With the Sea Light of Greece

I spent last weekend more or less eating my way through the Bay Area, from San Francisco (Happy Shabu Shabu and Sweet Maple), to Menlo Park (Amici's), to Redwood City (Milagro's). My final stop brought me to Castro Street in Mountain View, to a quaint Greek place by the name of Cafe Baklava.

I hadn't had Mediterranean food in a long time, and I started salivating a little at the mere thought of falafel and spanikopita. This place did not disappoint me one bit.

After much deliberation over what to order, I decided upon the falafel wrap, foregoing other delicious-looking choices such as the chicken wrap and the spanikopita (which, at this restaurant, is served as a meal, rather than as an appetizer).

The restaurant serves its patrons complimentary (and extremely tasty) pita bread with an olive oil-based dip, and since my friends and I love all carbs, we polished off our basket fairly quickly.

The falafel was great; a good combination of moist and crispy. I added cucumbers to my wrap, because I love them, and because they are just delectable when accompanied by tzatziki sauce. My meal drew raves from my friends as well, as did the doner wrap and the tavuk wrap (lamb and chicken, respectively). 

This restaurant is definitely worth checking out: a nice downtown location, delicious food, good service, and outdoor seating, for those sunny days on the Peninsula.

Seating is limited (both outdoors and indoors), so either make a reservation, or be prepared to put in some time waiting for a table. I think it's worth it, though. 

Easy Like Sunday Morning

I had Sunday morning breakfast for the second week in a row, and I am beyond pleased. This morning, I had a mid-morning breakfast at Copenhagen Bakery in downtown Burlingame. 

Copenhagen is broken up in to two parts. The first is the bakery section, which offers an array of unique and beautiful cakes, pastries, and breads. The second is the restaurant portion, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The establishment on the whole has a quaint, homely feel to it, helped by the rudimentary and sparse decorations. Things tend to impress me when they don't try to do too much.

As usual, I spent about ten minutes jumping back and forth amongst potential meal options (French toast? Eggs? Pancakes?) before deciding upon strawberries and cream Belgian waffles (sans whipped cream, and with the strawberries on the side). The waffles were fantastic--perfectly golden, and with the right combination of crunch and softness.

I sampled a little bit of my friends' meals as well, and items such as the French toast and chocolate chip pancakes received raves all around.

After breakfast came time to conquer the bakery portion, during which I twiddled my thumbs while my friends tried out some of the various baked goods.

Okay, that's a lie. I tried a little bit of something and had to quell the urge not to spit it back out immediately. It had an excellent almond and vanilla essence, but otherwise tasted like straight sugar, only cookie-shaped. Which I guess is the whole point, for those who are in to that sort of thing.

I'd love to go back, despite the Bakery being more of a hike than is probably necessary for weekend brunch. But Burlingame is a cute town, it has a great farmer's market, and has several restaurants just waiting to be explored--or revisited, as the case may be.

New York State of Mind

A couple of recent events have made me really yearn for New York City.

1. Jon Stewart's recent bit on New York pizza. I want some thin-crusted, cheesy goodness right now, please.

2. Last night's Tony Awards:

I'm hoping to see the touring production of Billy Elliot in San Francisco this summer, but nothing quite compares to being in NYC's Theatre District. Also, I want to see The Book of Mormon so badly (interesting, given my general dislike for South Park), but that's pretty unlikely to happen any time soon. 

3. I've been listening to a lot of Billy Joel recently, courtesy of both 103.7 FM and my own iTunes collection. True, he's technically a Long Islander, but I still always associate him with New York in general.

4. It's baseball season! I caught a few minutes of YES Network's coverage via MLB's Gameday last week, and I sat at my computer, literally beaming at the sound of Paul O'Neill's voice. Michael Kay's, too, to a lesser degree, as embarrassing as that is to admit.

It's no fun being out of territory.  I have to settle for catching errant games on ESPN; at least this way, I occasionally get to hear Aaron Boone in the booth. I wish traveling long distances were as easy as Carmen Sandiego made it seem.

If I Were a Rich Man

Back in January, I posted an entry in which I discussed tipping etiquette.

On Tuesday, Jim Boulden, a CNN correspondent, discussed the subject of tipping in a CNN business blog, and I wanted to share it here as a follow-up to my previous post.

Boulden identifies the problems with tipping within America, both inherent and brought upon, and I think he raises a few interesting points. 

Tipping continues to be an unfamiliar concept to most people who are foreigners to America. After all, in places like Italy, India, and Costa Rica, it's not customary to tip waiters or bartenders—the number at the end of your bill is usually all you're expected to pay.

Conversely, Americans who go into another country are probably instinctively ready to tip at the end of a meal. In many countries, servers will probably willingly take your money, and your ignorance will translate into an unexpected profit for them. However, there are other countries in which servers will be either confused, or worse, insulted, by your attempts to give them money for a job for which they are already receiving a (non-paltry) salary.

I don't want there to be some worldwide tipping protocol—these differences are part of what make traveling to new locales a unique experience—but this subject just goes back to the benefits of being as informed a traveler as you possibly can. 

It's easy, really: If you're going abroad, do your homework.

Breakfast of Champions

On Sunday morning, my friends and I had breakfast at Panini Cafe, located in Aliso Viejo. The restaurant is a chain, and in addition to its primary fare of Italian and Mediterranean cuisine (YUM), it also serves breakfast. 

I spent a few minutes staring longingly at the listing for French Toast, before deciding that I really wanted more of a savory breakfast. The restaurant offers all kinds of scrambles, omelettes, and breakfast sandwiches, each one more delicious-sounding than the last. I finally decided on the Mediterranean omelette, minus the olives, which left me with a combination of egg whites, feta, tomatoes, and spinach.  

The omelette was so, so good. For the first time in maybe my entire life, I did not feel the need to salt my eggs. That's probably because feta often has a higher sodium content than most cheeses, so its presence was enough to increase the saltiness of the spinach and eggs as well.
Additionally, the potatoes that accompanied my meal were seasoned, and enough so that they didn't require any salt for flavor. My blood pressure is probably so appreciative of this meal.

Some other things that I enjoyed:

• The Panini Cafe does a nice job with their sides. They offer a side of either roasted potatoes or fresh fruit (I chose the former, since I don't enjoy fruit when it's mixed together), and either sourdough or nine-grain toast. Also found on the plate: a random sprig of lettuce adorned by a tomato slice.

• Egg whites are available for substitution at no extra cost, which is awesome, since most places charge you up to a dollar more just for choosing a healthier option. 

• The wait staff is attentive and friendly. At no point were we rushed to order, or rushed to depart the restaurant, which allowed us to enjoy a leisurely Sunday morning breakfast. The waiters and waitresses also consistently returned to our table to refill our drinks, and made sure that we had everything we needed at all times, without resorting to hovering.

• The restaurant offers unlimited free refills on coffee. Also, their coffee brand of choice is Lavazza, a tasty Italian brand that my father drank often when I was a child. I may or may not have once invented a song involving Lavazza, my father, and...cars. And feet.

I don't expect to be returning here any time soon, mainly because I don't know when I'll be in Southern California again—and if I am, there are still so many places that I'd like to discover. However, I'd really love to explore the lunch/dinner portion of their menu (caprese paninis make my belly so happy), so...we'll see.

We'll Have Food, Lots of Food

In my world, the best way to eat at Disneyland (and other theme parks) is cost-effectively. That said, I would like not to torture my taste buds, so it's still important to choose meals wisely.

If you're looking not to break the bank any further (since you already did a bit just to enter the park), stay away from the formal sit-down restaurants and opt for the smaller places located around the park. I'd recommend staying away from the mobile stands, though, unless it's to purchase churros, soft drinks, ice cream, or soft pretzels. I saw far too many suspect chimichangas and turkey legs over the course of the day. 

While in the park on Saturday, we had lunch at Hungry Bear, located on Critter Country. The menu's not terribly extensive, but there's still enough from which to order. Also, there are sweet potato fries! All three of us ordered the turkey and provolone sandwich with a side of the sweet potato fries, although I got my sandwich without the basil mayonnaise spread, since I dislike all condiments not called ketchup.

This sandwich was, without a doubt, the best meal I ate all day. I also spent under $10, which I consider to be a huge win. There was a smidge too much turkey for my liking, and I would have found it dry had I not added ketchup, but overall, the sandwich was really tasty. It was served on soft whole-grain roll, too. The sweet potato fries were well-salted (although surprise, surprise, I added more), and the perfect combination of soft and crisp.
The staff at the restaurant was really friendly, too. I suppose you can't very well be a sourpuss when you work at the Happiest Place on Earth, but both women with whom I primarily interacted were really genial and kind—one even randomly gave my friend a free soft drink.

We had a midday snack of ice cream on Main Street, at Gibson Girl. There were a bunch of different flavors (all of Dreyer's brand), and I wanted to branch out a little from my standard chocolate—I was drawn temporarily to the cookie dough, but remembered that it's failed me before (at Baskin Robbins), and so decided on chocolate chip in a waffle cone. The ice cream wasn't bad, but it really reinforced the fact that Halo Pub is the only place at which I truly adore chocolate chip ice cream. All other ice cream shops and brands need not apply.

For dinner, we stopped in at Pizza Port, an eatery located in Tomorrowland. Pizza Port has a few different counters, at which you can pick up one or more plates of ready-made food. Patrons can choose from a small array of salads, pastas, and pizzas. I chose the vegetable pizza (although the cheese looked scrumptious, too), which smelled fantastic and looked to be quite tasty. 

Only it wasn't. At all. 

The dough of the pizza tasted a bit like paper, while the consistency of the cheese is perhaps best described as...gritty. The vegetables had a little bit of flavor, which marginally helped to salvage the meal. That and the crushed red pepper I more or less poured all over my slice.

I found this non-meal particularly sad since I had been craving pizza all week long and had looked forward to having some since arriving at the park that morning. Not really the way I wanted to fulfill that craving. I made up for it on Sunday, though, by having lunch at the Z Pizza in Newport Beach, and indulging in two slices of their tomato and basil pizza. 

Tasty and inexpensive. Perfect.

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

I spent all of Saturday in Disneyland, being a kid. That and dreaming of ways that I could cross paths with the Yankees, who were also in Anaheim for a weekend series against the Angels.

 

The last time I was at Disneyland was during the summer of '94, so I remembered very little about the park beyond Splash Mountain. Also, it's safe to say that despite my shaky memory, a sufficient number of things have changed/been added since my last visit, so I'd be unable to remember them anyway.

My more recent Disney memories take place at Disney World, which I visited for the first (and only) time in early 2004, so it was this park that I used to create my Disney frame of reference.

 

I can't compare my experiences, because they were so vastly different. I can, however, compare the rides and the parks as entities. Let's discuss.

 

Space Mountain in Florida? Awesome. Space Mountain in California? Made me queasy. It was apparently recently redone, and not for the better, if you ask me.

 

Tower of Terror: Equally horrifying, though having done it before in Florida, I was marginally less worried that I'd die this time around.

 

Muppet Theatre: FANTASTIC, no matter where.

 

Once you get past the similiarities, both locations are very distinct and each have their own pros and cons.

 

Disneyland is perfect for a one day trip; we bought park hopper passes between Disneyland and California Adventure and, with the assistance of a few FastTrak passes, tackled everything we wanted to do, and then some.

I got to experience a few rides that didn't exist back in 2004, and I loved all of them: Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (it's interactive, it's different, and it's FUN!), Soarin' Over California, and the newly-opened Little Mermaid Ride.  

Disney World, on the other hand, is much more suited for a lengthier stay, particularly as it's comprised of four parks, each one chock-full of things to do.

Some of the big winners here include: Epcot (yes, all of it, although I think it has even more potential than it currently displays) and Animal Kingdom (there's a petting zoo, and several other fantastic attractions).

 

I have some general quibbles with the Disney Parks overall, though. I'd like to know why such Disney gems and classics such as Beauty and the Beast (my all-time favorite) and The Lion King have nary a presence (ride-wise, there are evidently shows dedicated to these films at Disney World), while films such as Tangled are awarded space. Aladdin, too, was avoided until recently--there's now a magic carpet ride (see what I did there?) in Disney World's Magic Kingdom, and "a musical spectacular" at Disneyland.

I doubt I could ever be someone who visits the park multiple times a year. But I'm enamored with Disney, and its theme parks, and so would love to visit every couple of years. When the distance between visits has been lengthy, I feel like I'm experiencing everything anew. At a place like Disney, there's no better feeling.