Absinthe Cafe - Paris

AKA the "Grandma/Grandpa" Spot
Since leaving Paris many have asked what I miss most about it.  The list of what I don't miss is longer and easier to compile. I admit though, after three years I started to love the place a bit.  During a recent layover in Charles de Gaulle, on a slow crawl from Singapore to NY, I observed myself from afar. What would I do with my six hours in Paris?  I zipped by metro into the city on autopilot and walked into my "local", Absinthe Cafe.  It was like I never left - there were Grandma and Grandpa welcoming me to breakfast, all warmth and smiles.

Coffee Alley - Taipei

Interesting Coffee Choices
On my first visit to Taipei I took note of the coffee fanaticism. It looked to have recently blasted off and dropped the boosters.  Just thirteen months later it's arrived at the outer rings of Jupiter, at least at Coffee Alley. Ordering a "tiramisu latte" seemed like a good idea.  My logic was something like this: I like tiramisu and I like latte.  She was a skin deep beauty, so pretty for her picture, but lacked depth and charm.  The powdery topping lodged in my lungs like asbestos and I nearly coughed up the bland espresso.

Panini Durini - Milan

Pork Belly Perfection
When I moved to Brooklyn, nearby Carroll Gardens was still rough and tumble.  I used to tiptoe over for an Italian sandwich once in a while.  I sported a sidewalk gaze and acted humble, hoping to pop in and out without any static.  The sandwiches were worth the risk but their equivalents in Italy might tempt you to greater feats of daring.  Whole other level of tasty!  At Panini Durini I chomped down on a memory-rending combo of pancetta tesa, caciotta dolce and peperoncini, aka black-peppered pork belly, sweet cheese and peppers.

Van Bol & Feste - Milan

Full Stomach Revenge, Cont'd
I don't eat a lot.  Matter of fact, for a food blogger I'm a disgrace.  In Milan, however, I flipped it.  Maximum jealousy potential, remember?  Van Bol e Feste fit the bill - just the kind of schwank-a-billy place the fancy-Dodo likes.  Counting Sugar, I was two-fer-two.

Sugar - Milan

Pasticceria as Revenge
"If you go to Hong Kong without me, I'll go somewhere too" I threatened.  I was due in Paris the next day and she was hinting about going to a meeting in one of my favorite places.  By the time I boarded the plane in Singapore, she was booking her flight.  A few days later, she was gloating about dim sum.  I immediately plotted my response: Milan.  Yes, I'm vengeful.  At Sugar, I ordered based on maximum jealousy potential.

Mom's Favorite - Berlin

Inter-Movie Snack
I'm not the best planner and when it comes to film festivals I'm overly ambitious.  On Saturday, I loaded myself up with back-to-back Berlinale movies with nary a space in between.  Mom's Favorite came to my rescue.  They quickly set me up with a slice of cake bigger than my big head and a bowl of coffee they call milchkaffee in these parts.  Now, I don't know about momma, but this one didn't quite end up as a favorite.

Miss HoneyPenny - Berlin

From Cold to Colder
I was so enthralled by the idea of the Berlin Film Festival that I didn't stop to consider that it's held in Berlin, in February.  I was already cold when I arrived and I still haven't warmed up.  I've been eating non-stop, not because I find German food that enticing, but because I need protection against the German winter.  Miss HoneyPenny was close to the hotel and open early so I gave it a try.

Little Spoon - Bangkok

Monsoon Protection
Sunny Bangkok can take a turn for the soggier faster than you can duck into a cafe for cover.  When I sat down at Little Spoon I was a bit damp but fared better than most.  Thai rain attacks from all angles - even upwards.  The unfortunate were stuck outside, caught like laundry in a violent rinse cycle.  I patted myself dry while waiting for my latte and blueberry cream cake to arrive.

Catania Cafe - Brooklyn

Sicilian Breakfast is an Eye Opener!
Back in Brooklyn!!!  Man it feels strange - I've been away since July.  As usual, things have changed here and there.  A Sicilian cafe named Catania has opened up around the corner, in a bad luck spot that's housed many failed pizza shops.  Based on my breakfast, the luck has changed.  Permanently.  I arrived at 8am on the dot, right when they were pulling hot things out of the oven.  It was so good that I ate the equivalent of three breakfasts in one sitting!

Smitten Coffee and Tea Bar - Singapore

I Thought I Was Having the "Big One"
Smitten is another of the hip Singaporean cafes to open recently.  They do it right - good, rich coffee, nice cakes and snacks, cool contemporary interior.  There's just one problem....  price.  When they handed me the bill I almost had a heart attack.

Claus - Paris

Cock-a-Doodle-DON'T
More often in Paris than any other city there are restaurants that leave me feeling cold.  It's as if the owners are cooking at home for friends and here I am, the uninvited guest, unexpectedly ringing the doorbell, brushing past them in the doorway, taking up space.  They smile, they're polite but they seem scared they'll never get rid of you.

Coutume Cafe - Paris

Finally!
After so many tartines and croissants and dark Parisian swill pretending to be coffee, a real breakfast!  I downed the velvety scrambled and spread the entire golden brick on my whole wheat toast.  Coutume cafe is known for their coffee, but I give them credit for their breakfast.  It's the kind that leads to a deep, satisfying nap.

The Pigeon Hole - Singapore

The Cool Cafe Wars Are Brewing
It's like 00's NYC all over again.  Here in Singapore a cool cafe opens weekly.  In an eyeblink, we've gotten The Pigeon Hole, Loysel's Toy, Sarnies, Orange Thimble, Drips, Smitten and undoubtedly a few others while I wrote this post.  If you're an office-less worker like me the Pigeon Hole is remote-bot heaven. They have comfortable tables, coffee and free wifi.  After 20 minutes of work and 40 minutes of net-surfing I dug into their signature chocolate bread-and-butter pudding.  It's described on the menu as velvety creme brulee topped with chunks of fluffy buttery croissant and chocolate chips.  I wonder, is that really a croissant on top or pieces of you tiao?  The latter, I hope - that would be cooler.

Swindle Factory - Fukuoka, Japan

It Helps to Be Forgetful
"Who goes on vacation for two weeks and forgets their wallet?"  It was a fair question, one I'd asked myself before she gave voice to my inner thoughts.  I wasn't sure if she was mad or scared.  Is there a small tumor wriggling it's elbows inside my grey matter?  Or is it early onset alzheimers?  Or, was it a devious plot, she suggested, to keep from paying for her shopping?  At our hotel, after coffee at Swindle Factory, the debate was put to rest.  I couldn't find my camera - I'd left it behind.  We tracked back to fetch it and decided to stay for dinner.  Thanks to my creeping senility we filled up on Hayashi rice and pasta.

Bakeshop - Jiyugaoka, Tokyo

Iced Coffee Relief
I imagined it was pool-sized.  I dived in, did a doggy-paddle past a stray ice cube and then back-stroked to the straw.  Back in the real world, a few sips of the Bakeshop iced latte were like slipping on a frozen raincoat.  My temples stopped pulsing and the moving lips of my girlfriend started to make words I recognized.  Be warned if you come to Tokyo in August, it's hot.  Stroke-inducing, lung-collapsing hot.

Cupcakes with Love - Singapore

The Coming Cupcake Craze Crash
Cupcakes have gone global, they're multiplying like a virus.  Cutesie-poo cupcake shops have been popping up in Paris and now I'm seeing them sprout in Singapore.  Kinda reminds me of real estate in '07.  You knew things were crazy and it was going to end badly, you just didn't know when.  I enjoyed my visit to Cupcakes with Love and I wish them well but I suspect they're like a Miami condo a few years back.  It's all about timing.

Loysel's Toy Cafe - Singapore

Hi, I'm Lactose!
I have a buddy who never quite finishes his sentences.  If you ask him to have a latte he'll say "I can't, I'm lactose."  He's missing the all important "intolerant", which imparts a noticeably different spin.  I've been intolerant my whole life but have chosen to pretend otherwise.  However, with a nod to the power of milk sugars, I've been trying to warm up to soy.  Loysel's Toy Cafe makes a great soy latte and that's no easy feat.  Their strong espresso tastes as if it's mixed with milk.

Dough - Brooklyn

Bus Worthy in Bed-Stuy
As the B38 bus rumbled over potholes, I had a good feeling.  I suspected I'd be adding Dough to the "bus-worthy" list.  To be bus-worthy means I'm willing to ride a bus to eat at a place.  If you've never lived in NYC, the worst way to travel is by bus; they're crowded, slow and attract a high percentage of nutjobs.  To be bus-worthy is the highest compliment I can give.  Only Baked in Red Hook was on the list, but now they've got company.  Dough's donuts are so good I didn't even mind taking the bus back home.  They offer interesting flavors like hibiscus, passionfruit, chocolate earl grey and lemon poppy but being a coffee guy I picked one called "cafe au lait."  It was so big and puffy I could've used it for a pillow.

Blue Bottle Coffee - Brooklyn

Sometimes Less is Smore
It's all fun and games until it backfires.  I'm talking about the trend where you take an old favorite, break it down and build it back up with fancy-schmancy ingredients.  Case in point: the uptown smore I got at Blue Bottle Coffee.  It sported a name card explaining how the graham cracker was made from scratch, all the better to house the hand-crafted marshmallow and single-source cocoa bean chocolate sauce (I'm exaggerating.)  Sorry, but when I think of smores, I think of this.....

40 Hands - Singapore

Outsourcing the Hobby
Puff List readers realize I don't know what I'm talking about and my photos are crap.  I'm no pro, this is a hobby - one that can be very time consuming.  At 40 Hands, I accidentally stumbled into an epiphany - I may be able to outsource some of the work.  I was there for brunch with Dodo and her friends MC and Pirate Pixels, two photo fanatics.  They whipped out their expensive cameras and were like food paparazzi.  In this post, I'm using their shots and you can definitely tell the difference - notice the beautiful depth of field in Pirate's egg cocotte.