Breakfast for Hipsters

Today, feeling much better, I took Saori out to breakfast at Winslow's Home. Located in a small old building with a large patio in the front filled with small tables, this is the epitome of affluent midwestern hipsterness. It's nominally a cafe, serving breakfast, lunch, and brunch, but it also offers a lot more. They carry a limited selection of locally grown organic produce (probably from urban gardens), delicious and expensive baguettes, a variety of locally made hummus and other kinds of casual dinner party foods. But they don't stop there. They also sell a bunch of kitchen and home goods of the type one sees at upscale or trendy kitchen stores,  in addition to sketch books, Danish educational toys, and retro toys and games for adults.

It's kind of like "Stuff White People Like" in a cafe format. I must say that the food was pretty good. I ordered the french toast with bananas and crumbled bacon ($6) with a side of a fresh squeezed glass of OJ ($3) and Saori got the Blueberry pancakes and a coffee. Everything was pretty good. Not the best food I've ever had, but pretty darn tasty. I like being there, I like being enticed by shiny, retro, ironic, sustainable, home and office objects, so I really can't fault it. In fact, they had a really cool method of storing bikes against the side of the building. It's basically a bucket with very thick walls curved in a certain shape such that when you put your bike in place in one of the notches, it rests against the other notch by its own weight, and voila, the bike becomes a piece of artwork on the building. I'll have to get a photo next time.

The rest of the day we spent in studio, where I realized that I have tons and tons of reading for my "Reconsidering the Margins" class, which is actually a lot more about social urbanism, especially in the history of St. Louis. We actually took off from studio early, and went out to the St.Louis Mills outlet mall to do some shoe shopping. I'm in need of some cold weather boots for tromping around in the rain and snow, so we hit up a few places to get some ideas of what is out there. Afterwards, we came home, ordered Papa Johns Pizza and watched Monty Python's Meaning of Life, which is actually more bleak than Brazil. Anyway, it was a very nice evening.

Gliding Along the Root Canal

Stressful day at work today. We keep coming up with problems we haven't really solved yet, and that should have been solved before this point. It's stressful and challeging, but I think we're eventually going to get everything as it should be, just because we don't have any other options. At any rate, I was half-happy to get away and on to my root canal.

The procedure itself was actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be. They numbed me up first with a gel, then gave me about 3-4 shots which I didn't even feel, which pretty much knocked out the entire area. They put a thin latex shield with a hole just for the tooth and stretched it out to catch debris from falling into my mouth. The drilling wasn't bad and apart from a few pinches and cold and hot sensations, it was pain-free. They set me up with a cap and a temporary filling for now, until I go back in next week. I was in and out in about two hours, including all the waiting time.

I took the rest of the day off of work, as it was already four when I got out of there. After Saori got off work, we walked to the Coco's by my apartment for a light dinner and some coffee. Afterwards, I drove to the airport to go to her sister's wedding up near Washington DC. I don't envy her red-eye flight, but I do miss her already.

Last night, we were going to try to hunt down an Indian food place, but wound up at Cherryblossom Noodle Cafe, a Japanese restaurant. I've actually only been to a few Japanese restaurants which serve other foods than sushi. This place has really good Udon noodle and tempura, and, always a good sign, there's always many Japanese people eating there. Actually, Saori has run into at least two of her friends every time she's gone.

The Dining Issue: Uptown Central Phoenix

Cafe Lux
Expresso bar of the designers and designer wanabees alike. Good coffee, great cupcakes with coffee icing, a little pricy. It's a very comfortable space with big tables and couches festooned with design magazines like Metropolis and Architectural Record. A good place to be seen with a sketchbook and Bruce Mau book.

Pane Bianco
Only the first ten feet of this bakery are acessable to the public. You come in, give your order, and wait for your food. It's still one of the best sandwiches in town. All the sandwiches they make are extremely basic with few simple, but high quality ingrediants, on thier handmade wood fired bread. They also sell rustic bagettues. My favorite is the simple tomato, basil, and mozarella ciabatta. They wrap it all in paper, and throw it in a bag with a delicous chocolate covered caramel for dessert. You have to eat outside though, in the shade of the canopies on split log slab picnic tables. It's literally next door to Cafe Lux if you want an after meal coffee.

Coronado Cafe
Saori and I stumbled on this place walking around our neighborhood. We crossed 7th steet from my street, and there it was. At first sight, i assumed it was a cheap eats kind of place that offered a decent greasy breakfast and burgers in the afternoon. It is an old house, partially obscured by trees, with a big old yellow sign with "Coronado Cafe", and a covered porch with more tables. Nothing could be further from the the cheap greasy eats cafe. This is actually a fine resaturant which specializes in neuvo italian and american food. Nice linins on the table, polite wait staff, photos on the wall. I ordered a glass of Chardonnay with my delicious pasta. We split a soup, which was a tomato and mushroom reduction. It was all delicious. The bill was not bad either for what you were getting.

Arcadia Farms at the Heard Musuem
If you are ever at the Phoenix Art Musuem and feeling hungry, don't stop in at the pretenious, overcrowded, and expensive cafe there. Up the block, about a half mile, is the Heard Museum, where its easy to park and find your way to the small restaurant off of the main courtyard. The decour and wait staff are pleasant, and the food is excellent. They serve an eclectic mix of dishes, from huge salads to homemade tamales, although it skews towards mexican. The Posole and Tamales were both really good. Good iced tea too. One time, I just wanted to have coffee outside on their patio tables, and they happily accomodated me with coffee service, whereas at the Pheonix Art Museum cafe, they nearly chased us from the tables because we weren't ordering from table menu. Arcadia farms is not cheap, but it is less less pricy than the Phoenix Art Museum's cafe.

Switch
Located right near where I work, I've gone here a few times. Good food, but its a restaurant in search of what it wants to be, whether lounge, cafe, or restraurant. Sometimes when i've ordered, I order and pay at the front, then the wait staff find me where I'm sitting amongst the couches and tables. Other times, it's a regular restaurant. My biggest complaint is that thier music is too loud. If they want to be an upscale bar, fine, but its almost too much for dining. Had a really good soup the other day, and the pesto beef panini is my top recommendation.

Chino Bandito
A bit farther north than uptown, this little restaurant has a cult following in Phoenix, and for good reason. The mexican-chinese fusion works brilliantly. Cheap, good food, folding tables and chairs in the main dining area, and the best snickerdoodles in Phoenix. Look for the Panda in the sombrero with bandoliers. I've been going to this restaurant for about 3/4 of my life.