New and improved Del Mar Farmers' Market! + Viva Pops and Sicilian Thing again...

ST and I were heading to the Flower Hill Farmers Market this morning....when we realized there was no FHFM this morning! A web check at home confirmed that that market is RIP as of two weeks ago. Well, we only went once, so we weren't keeping it in business. We decided we'd either hit Del Mar this afternoon or Fairbanks tomorrow.

Whoa!!! Who took the Del Mar market and put it on steroids? Today's market was much bigger than I remember. Plus they had a scavenger hunt for kids, which included a prize of a free fruit drink from Gina's (ST, ever the gourmand, selected watermelon lemonade). There are some new vendors, so we had some wonderful choices. We came home with a lot of fruit and veggie loot. Oh - and Randy Gruber of Americana was on hand cooking up fresh food with market goodies. I have been to Americana 2x and never got overly excited about it....but my oh my, he did a fabulous job with black cod and the market vegetables (green beans, corn, tomatoes). Loved it! We saw Mr. Manvite and his family there - he said he is a happy customer of Americana. We should probably try it again!

We also visited Sicilian Thing recently, where I was reminded how delicious its pizza is (I think it's better than Bongiorno's consistently, but CH says when Mike Bongiorno himself is on hand, Bongiorno's still wins). Loved my nino espinosa + barack-oli ricotta. ST tries Sicilian for the first time, and declared that he preferred it over thin-crust. That's my adventurous eater!

And at viva pops later, ST selected strawberry (he's allowed to choose the familiar now and then). At the next table, a mom had mango-chili and was raving about it. I think I have yet to try that one.

Sicilian Thing/Viva Pops

We took SuperToddler to Sicilian Thing today (excellent Philly pizza + city buses - what could be better?). He was so well-behaved I thought of Viva Pops and we headed over there (it's about 1.5 miles).

Mom had nectarine+basil (chosen over lavender lemonade, mojito, Mexican chocolate, and lots of other flavors).

ST had plain 'ol strawberry (v. strawberry +cucumber+mint)...which was not plain old at all, since the strawberry flavor was super-intense.

Fresh, delicious, cold....love Viva Pops!

Viva Pops! (Normal Heights - plus Tao and Jyoti Bihanga)

Foodgirl took her mom today to Tao - it was so yummy to go back. Still like the garlic "chicken" best - pho ok - homemade tofu with asparagus and lily flower was tasty but maybe too healthy - hehehe. Salad and strawberry cheesecake ice cream for dessert were yummy.

Mom wanted to get Jyoti Bihanga to take out for dinner (she came 3000 miles - she wasn't going to leave the neighborhood without getting something there!). I got a beet and coconut soup to go - yum!

But most important, Mom got Viva Pops, 2 doors down from Tao. She does not get as excited about food as Little Old Moi does....But after she had the sugar-free tart plum popsicle, all she could say was "WOW!!! WOW!!!! WOW!!! I sound like you, Foodgirl. WOW!!!" I had a taste too...I am not a tart plum kind of girl, but it certainly was intense, refreshing and tasty if you would enjoy eating a whole entire tart plum.

I never go there since Tao gives free dessert, but it is certainly worth a return visit!

Tao!!!! (Normal Heights)

Foodgirl must blog about the meal she just had at Tao with Museumgirl. We made up for the disaster that was Station Tavern by meeting just the two of us.

YUM, YUM AND SUPER-YUM!!

That place is ridiculous. We had:
--garlic "chicken"
--mango "chicken"
--their free salad
--their free ice cream

They make their own tofu. It was RIDICULOUSLY good. The vegetables were super-fresh and yummy, much better than in standard Asian restaurants. The brown rice was (dare I say?) the best brown rice I have ever had....a mix of 3 different grains. And the tofu and sauces were delectable. The textures of the tofu on each were totally different...and we just loved both dishes. (Does it sound like I liked it?)

There are complaints on yelp about service at night. At lunchtime, it was not super-fast, but still fine. The waitress was pleasant. I got a deal at BuyWithMe.com, but I would go again for full price (they also apparently are on restaurant.com).

LOVED IT!!!!