Thursday: It's Lunch Out Day!

I had to adjust my plans somewhat today, which I rarely do for my lunch out. Got a last-minute proofreading job about an hour before I left, and this ad agency was literally waiting for my proofing to put the brochures on the press for an upcoming big trade show. I realized I wouldn't enjoy myself thinking about this job so I took my computer with me and went to the Choux Factory, which is around the corner from me on First Avenue.

Choux are custard-filled cream puffs, all the rage in Tokyo supposedly, and when this place opened a number of years ago, all they sold was choux and coffee. It always reminded me of that Saturday Night Live skit which took place in a shopping mall store that only sold scotch tape.

Year by year they've added more items, and I hadn't been there for a while. Now they sell everything, up to and including that old Japanese standard: quesadillas.




This is the counter -- no wait staff. You can see the restaurant name in the background. In the two apothecary jars on the right are these macaroons which I once tried, but they are baked meringue so you take a bite and the whole thing flakes and crumbles and you have more macaroon on your front than in your mouth.



The bakery goods really are the star. In addition to choux, they have fancy cakes and pies, including one that looked delicious which was a coconut cream/meringue pie. Didn't try it.

I didn't know what to order, so I ordered eggs, before I remembered I'm going out to lunch tomorrow with Barbara and that is what we typically get. I also asked for butter on the side. They had toasted the bagel and I don't like melted, liquid butter on toasted bread. Partially melted is OK, but I still like the butter to be in somewhat solid form. I also asked for scrambled eggs SOFT, but these are really non-English speaking Japanese people and I don't think they knew what I meant by that. These are way overdone for me, even with brown speckles on them but I ate them nonetheless.

This is my iced latte, which along with the eggs, brought my lunch total to $8.50.

This is the most lovely mother and child who came in. This place has a self-service frozen yogurt machine and I was drawn to the two of them discussing which of the four flavors they wanted, and then what color spoons each wanted. The mother was very engaged with the son, as opposed to checking out her Blackberry and ignoring the kid. At one point, I overheard part of their conversation about Shakespeare. I was impressed. On the way out, the kid put his hand on the bakery display case to see the mark it left, and the mother gently told him that now someone has to clean off his handprint. I thought, "Aha, this is how you make responsible adults." They were a charming pair.

When I say I sit on the steps of my building, here's where I sit to watch the world go by. I have sat there with some of you too. When I was leaving today, the funeral home down the block was wheeling a body in on the gurney. Always a good reminder to enjoy today.

This is Ana, the one who is toiling away in my apartment as I am eating great lunches and enjoying my Thursdays.

I avoided the coconut/meringue pie, but I did succomb to a coconut muffin that I brought home for later. They are baked on the premises and it shows that it's not the uniformly perfect machine-made shape. This one has a weird leaning muffin top. Made with fresh coconut. I am planning to eat it for breakfast tomorrow, but I am not positive it will survive the night untouched.