A Weekend of Food

E was in town this past weekend, and it was quite a weekend of food!  She arrived very late on Friday night (technically actually Saturday morning), so dinner Friday was out.  But we wasted no time on Saturday and got right to the North City Farmers' Market (which I wrote about here).

Saturday night, E was off to the opera with Grandpa (the actual reason for her visit), Grandma and I went to dinner at Flaco's Cocina.  Flaco's is a delightful little Caribbean joint not far from one of my old apartments.  It's all bright paint and fluorescent lights, and looks very much like a bar from the outside, so I think it often gets overlooked by people on the hunt for good food.  And, while I'm sure they go through their fair share of tequila in that place, they actually turn out some rather delicious plates.  I've been a frequent consumer of the roasted veggie burrito; their nachos are delicious (and impressive in quantity); T is a big fan of the taco sampler; and of course you have to get the bottomless chips and salsa.  Since they look like a bar, and I'm not one to turn down a good drink, I should also point out that they make delicious berry mojitos, and a killer Dark and Stormy.

Grandma was a little skeptical of the atmosphere when we arrived, but was quite pleased with her generous pour of sauvignon blanc, and seemed to enjoy her chicken taco (no sauce, please).  She cleaned her plate!  And just in the nick of time, too, because we were eating outside on the patio - which is covered, thank goodness - and a huge storm rolled in!  Good times - it was quite a light show!

Sunday was Father's Day, so E and I went to brunch with G&G, and also with J&T who were in from Chicago for the weekend as well.  We went back to Oceano, where I was not too long ago with a group of friends.  I couldn't resist the coffee with RumChata (again!), but to eat this time I had the crab cake and arugula eggs Benedict.  Delicious as I hoped, and it was a treat to see J&T!

Last but certainly not least, E and I met N&J for dinner on Sunday evening at Mango, a Peruvian restaurant that I have been meaning to try forever.  I had to try the aji de gallina because I had read about it a bunch of places, and it was awfully good.  I think the award probably went to J's dinner though, which was - brace yourselves for what I'm about to say - saltado de champignones (basically sauteed mushrooms with rice).  It was so rich and tasty!  J deserved it though, because she is pregnant to the point of popping, but came out to eat with us anyway, and we heard nary a complaint.

All in all, it was a delightful weekend - and now I definitely need to do some hard core cardio and stop eating so much ice cream.