Coffee & Chocolate

Located in a large and nicely repurposed garage in an alley in the unassuming DC suburb of Hyattsville, Maryland, Vigilante Coffee may look like an unlikely place for an excellent cup of coffee. While I have only been able to visit the cafe twice, I enjoyed both immensely. On my inaugural visit I was struck by the airy space and sun streaming in through the huge garage doors in the front and a skylight in the back. The cappuccino I savored was certainly one of the best I have ever enjoyed, which is understandable given that the coffee is roasted right there in the cafe.

A friend and I returned to Vigilante for a coffee and chocolate tasting that the cafe and its owner Chris Vigilante co-hosted with chocolatier Puja Satiani.

We were treated to three pairings.  Our three coffees were all quite different - the first was a very strong iced coffee, the second was a smooth cup of high end coffee brewed in a siphon or vacuum coffee maker, and the last was one of the cafe's innovative specialties, a Vigilante Julep, which is an iced coffee prepared with mint and basil. The three chocolates, all beautiful small truffle/ganache-type of concoctions, were a 70% dark (my favorite), one made with coconut oil and bits of coconut, and one with a basil ganache. 

It was interesting to learn about both of these local businesses, and to chat with the owners, both of whom were lovely people. While it was an incredibly enjoyable afternoon, an earlier start would have been preferable, as I could not reasonably finish all three coffee drinks between 4-5pm on a Sunday afternoon. Let's just say I was quite wired all evening!

With the arrival of fall, Puja has created and released her seasonal fall collection, which includes Dark Chocolate Fleur de Sel Caramels, Pumpkin Spice, and Dark Chocolate Peanut Caramels, and sounds amazing. Her products can be ordered directly from her website, and she offers free shipping to DC, Maryland, and Virginia for orders worth more than $40.

(Source: pujasatiani.com)

If you ever happen to be in Hyattsville during the hours of 7.30am and 4pm, I highly recommend seeking out Vigilante for some outstanding coffee.

Vigilante's offerings available in their Hyattsville cafe.

The Borough of Brooklyn, Part II

Another day began with brunch, as a Sunday in the city should. In looking around online, I had found a restaurant that sounded perfect to me, and - indeed - it was. L'Albero dei Gelati is a cozy spot with wonderful food, superior coffee, a great selection of cakes and cookies that appeal to those of us who prefer desserts which aren't overly sweet, and luscious gelato. I also appreciated that the cafe offered almond milk in its espresso drinks for those who prefer that to cow's milk.

We all savored our meals and coffee, plus the gluten-free almond chocolate cake I needed to have for dessert. Afterward we hit the pavement, checking out cute neighborhood shops while walking to DUMBO (aka "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass"). 

Brooklyn street corner

At one point on our walk we passed a large Brooklyn Heights office building outside of which we noticed a number of reporters and news vans; upon asking, it turned out that Hillary Clinton had recently rented an office in that building, and the media was waiting to see whether she might announce her candidacy for President that day. In the end, she did it via video, thus those reporters were waiting in vain.

Once we reached the East River, we sat down to rest our feet, to soak up the spring sunshine, and to enjoy the view. With the Statue of Liberty on our far left, the Manhattan heliport (incredibly busy!) to the left, Manhattan right in front of us, and the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges to our right, and many people out soaking up some vitamin D in the spring sunshine, there was plenty to observe.

We continued on our way to a chocolate shop, Jacques Torre. I was still stuffed from brunch, so I ordered only a single chocolate truffle, while the relatives gained sustenance from the very rich and slightly spicy hot chocolate. After stopping in a bookshop named The Powerhouse Arena, we headed  to the closest subway stop, yet were sidetracked when we noticed a vintage Danish furniture store, where we stared and gasped at many of the price tags.

Spotted at The Powerhouse Arena

Spotted on a wall somewhere on the streets of Dumbo

Upon returning home, clearly a tad tired from two days of walking and city touring, I took a nap - one that was meant to be a half-hour long, yet stretched to several hours. I cannot recall the last time I'd napped for such a long time, but must confess it was incredibly relaxing. And good thing, as my trip was not yet over!

New Chocolate Shop Find and Quick Christmas Re-Cap

Being a chocoholic and confessed chocolate snob, I am always on the lookout for new chocolate experiences. Recently I met a friend for dinner at True Food Kitchen in the Mosaic District in Fairfax (Virginia), and in that area I discovered Artisan Confections. The shop itself was sophisticated yet welcoming, and we could sample a dark chocolate cinnamon truffle, plus ooh-and-aah over the attractive colorful truffles, gourmet candy bars, and chocolate barks. I picked up a crispy peanut butter bar as a gift, and treated myself to a box of four truffles. The confections I enjoyed most were the salted butter caramel bonbon, which was just sinful, and the raspberry and chai tea truffles.

(Source: Artisan Confections)

Probably best to look back at the big family Christmas 2014 through pictures. We'll see if there is any fallout regarding the posting of these photos...!

Christmas Eve dinner featured, among other things, mom's homemade Latvian bread and her famous marinated mushroom salad, as well as some very Latvian cucumbers with sour cream and dill, and a great beet dish.

Getting ready for dinner!

Wow, this crowd is excited to eat!

New spin on traditional poem - song with movements!

Loving their gifts.

The big kid is happy about fun clock from gift exchange.

Later: vodka and caviar.

Meanwhile....

And the next morning.

Christmas has come and gone, but it will live on in our memories of the first annual meringue cookie bake-off, the Christmas Eve food and drink extravaganza, fantastic gifts such as matching hats, a much desired monkey alarm clock and beloved bike with much history, the Christmas Day poker and Scrabble tournaments,  and some great photos. Thanks, by the way, to all the family photographers who unknowingly participated. If you have copyright issues, please contact my lawyer!

Best Laid Plans Often Go Awry (or: How I Ended up in Hershey)

I had planned a wonderful long weekend getaway to Cape Cod for the end of August, but several things led me to cancel that trip at the last minute - something I don't remember ever having done before. However, looking on the bright side, it meant that I suddenly had time for a Saturday outing with friends to HersheyPark, an amusement park in Hershey, Pennsylvania! I had not been to an amusement park in many years, and I'd heard good things about this one. It definitely has more charm and character than another park I visited a few times as a kid. I did not have my camera along for this fun outing - so all I have are a couple of poor quality pics from my incredibly old cell phone. :)

King sized candy bars at $1.50 a piece were best food value in the park!

Milton Hershey - founder of The Hershey Chocolate Company

In addition to the park, another attraction we visited was Hershey's Chocolate World, which includes an entertaining ride that shows how Hershey's products are made, and an enormous store which sells every imaginable Hershey product - everything from the chocolates themselves to t-shirts, stuffed animals, Christmas ornaments, etc. festooned with various Hershey product logos. Other activities in Chocolate World require a fee, although if I do visit again, then I will be happy to pay $15 to make my own candy bar - complete with personalized wrapper.

Cows extolling virtues of fresh milk used in Hershey's products (Source: Chocolate World)
 

Let's Begin the Day with Chocolate: Exploration of Kurzeme Continues

Two of my favorite foods are chocolate - preferably a quality dark chocolate - and salmon. On our first full day in Latvia, I was happy to enjoy both. After our filling breakfast, we drove a short distance to the Pure Chocolate company. We toured the (free) museum, which focuses on the history of chocolate, and is quite interesting. Some bits were a bit illogical, but generally it was a nice little museum, and the building itself is intriguing.

Entrance area of the Pure chocolate museum

Honest words of a chocoholic

Cocoa beans have been used as currency!

Then we tackled the important thing - visiting the company store, which offers a plethora of fresh Pure products. In addition to beautifully packaged chocolates, they also sell large inexpensive bags of rejected truffles -- the chocolates that did not pass the quality inspection, but still taste good. We know that for a fact because B bought a bag of milk chocolate truffles with a white chocolate filling, which we enjoyed over the next several days whenever we had a hankering for something sweet.

Steps away from the main building, the company has built a cute cafe. Apparently it can be rented for special events. Hmm, I should host my next birthday party here?

Pure Chocolate Cafe - love the windows which afford view of Latvian countryside

With copious amounts of sugar in our possession, we continued on our way to Sabile. First we stopped in the middle of town to wonder about the strange doll exhibit about which my friend S had told me. Apparently the people who own and run this bizarre attraction change the clothing on the dolls occasionally, as clothes do fade and tatter in the weather.

This one is especially for my Bulgarian friends!

Even dolls need to iron!

Easily the strangest photo we have from Latvia!

Then we visited the Pedvale Open-Air Art Museum, which took two tries to locate, including driving back into the town of Sabile to chat with the young woman at the tourist information office (I can imagine that our inquiry was possibly the only one she received that day!). So, if you ever wish to visit, when you turn off the main road at the landmark sign, follow that road for a bit until you see a smaller road or driveway on your right - it is an alley of trees - then follow that to the end, and turn right. That will lead you into the parking lot. After paying our 2,15 Euro entrance fees, we walked through the fields checking out a number of the sculptures.

The helpful woman at tourist office had given us a couple of other suggestions to check out in the area, yet the only one we decided to see was the falls on the Abava river ("Abavas rumba"). I had already warned B that waterfalls in Latvia are not comparable to those in the States. Having seen this waterfall before, I had a vague recollection of it being cute and not much else. Judge for yourself!

After playing on the playground located near the falls - and one of us suffering a minor but rather painful injury - we moved on, making our first stop a grocery store to purchase a bag of frozen vegetables to use as an ice pack for the injury.

This post has gotten so long that I will write about the remainder of the day in another! (Although writing a blog is fun, the process is also time-consuming, so you might be reading about this trip for the rest of the month as I break it up into manageable parts.)

Super Sunday

The Super Bowl is a super big deal in this country. Far too big, in my opinion! Football itself is boring, and the ads during the game's broadcast too often tend be rather sexist. However, it is a grand reason to throw a party.

Some dear Latvian-American friends of mine have been hosting extravagant Super Bowl parties for many years. I prepared by eating a light lunch, knowing that the plethora of delicious food options at their event would be too good to pass up. In true Latvian style, this is a party that you cannot even attempt to leave hungry. Among the smorgasbord of choices ranged from the traditional (for a SB party, anyway) chips with salsa and guacamole and chicken wings to the classier spanakopita, mushroom paté, warm crab dip, shrimp, smoked salmon, brie with a side of honey and green grapes, salmon mousse paté, and - the piece de resistance - candied bacon. Then for the main course: chili, with optional cheese, onion, and sour cream toppings. Finally, for dessert: mini cupcakes, fresh strawberries, and Latvian chocolates.

This was the second time I'd been able to enjoy these lovely delicacies, which are made in a tiny village called Pūre, near Tukums. In checking out their website, I learned the chocolatier offers tours of the facilities, and even an option to make one's own truffles. Sounds like a great day trip from Riga, or a worthwhile stop while driving around Kurzeme!