Porto's Bakery

Porto's Bakery again. (Another bakery of opportunity after stopping by the Brand used bookstore.) This time got an assortment of pastries. Croissant and almond croissant were ok. Pineapple turnover/strudel is forgettable. The hot pastries were great...ham croquette, chicken, & bean/plantain...all excellent. Cheese pastry again most wonderful. Tried a coconut sweet ball with a hard sugar glaze...not bad, but very sweet. Unfortunately the person putting together forgot the bread, so I didn't get a chance to try it.

Germany, Luxembourg, and Unurban

Trip to Trier, Germany. Various foods eaten over two-three days. Croissants were amazing...probably because they use European style butter? Pretzels were no different, so a bit disappointing. Whole grain breads, rye breads, etc, were amazing. There were a large number of bakeries and they were always busy. Cookies were ok. Meals were primarily meat with a side veggie...sauerkraut or broccoli. Ate at one nice restaurant...venison (a bit overdone) and fried mashed potato fingers...also tried chicken in almond sauce (now I know I need to use amaretto next time I make it). Dessert was so-so, but with an amazing vanilla ice cream...I'm not even sure how they got it to taste that good. Breakfasts at the hotel were also good, with meats, cereals, breads, yogurts, quark, and eggs. I got a new appreciation for mineralwasser of all types.

Spent a wonderful afternoon in Luxembourg. Stopped at a patisserie for an exquisite onion quiche with caraway. Croissant was ok but a bit dry. baguette fine, better than grocery store, but not top tier. Saw many wonderful looking chocolates and pies and tarts at many different stores downtown...a whirlwind of yummy looking food. Had the lightest waffle (covered in powdered sugar and a really thick whipped cream) from a stall.

Back in Santa Monica, Unurban Cafe has free wifi, still has excellent latte (so frothy and smooth), which comes in a glass beer stein, and not too bad croissant (dry and not all butter, but large).