The Girl From Ipanema Loves Coffee and Potatoes

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers!

Yesterday, I wrote my Top Tampa Recommendations for September 2015 blog post from Naga Tea near the USF campus in Temple Terrace, Tampa, FL.  Today, I am writing my blog from DI Coffee Bar on Davis Islands, Tampa, Florida.  For those of you outside of Tampa, the "DI" stands for "Davis Islands" and not some homage to Princess Di.  (Just an FYI!)

I like the decor and atmosphere of DI Coffee Bar, but the prices are on the super luxe side.  Is this Paris?  Monaco?  But to DI Coffee Bar's credit, they started offering items that you cannot get on the island which keeps me coming back even if the prices cause me to twitch a little.  

For example, this awesome pressed basil pesto sandwich with prosciutto and mozzarella on Cuban bread.  

Pressed sandwich and an iced cafe con leche

The very nice barista told me that people go INSANE for this sandwich.  Well, (1) I am already self-diagnosed clinically insane.  (2)  Really?  I think you're a little too enthusiastic.  But true to her word, this sandwich rocks!  Melty, pressed, savory goodness!  I had to humbly admit to the barista that she was absolutely, 100% right about this crazy good sandwich.  And as a true Leo, I only like to talk about times when I am right.  (Which is 99.93% of the time, for the record!) 

Another time I was at DI Coffee Bar, they had biscuits with excellent country ham and pimento cheese.  I can't just pick up something like this at Starbucks!  

My inner Paula Deen was very happy with this biscuit
with ham and pimento cheese!

Some of the Yelp reviews question the acidity/bitterness of the coffee at DI Coffee Bar.  I enjoy the cold brew coffee, but I have found that at times the Miami-based Panther Coffee DI Coffee Bar uses is on the high acid/sharp/bitter side.  I think I am used to more mellow local coffees like Buddy Brew and my favorite Kahwa coffee.  But if you enjoy a hearty punch of coffee, then I think you will enjoy DI Coffee Bar's beverages.  

They also sell a selection of some types of TeBella tea (which has a full retail store located across the street from DI Coffee Bar).  I love TeBella teas, so when I am not in a strong coffee mood I can still enjoy hanging out at DI Coffee Bar with a tea.  (They also sell juices and alcohol beverages too!)  And for those who want food on the go, DI Coffee Bar offers a cold case with prepared foods for a quick grab and go meal.  (Or better yet for a wider selection, go next door to the new Tasty Roots - healthy prepared takeaway food store and peruse their to go items.) 

So now that I have acquainted you to the latest place my MacBook Air and I are hanging out, let's talk about the true star of today's blog post:  POTATOES.  As in Mrs. Potato.  Let me elaborate ...

In July, I was working in Hortolandia and Campinas in the Sao Paulo region of Brazil.  Which by the way, Hortolandia while nice is also known for its five prisons ... so as soon as my work was done, I high-tailed it to Rio De Janeiro to see the Brazil that I have seen in movies all my life.  I was NOT disappointed.  Rio is wonderful with a side of beautiful with a heaping dollop of amazing.  I can't wait to go back again.

I spent my days walking along Copacabana Beach and Ipanema Beach ... and yes, I had the song "The Girl From Ipanema" running on a constant loop in my head the entire time I was in Brazil.   

I have a rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, French and Italian and a highly limited understanding of Portuguese.  All this means that when I was in Rio, I would basically repeat everything I said in English, Spanish, French, Italian and then I would jam it all together to make a faux-Portuguese sentence.  I am sure I was highly annoying, but I think I deserve an A for effort!

Until I was on a tour to Corcovado to see the Christ the Redeemer statue up close and personal, I never really thought about what "Rio de Janeiro" meant.  January River.  It hardly describes the beauty of this place.

In my travels in Brazil, I basically ate my way through several cities.  There were several Brazilian buffet restaurants, so I enjoyed being able to pick and choose small servings of EVERYTHING and then pay by the weight of the food.  I felt this was the best culinary tour possible and I was able to try so many dishes this way.  Gluttony on a budget!  

About 1 1/2 weeks ago, I went to Orlando to see Katya and Trixie Mattel from Season Seven of RuPaul's Drag Race.  Katya is sober after his own struggles with addiction.  

Katya!

Even upside down, Katya is AMAZING

I was going through a particularly trying time and I watched an episode of RuPaul Drag Race where Katya spoke of his struggles with addiction and sobriety.  His words spoke directly to me through the screen and I felt renewed and hopeful.  If Katya could do it, so could I.  

So when I met him in person - even though we were being rushed through the photo line -  I gave him a hug and told him that his sobriety inspires me.  He grabbed my arms, looked me right in the eye and gave me the most wonderful, sincere thank you.  I was very touched by his candor.  I wish him the best in parlaying his 15 minutes of reality TV show fame into a profitable career.  

But BEFORE my heartwarming meeting with Katya, I had dinner in Orlando ... not just any dinner.  A Brazilian inspired meal.  While I have been to Orlando many times and have many local favorite places (The Ravenous Pig, The Tasting Room at Chef's Table at the Edgewater Hotel, Briarpatch Restaurant, Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine, etc., etc.), I wanted to try some place new for this Orlando visit.  

Now before I continue, I must tell you that of my many sordid addictions - my carb and sugar addiction is the biggest monkey on my back.  It whispers to me daily with a siren's song of freshly baked bread and pastries.  I have made a concerted effort to stay away as much as I can from these animalistic urges for the past six months, but it has not been easy.  If I had my way, I'd swan dive into a vat of cream puffs and eat my way out.  (And I'd love every single second of it!)  

It is with this insane love of all things starchy carb that led me to one day Google "rosti potatoes" and Orlando.  It's my equivalent of shooting up in an alley.  The struggle is REAL, people.  The struggle is real!  

To my surprise, Orlando has a Brazilian restaurant called Mrs. Potato where they serve baked potatoes AND ... get this ... discs of rosti potatoes stuffed with a wide variety of fillings!  I'm sorry, but did Jesus just answer my carb-laden prayers?  

How is it possible such a wonderful restaurant exists and WHY have I not heard of it before??  With my love of potatoes, you would have thought I just would have psychically just known about such a splendid restaurant!  Like a dog who can smell fear and crazy, I should be able to just automatically smell potatoes within a 200 mile radius.  

So I drove to Orlando and my first stop was the Brazilian restaurant, Mrs. Potato.  It is at the end of a long strip mall, which is true for many places in Florida.  I swear our state bird is a strip mall.  Or a stripper.  God bless Florida. 

Mrs. Potato is decorated with Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head toys, which made me feel very homey - especially in theme park-laden Orlando, Florida.  

The restaurant has a few tables in front of a counter where you order, however they also have a side atrium with many more tables.  You order up front and they bring your food to your table.  Easy peasy.  The staff is very nice.  The restaurant clean.  The prices inexpensive.  Win - win - win.

When I walked into Mrs. Potato, I saw that in true Brazilian fashion they had a small buffet of Brazilian foods that you pay for by what your plate weighs.  I felt like I was back in Campinas!  They had such traditional food as pastiles (also spelled pastel) which are like deep fried meat or cheese stuffed ravioli.  A traditional Brazilian street food of which I ate probably forty while I was in Brazil!  But I was on a mission - I wanted POTATOES!

In addition to baked potatoes, baked sweet potatoes and stuffed rosti potatoes, you can also up your potato quotient by getting the Catupiry Rosti which looked like a disc of stuffed rosti potatoes with a lattice design of mashed potatoes.  Potatoes on top of potatoes?  I am in love!  They also sell hamburgers, but come on - who goes to Mrs. Potato and doesn't get a potato?  Not this potato-lovin' gal!

  
The two most popular rosti potatoes at Mrs. Potato are the Brazilian beef jerky and cream cheese stuffed rosti potatoes and the Calabresa Brazilian sausage and cheese stuffed rosti potatoes.  I decided to go for the sausage rosti potatoes.  Now the big disc of shredded stuffed potatoes can take 20-25 minutes to cook, so be prepared to wait when you order.  I sat at a table and enjoyed my Brazilian passion fruit nectar.

While I waited for my golden disc of rosti potatoes, I noticed that I was the only one in the restaurant not speaking Portuguese!  I took this as a very good sign of Brazilian authenticity right there in Orlando.  A very handsome waiter brought me my dinner ... look at it's loveliness.

Now this is an individual serving, but let's be honest - a family of four could have enjoyed this massive wheel o' potatoes.  It was HUGE.  Another server asked if I would like garlic sauce with my rosti potatoes.  Um, sure?

An ice cold squeeze bottle of a mayo-like garlic sauce was brought to my table.  It was very pungent but delicious!

The rosti potato disc was stuffed with slices of sausage and lots of cheese.  If you are a potato addict, this is your drug.  I was in potato heaven with this deliciousness from Mrs. Potato.  The outside was crispy and crunchy.  The inside was hot potato goodness laden with strings of melted cheese and the very slightly spicy sausage that had a deliciously fatty mouth feel.  Yum, yum, yum.  

I am very glad that Mrs. Potato is located in Orlando and not in my backyard in Tampa, Florida.  Because if it was reasonably close by, I'd be eating rosti potatoes every single night.  I would like to bring a bunch of friends to Mrs. Potato and make them each order a different kind of rosti potatoes so that I can try a bunch of different varieties!  (Seriously, this is what friendship with Lily is like - forced marches to starch-laden restaurants where I tell you what food you're going to order!  Don't you want to be my BFF?)

If you are in Orlando, you have to check out either the Brazilian buffet or the wide variety of heavenly potato options at Mrs. Potato!  And if you're in Tampa, check out the pressed sandwiches at DI Coffee Bar.  Dress nice and look cute, because you never know if the potato-lovin' coffee drinker sitting next to you typing furiously on a MacBook is yours truly!  

As always, thank you for reading!     

Top Tampa Recommendations and More- September 2015

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers:

I am gearing up for my next round of travel adventures around the world.  I've basically been using it as a HUGE excuse to shop ... and shop HARD.  I have a whole new wardrobe of the cutest dresses EVER.  

For someone who works from home most of the time (in Old Navy tank tops and yoga pants, no less), I now have a ridiculously chic wardrobe.  I like to ask people out to lunch so I can show up in a power dress and feel justified in having made the purchase.  

My poor friend, the Ohio Buckeye Bandit, has had to deal with me preening, twirling and prancing any time we meet for a work week lunch.  I'm waiting for the day she reaches over and just slaps me in the head.  But until then, I will TWIRL, TWIRL, POSE AND TWIRL!

Because I have spent more time shopping than blogging, I have started accumulating a bunch of new favorite places in Tampa Bay and Orlando that all desperately deserve their own individual blog posts - but my procrastination reigns supreme, so I thought I'd put a bunch of them into one blog post as my September 2015 "Top Tampa Recommendations and More."  (The "more" being Orlando - ha ha!)

Recommendation #1:  Naga Tea:

My new addiction/obsession is an adorable Asian-style tea house near USF called Naga Tea.  I am actually sitting at Naga Tea writing this blog post.  I am Queen of the Naga Tea's Grapefruit Green Tea with Small Boba and 25% sweetness.  They might as well just call it "The Lily."  

Naga Tea - my addiction

Actually when I ordered my drink this evening, the very nice clerk asked my name and then he said "Oh yeah Lily, that's right."  I said "Oh no, I come here too often if you remember my name."  He replied: "No, you need to come here MORE."  Salesmanship in action!

The pick up counter at Naga Tea

The tea is delicious.  The staff are super courteous.  The patrons are chill and laid back.  The shop itself is modern with a selection of games for those who like a little Cards Against Humanity with their boba tea.  (Side note: Ms. Concert Fan turned me on to "Cards Against Humanity" - I both love it and am horrified by it!)

Most of the people I see at Naga Tea are college students, so perhaps I am vicariously reliving my youth while I slurp down my grapefruit and boba-spiked green tea.  But here's the major difference between myself now and myself in college - I have money and a cool car now.  Back then, I had no car, no money.  So hooray for aging.  Ha!

Recommendation #2:  Generation Food Court in Seminole Heights, FL

The good folks who brought you The World's Largest Food Truck Rally 1, 2 and 3 (and #4 on Halloween 2015) have done it AGAIN!  Generation Food Truck has turned the lot next to Red Star Bar into a daily revolving food truck court. called "Generation Food Court."  Can we just say genius?  

I first tried them out when they did the "Taste of Asia" festival with all Asian cuisine food trucks.  I will be traveling to the Philippines soon, so I was excited to have a sampler platter from the fresh and delicious "Flip'n Tasty" food truck.  My friends sampled from the Pao Truck and the Pho Truck (their Thai tea was AMAZING).  

Taste of Asia - Generation Food Court 1

Taste of Asia - Generation Food Court 2 

Flip'n Tasty Food Truck - check them out!

$6 for the sampler - great deal and the Puto steamed cake ROCKED

My Sarap Sampler - delicious, delicious!

The Pancit Noodles from the Pao Truck

Amazing Thai Tea from the Pho Truck

Recommendation #3:  Grape Leaf Express - Brandon, FL 

I love, love, love Lebanese food.  One day I hope to travel to Lebanon.  I have a deep appreciation for food from Egypt, Turkey, Greece and Lebanon.  The whole hybrid Mediterranean-Middle Eastern cuisine is my favorite in the whole world.  About six years ago, I traveled all around Egypt.  My first meal in Egypt literally felt like I was coming home.  Like I was eating home cooking from another lifetime.  I realize that may sound new age kooky, but that's what I felt.

I stumbled upon the Grape Leaf Express once before I actually dined there.  My friends Mr. and Mrs. Bento Box of Woodbury, Minnesota had posted their daughter's lunch online.  I can't remember if it was ramen or udon, but whatever it was I had an incredibly strong desire for a big bowl of udon noodles.  

I wanted to try a new place, so I found  a review for Tokai Japanese Restaurant in Brandon, Florida.  I found the udon to be decent and the service to be extremely friendly.  Next door was a Lebanese restaurant called "Grape Leaf Express."  As I love Lebanese food, I made a mental note to check it out some time in the future.

At least 2 months went by when I was at the dentist.  I had cracked a tooth and needed to find a new dentist.  Now you may be asking "what does your new dentist have to do with Lebanese food?"  Great question!  The dentist's dental partner is Lebanese and she told me that her favorite Lebanese food in the Tampa Bay area is Grape Leaf Express!  Now I knew the universe was telling me that I had to quit procrastinating and try this Lebanese restaurant!

I am a Greek salad with gyro meat addict.  I seriously have had three in the past two weeks (one from my favorite Tarpon Springs restaurant Dimitri's on the Water, one from the Acropolis Greek Taverna in Ybor City and one from the Acropolis Greek Taverna in St. Petersburg, FL).  So I contemplated NOT getting a gyro salad at Grape Leaf Express, but then I decided to put a twist on it.  At Grape Leaf Express you can have gyro meat on any of their salads, so I ordered the fattoush salad with gyro meat on it.  I also ordered hummus with pita and of course a piece of baklava for dessert.

If you're not familiar with a fattoush salad - it is a Middle Eastern chopped salad with fresh herbs and toasted pita chips.  It is best when fresh with a tangy citrus dressing and a heavy handed amount of parsley.  I love it when it's done right.  And at Grape Leaf Express, they do it right.  It was probably one of the best fattoush salads I have ever had.  The hummus was tasty too - rich, creamy with a delicious amount of tahini.  The baklava was so fresh, but not drowning in honey. It reminded me of eating baklava on the streets of Istanbul.

My dentist said it was the best Lebanese in Tampa and I think she's right.  It's also inexpensive.  You order at a counter and then pick up your food (to eat at the restaurant or for take away) as it's made in front of your eyes.  Casual but so fresh and delicious.  I will definitely be visiting Grape Leaf Express again in the future!

The decor was modern.  Service was extremely polite and friendly.  A steady flow of customers came in - some to eat in, many to take away.  It seems Grape Leaf Express is popular with more than just my dentist!

Grape Leaf Express - order at the counter

Gyro meat on a fantastically fresh fattoush salad

Hummus and pita

So delicious this baklava is INSANELY GOOD

Recommendation #4: MD Oriental Market - Brandon, FL

While you're at Grape Leaf Express, you need to walk a few doors down and visit MD Oriental Market.  They have a nice produce selection (I love any place where I can get fresh dragon fruit!).  They also have a nice deli section with roast duck and other delights.  Fortune Star bakery (my favorite local Asian bakery) supplies their bakery counter.  They also have a nice seafood area.  

My heart will always be loyal to my beloved Oceanic Asian Market, but MD Oriental Market has a great processed food selection.  I am always finding fun candy and cookies to send to my friends' children.  Also, this is where I stumbled upon "Lonely God" snacks.  Which I am pretty sure are bok choy flavored chips.  I would like to think that my own personal Jesus is not lonely, but if He is I hope that bok choy chips make him feel a little less lonely.

I don't know what snow fungus is but I am comforted to know that if I wanted it
in my instant cereal, that I could find it at MD Oriental Market

Lonely God Crackers - and ON SALE TOO

I have no idea what these are but I am sending them to my friends' kids

If the country of Taiwan was a bag of Starburst-like candy, they would be called TAIWANG!

I also have no idea what these are but I am sending these to my friends' kids

I may have bought this bag of "what looks like animal crackers" to share
with my dad who appreciates a good cookie like I do

Any store with Hello Kitty candy is good with me!

I ate Durian Ice Cream in Malaysia - it tasted like FEET.  But in case
I want to relive that experience, I can buy a whole frozen durian at MD Oriental Market!

Recommendation #5 and #6:  Fortune Star Asian Bakery - Tampa, FL and Sun Pearl Bakery - Orlando, FL

As I mentioned, my favorite Asian bakery in Tampa Bay is Fortune Star.  

    
I am a sucker for their coconut topped buttercream buns - fluffy football shaped buns with a line of the most exquisite cream filling.  

They also sell large, moist steamed cupcakes.  I love to tear them open and fill them with sliced strawberries and whipped cream.  Instant strawberry shortcake!  They have started selling barbecue pork and also pork and vegetable steamed buns - 6 fat buns for $5.95.  They are so good and so fresh!

6 for $5.95 at Fortune Star - great for a filling, inexpensive lunch for 2-4 people!

The pork and vegetable steamed bun! So good!

My favorite Asian bakery in Orlando, Florida is Sun Pearl Bakery.  When I was five years old, my mother bought me a bread roll exquisitely shaped like a small crab in Taipei, Taiwan.  I believe that was the start of my love for carbs in animal shapes!  At Sun Pearl Bakery (which has been newly remodeled), you can get your carbs in a multitude of shapes - fish, raccoon, pig!  

Newly remodeled and fabulous!

Raccoon Buns

Pig Bun, Fish Bun and a Salted Cheesecake Cake Stick!

The signs say "Russian Bread" which is confusing for an Asian Bakery
but I took this picture for my dad who is fluent in Russian

Look at all these carb-y, starchy, sugary wonderfulness!

Pineapple pastry in cute little wrappers!

My inner child loves every bit of Sun Pearl Bakery!  Also near Sun Pearl is an "89 cent Houseware Store" for those who think the Dollar Stores are too expensive!  After all of my clothes shopping sprees, I may have to start shopping at the 89 cent store!

I love discovering fun new places in Florida.  I hope you check out some of these places and then tell me what you think of them in the comments section!

As always, thank you for reading!

P.S.  It is this crazy cat's 3rd birthday - I love you, Chibby!

Welcome To A Day of Pork, Gluttony and Lust: Orlando, Florida

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers:

I consider myself a woman of my word, except when I am making promises to myself.  A friend and I agreed to do four 5Ks this year.  She currently has three under her belt.  I have two completed and one scheduled for December, but I find myself shockingly lackluster about trying to schedule one more in between August and the end of the year.  (Hello epitome of LAZY!)  

This same friend is considering making a pledge of doing 12 5Ks next year.  This friend is bat sh*t cray cray.  (Kidding!  Maybe ...)  I am hoping I will get a surge of commitment but right now I really enjoy sitting on my couch.

However last weekend, I was more energetic and participated with afore-mentioned friend (Miss Cray Cray) in the Great American Bacon Race in Orlando, Florida.  (Which by the way, comes to Tampa on October 3.  So all of my Tampa friends who said after the race, "Oh I would have done it with you" - have ZERO EXCUSE because the race is now coming to their backyard!

The race is for both runners and walkers alike.  It is a timed race, which always spurs my competitive side.  At one point Miss Cray Cray said "Save yourself!" which is our signal that I can go ahead and pass all the people I need to in a fervent need to beat at least some of the racers to the finish line.

At each mile mark of the 5K race, there is a "bacon station" (three total) where you grab a piece of bacon and keep going.  

First bacon station!

The final bacon station!

The third bacon station is at the finish line.  They not only have bacon but a giant vat of melted chocolate and a "topping bar" with various seasonings to flavor your bacon.  

Chocolate dipping station for Chocolate covered BACON

Topping Bar

I kept my bacon "real" and didn't add chocolate or seasonings.  I will say that stopping for bacon each mile didn't exactly make my stomach happy, but it was BACON ... so I did it anyway.  I received a giant finishers' medal and a pork-themed race t-shirt.  What more could you want out of life?

Evidently the answer to that question is: MORE PORK.  Because after the race, Miss Cray Cray and I went to one of my favorite Winter Park, Florida restaurants: "The Ravenous Pig."  We met up with another friend (Mr. Happy) who was ready to get his pork on as the Ravenous Pig was having its annual pig roast lunch.  Mr. Happy also ordered the truffle fries- which are AMAZING and Miss Cray Cray and I ate our share and then some!

Pork Roast Feast at Ravenous Pig

Truffle Fries

Lunch at The Ravenous Pig was awesome as always, but my most favorite part of the meal was the bacon-laden collard greens.  They were so vinegar-y with a spicy kick.  I could have eaten a vat of them.  It's too bad this was a special one-day only menu because I would go back for more of those collard greens!

So Bacon 5K, then a pork barbecue lunch ... that's enough pork for one person, right?

Au contraire!

Before heading back to Tampa, I convinced Miss Cray Cray that we needed to do dessert and then get PORK to-go orders at Pig Floyd's Urban Barbakoa in the Mills 50 region of Orlando, Florida.  For two reasons: 1) it consistently gets great reviews for best new barbecue restaurant and 2) I think the owner is super hot.  

What can I say?  

I love barbecue and good looking tall men.  

Is that a crime, people? 

Miss Cray Cray and I were very excited that Pig Floyd's offers two delightful sounding desserts that we could share.  They have the Black and Tan which is chocolate chip blondie chunks, Mexican chocolate sauce, cookies and cream pudding and then topped with a generous cap of whipped cream.  The other dessert is the Cuban Banana Bread Pudding - homemade cinnamon and lemon custard, bananas, Nilla wafers and topped with whipped cream.  

However Pig Floyd's was out of the Cuban Banana Bread Pudding when we arrived!  Waaaaah!  So we each had the Black and Tan which was decadence in a little mason jar!

Black and Tan Dessert at Pig Floyd's

The über handsome Pig Floyd's owner was standing at the bar while I tried to tone down my CRAZY STALKER EYES.  For those who don't know, I tend to have insane stalker eyes when I am around people like comedian Margaret Cho, Season Five RuPaul Drag Race drag queen Jinkx Monsoon and really hot barbecue restaurant owners.  

Miss Cray Cray laughed at me - which I know secretly meant "You can try to tone down your crazy eyes all you want, but you're still screaming CRAZY STALKER EYES!"  

The owner did come over to see how we were doing - and I think I said something like "fabulous and delicious" in a ridiculously over the top, falsetto, enthusiastic voice.  (Tone it down, crazy stalker!)  I have zero game ... but I did have a really great dessert.

For take-out, I tried Pig Floyd's pulled pork, brisket and their version of "street corn" grilled corn on the cob with chili, lime and cotija cheese.  I would like to go back and try their take on a barbecue bahn mi sandwich.  I would also like to go back and continue staring at the adorable owner with my crazy stalker eyes.  The pulled pork was delicious, but of the meats the brisket was my favorite.  (Although I have to say that Four Rivers Smokehouse's brisket is better if you like more of a fatty mouthfeel.  But if you like leaner, more smoked flavor in your brisket - go with Pig Floyd's.)  

But the CORN ... oh my God, my favorite "street corn" is from Casa Tina Mexican Restaurant in Dunedin but Pig Floyd's grilled corn was insanely amazing.  I seriously would go back just for more of that grilled corn (and the dreamy owner too ... but primarily the corn ... well sort of.)

So basically last weekend was all about Orlando, Florida; pork products; gluttony and lust.  That's a pretty darn good weekend in my book!

As always, thanks for reading!