GreatFoodFunPlaces.com

I love it when readers share their experiences of eating at restaurants that I have written about!

I received these pictures from a fan who found himself in Little Italy (San Diego) at lunchtime while on a ‘field trip’ with a group of Architecture students from Arizona State University.

I especially like this brick wall picture…great creative perspective!

The food pictures are great, too, and the group appears to have made delicious choices at Buon Appetito of Soups, Salads and the delectable TIRAMISU!

Just a quiet weekend at home with no fancy foods but delicious simple fare. Still enjoying those garlicky roasted tomatoes…so satisfying (and the house smells wonderful, like a quaint Italian restaurant);  and so many ways to enjoy them: a base for a flatbread pizza,  an omelette filling with mushrooms and spinach, a topping for a grilled portabella mushroom…ummmm yummy stuff!

This weekend I paired them with roasted rosemary seasoned potatoes –as simple as the tomatoes to prepare: toss potato slices (or chunks – I quartered small red potatoes, skins on) with extra virgin olive oil (it only takes a drizzle) and chopped fresh rosemary (fresh is key), a sprinkle of sea salt and a grind of fresh pepper; spread in a single layer, skin side down, on a baking sheet and roast at 400’ for about 40 minutes. Test with a fork for doneness.

Prepare as little or as much as you want. They are delicious alone or as another great flatbread topping or omelette filling – they’re even good cold! I added chunks of zucchini prepared the same way after 30 minutes into roasting.

The options are endless. How do you like to use them?

Eat healthier at Picazzo’s Organic Italian Kitchen and enjoy a gourmet Italian menu of pizzas, pastas, soups and salads all made with local, natural, organic, and preservative-free ingredients! The menu is 90% organic with the rest all natural and includes many Gluten-free items and signature vegetarian pizzas. Even the kid’s menu is organic! The atmosphere is open and friendly in a pleasant ‘artsy’ style with patio dining and a separate bar area.

We started with a simple mixed green salad (a Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing on the side), which we shared – thank goodness! – their salad servings are size LARGE!

All of the Vegetarian Pizza were tempting but we narrowed it down to two:

Pesto and Artichokes (Oganic pesto, sun dried tomatoes, mozzarella, artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, pine nuts and chevre (goat cheese) topped with fresh basil.

Puttanesca (Organic olive oil and garlic, mozzarella, fresh Roma tomatoes, Kalamata olives, artichoke hearts and French feta topped with fresh basil)

…And settled on a ‘split’ medium-size so we could sample them both – a happy choice!

For Dessert Lovers, another menu with a variety of temptations. You know our affinity for Chocolate Chip Cookies (read Rainy Day Comfort Food) and there it was:  Classic Chocolate Chip (Think of the best chocolate chip cookie you ever tasted…now think bigger! This classic favorite is a rich, thick chocolate chip cookie, slowly baked to melt the delectable chocolate chips, then topped with organic vanilla bean ice cream)

For your Arizona visits only, but check Picazzo’s web site to drool over their menu, learn about their GO (Green/Organic) Movement, and find a location for your next visit to Arizona…and maybe–just maybe — you might encourage them to open a ‘kitchen’ in your community!

If you are an 8 year old with money in your pretty pink purse – money to spend any way you want- on a fun day off from school and a lovely warm day in Arizona’s ‘Valley of the Sun’, what would you do?

My granddaughter, who eagerly joins me in my pursuit of great food and fun places, chose to spend her money on a special treat at Leonidas Chocolates and Café. at the new SanTan Village in Gilbert, Arizona.

Anticipating a cool refreshing smoothie, we quickly changed our minds when we  walked in and saw the cases  filled with delectable choices of chocolates, gelato and sorbetto, Italian pastries with options of rich coffee or fragrant organic teas.

Leonidas Chocolates and Café offers a “new way to enjoy fine chocolate”, combining a Leonidas Belgian Chocolate shop with a café featuring “deluxe coffee and chocolate drinks, freshly brewed organic teas, rich gelato, refreshing sorbetto and sumptuous pastries “. The luscious chocolates are shipped in each week directly from Brussels, Belgium and can be ordered online for shipping to yourself and others.

This delightful discovery comes on the tails of my post “Party in the Pantry”  asking what savory souvenirs you have experienced. Are you ready to add these luxurious Belgian Chocolates to your pantry?

I was hoping to share with you a couple of new ‘favorites’ entrees I just discovered at Pita Jungle, but since a picture is worth a thousand words…well, you will just have to wait… since at the time, I was so hungry and eager to dive right in that I forgot to take any pictures!  Ok, ok …if you must know, it was Wood Fired MahiMahi served over jalapeno hummus with pita chips AND the Island Shrimp Pizza, a lavosh base topped with feta cheese, roasted peppers, pineapple, and a mango glaze with the shrimp. Get the picture? Okay, I promise to return to Pita Jungle , if I must, just so I can take pictures of these tantalizing entrees!

Meanwhile, how about exotic culinary items from travels abroad, a potential “orgy of gustatory delights” ?  Enjoy this fun “Party in the Pantry” post. It is a delightful read with great pictures and definitely feeds my wanderlust to travel abroad.

The author, it appears, has in her pantry many gifted foods from other’s travels as well as from her own. Perusing my own pantry, I realize that I have, over time, been blessed with a bounty of gifts exotica from other’s travels: chocolates from  Belgium; Cherry BBQ sauce from Michigan;  paprika from Hungary. I have even sipped on Burundi coffee…

Read this entertaining post with me. What savory souvenirs do you have or remember having?