I was actually pretty excited to try Hart Bageri. It’s the brainchild of Richard Hart, the former head baker at the legendary Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. He teamed up with Rene Redzepi (the guy behind Noma — generally regarded as one of the best restaurants in the world) to open his own bakery in Copenhagen last year.
There’s no English menu at Norbi Étkezde, only a chalkboard with the day’s offerings written in Hungarian (the restaurant is a tiny little place, with no tables and two small counters on either side to sit); it’s not particularly easy to order here.
Thessaloniki turned out to be a way better food city than I had imagined. I’ve always liked Greek food, but the sheer amount of amazing dishes that I’ve had here puts Thessaloniki on a shortlist of my favourite food cities.
Sure, you could eat a healthy breakfast. Or you could eat a slice of bougatsa, a pastry that finds a sweet, creamy filling wrapped in crispy phyllo dough. It’s served with an extra sprinkling of powdered sugar and cinnamon on top. It’s basically dessert for breakfast, and it’s great.
Unlike pretty much every other place from Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman, Esse Due Akasaka is a full-out restaurant, not just a dessert shop. It’s an Italian joint that specializes in pizza and pasta, and based on what I saw from my table, everything looks quite good.
I don’t need much convincing to eat a fried McDonald’s pie. That crispy, crackily exterior is basically the best thing ever, and no one is ever going to convince me otherwise.
The savarin at Cafe Recherche might have been the booziest dessert that I’ve ever had. If you like liquor-infused desserts, then this is something you’re going to need to try. If you don’t, you might want to stay away.
The coconut pudding pancakes (or kanom krok) I just had are odd — tasty, but odd.
It was a sad, sad day when the Beard Papa in the Pacific Mall (which was the only Beard Papa in Canada outside of Vancouver) shut down.
Tragically, I discovered this by actually going to the Pacific Mall to pick up some Beard Papa, only to find that the spot where it used to be was completely ripped apart (I think they were turning it another Chinese restaurant). There was nothing left but a hollowed-out husk filled with unused equipment and shattered dreams. It was heartbreaking.
Well, Japan is the home of Beard Papa, and it is just as glorious as I remembered.
There’s a fairly well regarded doughnut joint in Dublin called Aungier Danger, and the doughnuts there aren’t quite like any other doughnut I’ve had — they’re crispy.