Thursday, February 25, 2010

Frappuccino

Frap•puc•ci•no [ fràppə chnō ]
Trademark
Definition: a trademark for a drink made of coffee blended with milk
crushed ice, and flavorings

I hate to admit it but I am becoming, wait, nope I am a coffee snob. I grew up in a family of tea drinkers and had never tasted coffee until I was in my college days. As the years have gone by I have come to love my ‘joe’ and did not realize just how much until my recent visit to the Big Apple.

My first New York experience was a frozen mocha which they referred to as a frappuccino and I said no…frozen mocha. They said no, a frappaccino! Hello people this is not Starbucks and I know what a frappaccino is and this drink was not a frappuccino. In fact it wasn't even a good frozen mocha.

My next experience with a coffee drink was at Chelsea Market in a coffee shop. I ordered a mocha and I waited and waited…and waited. For some reason ordering a mocha appears to have been a foreign language order in New York. There was much confusion about how to make a mocha. The person making it came out of the kitchen with a plastic tub, took a cookie scoop and scooped out something chocolate looking and put it in my coffee. At home our chocolate is generally in liquid form and pumped into the cup not scooped from a tub. I drank it with a bit of trepidation.

I next tried ordering coffee at Oro Bakery and Bar in Little Italy. I ordered a mocha once again thinking that three times is a charm. Eve our barista made this mocha using large discs of chocolate, like king sized chocolate chips. That was another new one for me. Of the three times I had tried for a simple mocha this one was by far the best of the lot. It sure made me appreciate how coffee is made right here at home. Huge thanks to the gang at my downtown Café Lladro, Ian, Sheena, Celeste and Leizel, who spoil me endlessly. I just walk in the door and they say, ‘the usual’, I nod and next thing I'm holding a mocha!

My new favorite place to hang out and drink great cups of coffee is Via Vadi Caffe' in South Park at the corner of 14th and Cloverdale. This new little shop is owned by the vivacious Maria, who can hold her own no matter who is in the room. She makes a great cup of coffee delivered with the most fun sense of humor wrapped around a total family experience. Once you go there you are already family. Her shop is new, only one month old but she is busier every day. Maria is introducing South Seattle to the delicious Italian desserts she has loved all her life. Favorites so far have included the maple twists and real Cannoli. Yes I’m talking REAL Cannoli, with the cream made right there by her brother Otto. Until our next meal, and cup of coffee…roux the day.

1 Sassy Tomato

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

om⋅e⋅let
[om-lit, om-uh-]
–noun
eggs beaten until frothy, often combined with other ingredients, as herbs, chopped ham, cheese, or jelly, and cooked until set.

Hello New York City! We arrived on a redeye, checked into our hotel and it was time for breakfast. Our hotel was in Chelsea on 29th between 8th and 9th, so finding a restaurant should not be too difficult. Then again…the front desk directed us to Bagel Haven just a block and a half walk. We were excited to be walking around the hustle and bustle of New Yorkers on their way to work. The deli atmosphere had us all excited, since we really don’t have many of them in Seattle.

For a deli it was huge in my opinion, lots of tables, and lots of room. What did surprise me was having no idea where to place our order. Did we go to one end of the counter or the other? Did we just take a table and someone would wait on us? We had no idea. As it turned out if we wanted to place an order we could sit and someone would take it, but we were following the crowd and placed our order at the counter ourselves. It was hotter than an oven in the place and when they found out we wanted a table but had ‘placed’ our own order they marched us upstairs to sit. If we thought it was hot downstairs it was worse upstairs.

I ordered a mushroom omelet and JM ordered a Swiss omelet. They asked what kind of toast we wanted. When our breakfasts arrived they were served in little metal trays! What’s with that, I gave up Swanson’s when I was six. And to beat that the toast was cold and wrapped in aluminum foil. This isn’t going to get any better, I just knew it!

My big disappointment was the omelet itself. It was just some beaten eggs and some indescribable mushrooms of an unknown origin, mixed together and folded over like a pancake. I did know they were not from a can, beyond that I was not sure. Anyway, overcooked, dry, rubbery eggs folded! That was it! I peaked between the layers and nothing. I looked at JM and she was also checking her omelet, apparently looking for the cheese. She did have cheese but was concerned when she found mushrooms! Clearly they made one mix of eggs and added cheese. Needless to say we didn’t consume much of our first New York meal.

We also ordered a frozen coffee drink here that they wanted to call a frappaccino. Being from Seattle, the Land of Coffee these guys don’t have a clue about a frappaccino. Who were they trying to kid? Oh and coffee in NYC, that’s going to be another blog post all together. Until our next meal...roux the day!

1 Sassy Tomato