At last, I’ve had High Tea at The Rotunda at Neiman Marcus in San Francisco.  I went with my High Tea Buddy, Desiree.  Whenever we see each other, we find a new place for tea.  The Rotunda was a new favorite.  It’s got that amazing glass dome ceiling (with great light, a photographer’s dream).  Then there are the cushy red velvet chairs, sandwiches with crusts cut off and waitstaff that makes you feel like royalty.  Oh, and I had a fantastic pot of Organic Emperor’s Jasmine White tea.

Louis Mueller BBQ in Taylor, Texas is just special.  Great atmosphere and even greater food.  The ribs were a bit peppery this time. The sausages are juicy and fall apart in your mouth.  And be sure to get lots of pickles to go with it all.

Actually, two views, overhead and from the side.  Best latte in a bowl, ever.  Cafe de Stijl, San Francisco

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It was a perfect, balmy spring night at Justine’s.  A few Kir Royales and a magnifique charcuterie plate almost made me think I was in France, not the far reaches of Eastside Austin.  Thanks to friend and fellow food indulger, Bob, who took a great picture of Noah and I.

There’s just something happy about a donut with sprinkles.  Not my donut, but I watched someone else enjoy it.

I always try to find local cuisine when I travel.  Charleston is full of organic, local source restaurants with innovative cuisine and some comfort food too.  There were so many on Yelp and Chowhound, I was both excited and daunted.  I finally chose Fig for our inaugural meal. Fig stands for Food Is Good, so how could we go wrong? It turned out to be perfect after a long, bizarre day at airports.  We lived through a tornado during our layover in Nashville!

There’s something great about arriving for dinner at 9:30pm on a Monday.  It’s such a quiet restaurant night that you get treated like royalty!

We made our own Manhattans:  Basil Hayden’s Bourbon, Dolin Blanc Sweet Vermouth and Angostura Orange bitters.

The decor: simple, unfussy.  Loved the antique mirrors lining one wall.

The meal:  Caper Blades on the half shell, Coddled Sea Island Farm Egg with stone crab, morels and asparagus, Sauteed Gray Triggerfish, with a side of Roasted Beets

The dessert:  Panna Cotta, excellent recommendation by fellow diner and by coincidence also a photographer, Paul Anderson (he was in town to photograph the azaleas)

Anytime someone comes to visit us in Texas, we have to show them two specialities,TexMex and BBQ.  If they’re really game, we will take them out for Migas for breakfast, then on to multiple BBQ places, and then we’ll finish off the day at Gourdough’s donuts, since they are open until 2am for those late night donut fixes.

My friend April Rocha came to town twice this month, so we had many BBQ options to explore.  This here is what we ate at Kreuz Market in Lockhart.  Some brisket, some pork ribs and the pork chop which was recommended to me by Jenn and Jim, and who I must commend because it was truly the best thing at Kreuz.  The ribs were extra peppery this time and as always the grease factor is scary yet essential to the whole experience.

In case you’re concerned for our health, after our house guests depart, we mostly eat salad for two weeks or so.

Big. Fat. Donuts.  That’s Gourdough’s motto.  They aren’t even open until 11am (a bit late for a breakfast item).  But when they open, there’s a line.  They make the donuts right there on the spot.  I knew I had to take my friend April Rocha there when she came to visit Austin.  She had a “Naughty and Nice” (classic sugar donuts) and Noah had the “Strawberry Shortcake”.  I had nothing (oh that darn gluten problem), but I did have Noah breathe on me after each bite.  Oddly satisfying. 

FYI, we went back two more times, just for April to get her quota in before heading back to Los Angeles.

Ok, admit it.  Made you giggle.  I couldn’t resist this smiley cupcake.

Halcyon, what a great little tea house in San Diego’s South Park neighborhood.  Perfect break after the drive down from LA.  Had a cup of Sencha Shan Izumi tea.  Chatted with James, the owner, about his upbringing in San Diego, surfing in the ocean and reminiscing about San Diego when it was a small town.  We also had an interesting dialogue about the abstractness of money.  Those little units that we all need to live on.  I enjoyed viewing their arrangements of vintage objects.

Just a cool tea drinking moment in my day!