A few days after visiting the Marin Civic Center, my mom and I flew to Pittsburgh to visit my grandfather. One of the first days we were in Pittsburgh, we ended up Yelping for a bakery to bring some sweet treats over to Grandpa. We found this charming little french bakery called La Gourmandine that was amazing. We liked it so much that later on in the week, we came back for more tasty things.

He had recently turned 93, so we were able to convince him to come out to lunch with us and my cousin Marlene and her husband Gordon, and his caretaker Clarence. We had a lovely lunch and it was fun to celebrate Grandpa, even if he wasn’t in the mood to eat much. I wish I could visit him more than just once or twice a year, but with my schedule as a teacher and how long of a traveling day it is to get to Pennsylvania, it’s tricky to fit it in.

On Sunday Mom and I arrived at a restaurant early and walked around for a little bit before dinner with the Szabos. We saw this gorgous church, and I couldn’t resist snapping a few photos.

We also had a great dinner with our family friends the Szabos at the Twisted Frenchman. They are just a great family with 2 adorable girls that are both supersmart and crazy athletic. ( I think one of them will end up in the Olympics somehow!)

My delicious food.  I got the fish and chips appetizer, and the vegetarian cassoulet, which was the best cassoulet I had ever had.

We all got dessert and the presentation was quite decadent as the Chef came out and poured liquid nitrogen over our two custards (mine citrus & blood orange, everyone else’s chocolate). I ate mine before snapping a picture, oh well!

It makes me a little sad that all these great things are all the way across the country from me, because these people are what make every trip to Pittsburgh so much fun and so memorable. Until next summer!

Have you ever had dessert presented in a fun way?

Love,

-S