscated!), we took nothing but our passports and paperwork with us (as well as parkas, scarves, gloves and wooly hats).

Once the deed was done, Sean suggested we try the French Bakery again for breakfast. It was only three blocks away, anyway. Our masochistic side got the better of us and off we went.

The table Nazi was gone and replaced by the nicest, most attentive maitre, who even greeted us with a smile. He even anticipated our need for café au lait and croissants (or maybe our frozen noses and hat hair gave us away). The croissants and pain au chocolat were soft and buttery and perfectly baked.  It was pure bliss. This Croissant Angel went round the tables with a jug of hot milk in case your coffee had gone cold. How can one fault that?

Boulanger Français

119 Murray St, Byward Market

Tel, info: 613 789 7941

P.S.: for the reasons mentioned above I wasn’t able to take photos. These were taken in 2009.

Walking around this town is like stepping back in history. Sean, my parents and I came here on the last Sunday of our visit home before we returned to Dallas.

Train station

We visited the old train station, a brick building that dates from 1892 (quite old for New World standards!), the main square, the church -which is located across from the square in the typical Argentinean country town layout and built in memory of the founder’s wife-, and the Escuela Agrotécnica Salesiana Don Bosco -an agricultural school run by Salesian priests where we bough cheese, dulce de leche and various preserves, like blackberry and tangerine, all made on the premises.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant housed in a beautifully preserved building. The main draw of this place is that it is actually a microbrewery. Yes, they brew the same ice cold beer we enjoyed after traipsing around on a hot summer day. We tried all three kinds: lager (very drinkable), stout (smooth) and India pale ale (hands down, my favourite).

India pale ale, stout and lager

The menu at Cerveceria Artesanal La Uribeña (as it’s called in Sapnish) is restricted to their two specialities: homemade pasta and picada. The pasta dishes looked and smelled delicious but none of us had pasta, so I can’t really say. But the picada was something else. Just the memory of that wonderful selection of cold cuts makes my mouth water. A picada is the Argentinean version of Spanish tapas. It usually consists of an assortment of cold cuts and cheeses, bread, peanuts, olives and pickled veggies. The kind and amount of ingredients vary according to personal taste and wallet size.

Our picada had liver sausage (leberwurst), bondiola (an Italian style pork sausage), two different kinds of salami, longaniza (pork sausage flavoured with aniseed), Cracow sausage, cheese, olives, pickles and soft white bread. Everything was incredibly fresh, sourced locally (probably made round the corner!) and very tasty.

Picada de campo

Cerveceria artesanal La Uribeña

Valeria de Crotto 901. T: (02226) 49-3001 / 3101.

Uribelarrea – Provincia de Buenos Aires

Opens Thursdays to Sundays. Cash only.

It was raining very hard but Sean worked his magic and an empty taxi appeared from nowhere. We gave the driver the address of one of my favourite restaurants, Olsen. With all the excitement I’d forgotten to call in advance. Big mistake. As it turns out, it closes on Mondays –especially rainy Mondays.

After some deliberations, we went to Miranda Parrilla Argentina. Yes, yet another steakhouse but we just can’t help it. We’d never been there before but I read good things about the place, like this New York Times review.

Considering it was a Monday night- and did I mention the rain? – the place was full. Most patrons were foreigners; the staff and I were outnumbered!

Now to the food. We had a provoleta al oreganato to start. It consists of a thick slice of provolone cheese sprinkled with oregano and grilled until golden and crispy and absolutely scrumptious.

Provoleta al oreganato

I had the Patagonian lamb with rosemary roasted potatoes, aubergine puree (smoky, tangy and delicious) and a rather sweet dipping sauce. The first bite of lamb almost brought tears to my eyes. Although it hurts to admit it, the second piece of lamb was slightly overcooked. Sorry Three Forks [Dallas], I found my lamb paradise.

Grilled Patagonian lamb

Sean had a lovely, juicy, medium rare spot of beef with roasted potatoes, chimichurri and a very clever side: grilled egg. How on earth does one grill an egg? Easy: inside half a red bell pepper. Ingenious and very tasty. He thoroughly enjoyed his meal.

Hearty steak with grilled egg

We washed it all down with Las Hormigas malbec. No room left for pudding so we had coffee instead.

Aaaaah! I love my country.

Miranda is located on the corner of Fitz Roy and Costa Rica streets.

Opening hours:  every day from 9 am to 1 am, Fridays and Saturdays until 2 am.

MIRANDA UPDATE: I met up with a friend there for dinner last night. I had their “cazuelita de calabaza y choclo” (butternut squash, sweet corn and cheese casserole). It was sweet and satisfying, ideal for a winter night. My friend had tira de asado (shortribs, sort of) with the grilled egg. Very tasty!