Brunch at Secco

Start with a glass of Pederzano Lambrusco Secco, a dry sparkling red wine from Italy. Enjoy this festive bubbly while waiting for your brunch order.

Rave over the Biscuit Sandwich - a substantial biscuit with grilled pork belly and scrambled egg (make mine without the cheddar cheese).

A wonderful brunch option. Not enormous, but so satisfying. The biscuit held up to the meat and egg and did not crumble apart. I loved the pork belly. Fairly lean and very tasty.

Rave even more about the crispy potatoes. I really like potatoes and have had lots of good ones in RVA. These were outstanding. Truly crispy on the outside; soft and potato-ey on the inside. Served with a mustard/mayo sauce that sealed the deal on the spuds. If your brunch choice does not include these potatoes, order them as a side.

Choose an Armandiere Malbec from Cahors to imbibe with the biscuit.

Thank you Secco for a lovely and delicious brunch outing.

A Trip to Country Style Donuts

I highly recommend the filled varieties from Country Style Donuts. The Glazed Custard and Glazed Lemon were my particular favorites amongst the 38 offerings.

Open 24 Hours (Except Mondays)

A Variety of Options

One dozen donuts filled with deliciousness

Happy Holidays from Country Style Donuts

Since I don't get out this way much, these were a real treat!

Eat 33

A diner with stick-to-your-ribs offerings.

The Chopped Steak with grilled onions, gravy, mashed potatoes, and corn delighted on a cold day. Most folks walking in were regulars to Eat 33 and it's not hard to see why.  Open for breakfast and lunch 7 days a week.

A Mighty Fine Evening at Brux'l Cafe

Last week we headed over to Brux'l Cafe for an early dinner. We discovered all of the tables were reserved (a good sign for the place), but found a couple of spots at the cozy bar. The entire staff seemed giddy with the spirit of Christmas and this rubbed off on the two of us during the evening.

Brux'l Cafe in the Fan - all decked out for the holidays

The joy of going early on a weeknight is that Brux'l has a decent happy hour with specials on wine, beer, and martinis. Sweet Bubbles (sparkling and violet syrup) came my way and hubby had the Famous Dirty martini. As we sipped our bartender, Jared, took us through the highlights of the menu.

Jared was a most excellent host and as the bar filled up, he continued to give personalized service to all. He helped to make our evening very special. What really made a difference was when we were choosing a wine for dinner. Brux'l Cafe carries a very limited but drinkable selection. All wines are available by the glass and bottles range in price from $32-40. We were torn between a Bordeaux and something from the South of France. Jared thought we might also enjoy the Spanish red. To help us with our selection he poured us a taste of all three. The Spanish option won out - an Arrocal Tempranillo.

Jared helped steer us in the right direction for wine

Jared also helped other bar patrons figure out which draft beer would be best for their evenings. Being able to taste and then choose - fantastic!

The rest of our experience was delightful. To begin I took advantage of the evening special and had fried frog legs. The legs came straight from the fryer with a crisp coating and with the legs being meaty - a real treat. As I ate with my fingers, Chef Meers came out of the kitchen to ask how they were. Yummy!

The frog legs were very tasty

Hubby ordered the Croquette de Fromage - a fried ball of cheese and potato. For me, very rich. For him, swoon-worthy. He raved about this and really liked the bit of salad on the side.

While the croquette may look small it packs a rich flavor punch

For an entree hubby ordered the Moules a la Provencale. Dozens of mussels swimming in white wine, tomatoes, herbs, garlic, and cream. Served with a side of frites. Jared gave us more bread to take advantage of the sauce. Very satisfying.

I indulged in the L'Entrecote with Bearnaise sauce. A big ribeye topped with butter, parsley, and shallots and served with a side salad with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette. A huge portion and very tender with all the flavor one could hope for. I appreciated the fact that the sauce was served separately so I could enjoy my steak both with and without the Bearnaise.

Very traditional meal, superbly prepared

As we enjoyed our meal Chef Meers would pop out of the kitchen occasionally to check on diners. He seemed so happy and his vibe was infectious. At the end of our meal I got up to retrieve out coats and he even helped me find our jackets. A delicious and magical evening. I can't wait to go back and try the truffle burger.

Dressed and Pressed Biscuit at South of the James

The South of the James Market may have gone into winter mode, but a fair number of vendors are carrying the torch. The Dressed and Pressed food truck offers biscuits.

We tried the sausage and egg version. The biscuit was a little crumbly, but good. I was surprised to see link sausage which was tasty. The best part was the very flavorful egg. A generous size for $4. I also treated myself to an Alchemy mocha. Yummy!

Tacos at En Su Boca

The first time I went to En Su Boca for lunch the place was a madhouse and nothing except the cocktails were up to snuff. After many, many months, I went back for lunch. The place was still busy and understaffed, so service was slow. But the tacos had more flavor and the portions seemed much more generous. I definitely enjoyed the Carnitas and the Carne Asada on this return trip.

Since the tacos were only $3 a piece, lunch was inexpensive and filling.

Slap Yo Mama Silly Chicken Biscuit at Saison Market

Saison Market serves up the definitive breakfast (and now also for lunch) biscuit.

Slap yo mama silly good!

Lucy's Brunch

Lucy's is a cute little spot in Jackson Ward. We had brunch there about a month ago and enjoyed Mimosas

and the Two Street Club.

The club sandwich came with housemade mesa chips and pickles. Very satisfying. And I loved the bright and colorful bouquet gracing the table.

Vermilion in NYC

Vermilion brings together Latin and Indian flavors and has garnered high acclaim from all over the globe. The decor was sleek, airy, and contemporary with touches of red.

A Bogle Petite Sirah was greatly enjoyed.

And paired well with the Tandoori Skirt Steak - seared churrasco, Indian marinade, plantain chips, chorizo Swiss chard, and jicama citrus roll.

Prices for NYC were fairly reasonable and the meal was delicious.

Schnipper's Quality Kitchen

Had a fun time munching down on a Schnipper's Classic Burger with bacon, cheese, caramelized onions, and arugula. A bit messy, but yummy.

There are several Schnipper's in New York. This one was located in The New York Times building

And check out the toasted bun

It was a fun trip to NYC.

A Visit to Singapore

Wow. I can't believe I actually visited Singapore and survived both the long flight times and the humidity. I'm so glad I put aside my objections. Singapore is vibrant, orderly, and architecturally intriguing. English is the official language. A good way for a Westerner to get a glimpse of Asia without totally going into culture shock. Based on the dozens of multi-story malls along Orchard Road, shopping and eating seem to be the major past times. But we also visited Little India and Chinatown as well. We loved the Botanic Gardens, especially the National Orchid Gardens. And the Gardens by the Bay, especially the Supertree Grove at night.

So, a few random observations before the photo show. Alcohol is EXPENSIVE in Singapore. A lot of restaurants do not even offer wine by the bottle. The wine by the glass prices would be bottle prices here in the US. And the US dollar to Singapore dollar ratio is not too far off the mark. So, we imbibed less, which was probably a good thing since the air is so humid one gets wringing wet after about a couple of hours. Our hotel did have a cool bar called Manhattan, however. They specialized in barrel-aged cocktails and had a glassed-in barrel room of concoctions waiting their turn. We indulged once, but at ~$21 a pop, we only went the one time.

Yes, it's that humid, even at night. Our friends who live in Singapore said it took them about 6 months to get acclimatized. Thus, the dilemma: do we eat outside at some lovely places along the river or the outdoor food stalls in Chinatown or do we head inside for air conditioning? We chose air conditioning. It was a way for us to recover before going back outside. Our hotel was kind enough to provide us two bottles of water each day and changed our towels twice a day since we usually took two showers every day. Since I am not a fan of heat and humidity and make a point of never going to the beach in the summer, I impressed myself at being able to survive. Shopping centers, the subway (MRT), and taxis all have excellent air conditioning, thank goodness.

The MRT is super easy to use and cheap. One-way fares are less that one Singaporean dollar. Taxis are fairly inexpensive, too. This is a good thing since owning a car is outrageously expensive. A Subaru costs upwards of $150,000 (yes, this is not a typo). We were also told that if one owned a car, the government required one to pay for the right to drive it for 10 years.

Singapore offers a huge variety of restaurants, from traditional Asian fare to familiar American fast food places to chain eateries that were new to us. It allows us as Americans to be adventurous one day and then return to our version of comfort food the next day. Reputable hotels and restaurants have good water and ice, so no real worries from that perspective. There is one fast food place in Singapore called Toast Box. They do toast with salted butter and jam (traditionally coconut jam), but what I became addicted to was the milk tea - extremely strong tea with sweetened condensed milk. OMG. They also have egg tarts. We need a Toast Box here.

Enough comments. Please enjoy some of my snaps.

Bumboats along the Singapore River

Christmas decorations were being put in in mid-Oct. These along Orchard Road are brought to you by Hitachi

Barrel-Aged Manhattan at Manhattan

We met some friends for lunch one day. They took us to a local food court and ordered all manner of items. This is chicken and rice. The rice is cooked in a concentrated chicken broth.

Rojak contains fruit and cucumber and mixed with shrimp paste

Noodles with Shrimp

To drink we had sugar cane juice flavored with lemon juice

Malaysian Shaved Ice - Shaved ice with coconut milk, syrup, sweet beans, and "green twizzlers"

Yummy milk tea at Toast Box

Little India

While we were in Singapore, they celebrated the Deepavali holiday, a Hindu holiday (we know it as Diwali). This is a "bank holiday." Singapore has 10 holidays and honor Hindu, Muslim, Chinese, and Western cultures.

Foodstuffs for sale during Deepavali

This is what happens to a camera lens when you step outside from an air conditioned hotel

We ate at La Forketta one evening and enjoyed a lovely burrata.

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Most of the graffiti that we saw in Singapore was on plants

Golden Arches

One of the many species of orchids in the National Orchid Gardens

Also part of the National Orchid Gardens

Prawn Satay with Mango Salad at Halia

Chinatown

Beijing Duck at Fatty Weng's

Hindu Temple

Buddha Tooth Temple

Ku De Ta sits atop the Marina Bay Sands hotel and offers a lovely view of Singapore. We enjoyed some sangria.

Singapore Flyer and Gardens by the Bay

Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay

Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay

Calamari at Pollen Restaurant

Supertree Grove - A Spectacular Light Show

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Singapore at Night

Letter on in the week we met up with friends again and had Dim Sum at Asia Grand. I tried Chicken Feet

Pork Crepes

Bamboo or Razor Clams

Herbed dessert jelly. Definitely herbal, slightly sweet with a bit of anise. This reminded me of Italian amaro, just non-alcoholic.

An original Singapore Sling from the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel

Merlion Fountain - The merlion is a mythical Singaporean creature

The Clifford Pier Restaurant

Pork Belly Buns at Clifford Pier

Night Time in Singapore

Last look at Singapore from our hotel room

Singapore was well worth the trip. And I recommend Singapore Air for any long-haul travel.