I set foot in America for the first time in over two years last Wednesday. After having already flown on two flights for 9.5 hours before landing in Philadelphia and with a 5 hour layover and an additional 6 hour flight to California ahead of me I knew I was going to need some caffeine. First stop: Saxbys Coffee, a coffee chain I had never seen before. I ordered a low-fat iced mocha and got exactly what I had expected and wanted! Yay! Then I bought an old-fashioned donut to eat with my mocha at a very well-known donut chain and was totally disappointed. The only sensations I had were sweet and oily with a bit of fluff. Nothing special at all. This chain has recently set up shop all over Berlin, Germany, and I had tried a donut there on one of my recent visits, but hadn't liked it. So when I saw the chain here in the US I thought: 'Let's give it one more try. The donuts may be better here.' No chance, though. The donuts at Safeway, a supermarket chain we have in California, even taste better!
I thought my bad food experiences were done for the day (I had already been exposed to bad airplane food earlier in the day--big surprise...) when I found out as I was boarding the plane that there were no free drinks or food to be had on my six hour flight across the United States! WHAT?!?! As if that weren't bad enough the food and drinks had to be paid for in cash and I didn't have any more cash after having spent it on my "healthy" welcome-back-to-America snack. Fortunately, or, rather, unfortunately, my neighbor on the flight was kind enough to give me 9 dollars so I could purchase a tiny, non-exciting "chef's salad" and a bottle of water. What a waste of money!
The next day, Thursday, I gave in to a craving I had been having lately: root beer float! My dad and I were shopping at one of my favorite supermarkets in town, Nugget Market, and I decided to pick up some root beer and some Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream for the float. Nugget Market had a wide selection of root beers, but almost all of them had flavorings in them and I was looking for something as natural as possible. I finally settled on Virgil's Root Beer. It was the only root beer I could find that didn't have any flavorings in it. Just herbs and spices. So after lunch I made a root beer float for my dad and myself. For those of you unfamiliar with root beer floats: all you do is put vanilla ice cream in a glass and fill the glass with root beer. Yum yum! I really like Virgil's and would buy it again.
On Friday I fell in love...with Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates. The Gateau Maison (photo: right), described as a "Classic European Chocolate Cake", was delicious, but the Gianduja Cake (photo: left) was just outstanding!! The Gianduja Cake is described as "72% Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Biscuit with a Crunchy Hazelnut Bottom". The combination of textures and flavors are a celebration in the mouth. Both cakes were very fresh. After sampling both cakes my friend and I decided to eat the Gateau Maison first because its flavors were less intense than the flavors of the Gianduja Cake. We also shared a Oaxacan Spicy Hot Chocolate with whipped cream which was also very, very, very tasty. I wish I had the recipes!
More stories to come after I get back from Slow Food Nation taking place this week in San Francisco!
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Hmmm....Saxby's! Something new, I've never heard of it. Just what we need, another coffee establishment! As for the root beer float, as you know, it's one of my very favorite things. And I knew you'd love Ginger Elizabeth. We went there on our last visit to Davis and I must say, it was extraordinary!! Hope to give you some "Blog" experiences when you venture to Los Angeles.
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