Serena’s Travels

Looking for the best chocolate in the Big Easy? Sucre, on trendy Magazine Street, is your best bet for luxurious cocoa creations

Sure, plenty of things come to mind when you think of the Big Easy, and maybe chocolate isn’t at the top of that list, but there sure are some fancy cocoa finds no less. Set aside the pralines, and head to Magazine Street, where indie shops and hot boutiques abound. Sucre is nestled smack dab in the middle of the action, nearby one the of the city’s best jeweler’s, Mignon Faget. Work up your sweet tooth as you stroll this fabulous street, ending up at the best chocolatier in town. New Orleans’ cultural crossroads have inspired the broad array of treats at this destination sweet shop, which explains the diverse offering of flavors and types of candies and truffles in the tempting window display.

The most famous Sucre treat is the Meuniere, a buttery-chocolate filled truffle shaped like a Fleur de Lys, but there are several other chocolates for which this place is known. One bit into the salted dark chocolate Avery, and you might feel like taking a whole box and grabbing the St. Charles street car back to your hotel. Seasonal themes are festive and flavorful; magenta bunnies filled with caramel or luxurious Grand Coeur are far from the average holiday candy box. And there are other cocoa delights like the hand-painted teatime truffle collection and the fun white chocolate and coconut bonbons.

You can find all their confections; including some of the best traditional macaroons this side of the Atlantic, online, but a visit to the store give the complete experience. The chocolate counter looks like a gem shop counter, and the stylish counter winds around to an abundance of café treats like handmade gelato and fluffy croissants. Ask the locals, or the tourists who are lucky enough to have found the Magazine Street ‘hood, and they’ll send you to Sucre for the best chocolate in New Orleans.

Details: 3025 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70115

Sun-Thurs 9a-10p, Fri-Sat 9a-12a

www.shopsucre.com

(Images thanks to www.shopsucre.com)

Sometimes you are driving around on vacation, maybe on two wheels, maybe four, but either way, passing by intriguing signs, sculptures, and landmarks it can be hard to pick ones are stop-worthy.

My tip on this would be to stop if you get the urge, error on the side of new possibility, and if there’s a big blue chair that could easily fit the Jolly Green Giant, definitely stop. You just might find something like Sonoma County’s Cornerstone.

If you can, plan to visit during one of their events, which usually include live local music. The next one is the Spring Planting Party, March 20-21.

Here are the pix. The gardens are just incredible. And admission is always free!

It might be known to my cousins as the shop where their once babysitter Ben Harper used to kick around, but to me it is a playground for folk music. Plus, Ben’s brother still runs the place.

Here are pictures from when I was there last week. If you go, check out their website ahead to see if a local musician will be playing, or an open mic is on.

When you go: Come midweek to avoid the college crowd scene too much, unless you are coming for a show. You get more attention from the staff in the early afternoons it seems. (There are five universities in this small, so-called “east of the west” town) 220 Yale Ave., Claremont, CA 91711, 909.624.2928

Look for: Cool, small, international noise makers, many of which are safe and fun for kids, a rainbow of yukeleles, great tips from the musicians who work there, infinite guitar know-how and fixer-uppers if you’ve got your axe in tow.

Vancouver, Vancouver, Vancouver! What an incredible place. It is a city that’s close to my heart ever since I spent a year there studying and taking the gondola up Grouse Mountain a few times a week as a volunteer ski patroller. Ah the memories.

If you’re headed to see the doubles luge, the curling, the figure skating, or other Olympic excitements, there are also some city highlights that you shouldn’t miss.

In Vancouver’s downtown, shop local on Robson Street, get caught up in the crowds on Burrard (after Georgia Street head southwest to Howe Street to see the Vancouver Art Gallery and the big main library), and after a tasty visit to the cafes of Yaletown and the purveyors on Granville Island, make sure not to miss the wonders of North Van. It’s an easy hop, skip, and jump on the Seabus from downtown to Lonsdale Quay (pronounced Key, always). Explore the the quay’s food court, bead store, and organic food merchants, then grab a bus to either Edgemont Village and the Capillano Suspension Bridge, or better yet, the all around less-known Lynn Valley, which most visitors won’t know about - there’s a rather epic suspension bridge there too.

Edgemont Village is at the foot of Grouse Mountain, and there’s a cozy, neighborhood attractions there, like the coffee shop I used to frequent, Delaney’s.

If you opt instead for the “North Van less traveled,” Lynn Valley Canyon Park is just as spectacular in terms of natural beauty, plus there’s an ecology center at the entrance of the park. I used to run down the mulchy trails to where the creek came through the canyon and hop from rock to rock on sunny days. I highly recommend it, especially if you need a break from cheering on your favorite world class athletes.

Happy Travels to the Vancouver Olympics!

Oceanside is a cozy, beachy, community, and walking along the beach this time of year, the moist breeze verges on perfect. Traveling for Valentine’s Day, or on weekends throughout February and March is a great idea especially for vacation destinations that are busting at the seems in summers or on major holidays. There is more of a local vibe, an ideal laid back atmosphere that you don’t find in busy season.

Oceanside is a very low key town, not overtly a “green” town, but one that’s spotted with local businesses and equipped with an updated recycling and waste management program.

For a fabulous grocery shopping experience head southeast of the Municipal Pier to Oceanside Boulevard. There’s you’ll find an in-store bakery, an incredible bulk section, and an array of Mexican, Turkish, Indian, and Jamaican specialty foods more varied than some of the ethnic grocery shops in the Bay Area.

Enjoy the salt-and-pepper sand in your toes, the tide-smoothed rocks, the wetsuit-clad surfers like black booeys bobbing in the surf. You can take a bike ride along the paved path between Carlsbad to the south and Oceanside, or take the train, arriving at the station 2 blocks from the beach, which makes it very convenient back and forth from San Diego, Los Angeles or points further north.

Staying at the Wyndham Oceanside Pier Resort is the best way to stay close to the beach - plus parking isn’t charged in your reservation cost.

If you go:

Oceanside, CA

Johnny Long Boarder’s  (try the Long Boarder scramble with fresh mushrooms, tomatoes, ham, cheese, and peppers for breakfast)

Boney’s Market

Wyndham Oceanside Pier (when you book ask for an “ocean front” view, the “ocean views” are also good, but are the sides of the building so they don’t look out directly on the pier)

Surf Museum (a fun flashback of the first women to make waves, pardon the pun, in the sport, is on view now)

Pier View Coffee Company (great fresh-baked muffins and pastries, plus fair trade roasts and sidewalk seats)

Traveling during Thanksgiving week can be one great test of patience. Even with the idea of the holiday being giving thanks, as I pass through throngs of passengers on line at the airport and slowly pace along congested highways, I realize just how far away most of us get from the season’s theme.

And the worst part is many of us aren’t even that excited for this often stressful meal. It means getting over family grudges, taking vacation days when we can’t go to the beach, and translating that black, or green, or blue Friday into gifts we can’t afford while battling through more crowds.

I may sound unexcited, but I do like the chance to swim in a sea of people, and there are some wonderful familiar faces I do look forward to seeing in between over-sized bites of pumpkin pie. In light of the trials and triumphs of Thanksgiving, I offer a few ideas for those who are frustrated with the week’s ever-present mosh pit:

1. Breath. Breath deeply and slowly. Imagine palm trees in front of you and feel sand between your toes.

2. Watch people as if you were an anthropologist - the colors, the outfits, the faces. Think to yourself, where are they going? Are they the ones cooking? Are they doomed to a table of grumpy stepparents or gleefully awaiting meeting a new niece for the first time? How many dorky Thanksgiving-themed cocktails will they have before they sit down to dinner?

3. If you need an escape, head to the nearest 24-hour diner and have your own little moment, whether its a whole greasy meal or just a cup of cocoa. How can we so easily forget just how good hot cocoa is?

4. Pretend you are a water buffalo on the African plains making a yearly migration south and be one with the crowd. Don’t stampede, instead look at all the very many types of shoes people wear for the journey…

I realize that it might not be clear sometimes when I’m chatting up galleries, exhibitions, tours, and trips that each of my recommendations have something to do with the GrassRoutes mission.

All of the businesses and activities we highlight do meet our criteria in more ways than one, whether they are locally owned, hiring locals, banking locally, providing employees with health care or hiring those that are re-entering the workforce, whether they are composting or recycling, using repurposed materials in their operations, art, or building, using fair trade merchandise, organic or local produce, featuring local art and promoting community involvement and education - all of these factors come into play for each and every blog entry, and review on each GrassRoutes guidebook.

I woke up this morning and just felt the need to reiterate that - traveling and enjoying yourself can have a really positive impact on the local environment, economy and community with a little forethought, and a little help from GrassRoutes.

New Orleans may be known for good eats, great tunes, and spectacular parties and festivals, but I can’t believe its not more touted for its edgy art scene.

I relish the chance to gaze at original Disney drawings, special Joseph Cornell sculpted collages, and classic impressionists at New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA), or subscribe to the creative impulse of Southern art at the Odgen, where I recently discovered Dusti Bonge, photographer Clarence John Laughlin, and a breath-taking collaboration between Jeffery Cook and Renee Stout. There’s also Julia Street, lined with modern galleries, some guarded by well-groomed Malteses, and alive with action during the regular Julia Street Art Walk.

When I’m not ogling at the museums, my favorite galleries in town are without a doubt on Chartres Street in “the Quarter.” Vikki and Mark have made some of the their own discoveries, showcased at Taylor Bercier Fine Art (233 Chartres), two doors down is fun-loving Cafe Baby (239 Chartres), and on the corner (at Bienville) is A Gallery (241 Chartres), probably the most impressive private photography collection I’ve ever scene. After being wooed by the up-and-coming team Louviere and Venessa, and three original Diane Arbus prints, owner Josh took me behind the scenes to see his original Fox Talbot photos! Needless to say it made my day, and it’ll make yours too, just step inside.

On a recent opening I found these sights from the Taylor Bercier show “Adam and Gina.”

Adam Ferrington:

Here’s A Gallery:

Here’s Cafe Baby:

In New Orleans clocks don’t seem necessary - at all hours there is something fun to do, something delicious to eat, or some new friend to meet. At secret house parties, epicurean denizens, tucked-away jazz halls, and hidden streets, I’ve found treasures here any time of day or night.

But now, with the re-opening of the elegant and historic Roosevelt Hotel (a Waldorf Astoria property), and its incredible lobby centerpiece, I have a new interest in time when I travel to my favorite southern city. Made by famed French time-master E. Farcot, and sculpted by Albert Earnest Carrier de Belleuse, this onyx, marble and bronze masterpiece began telling time at the 1867 Paris Exhibition. The celestial elegance matches the grandeur of this hotel-come-palace, and it sure made my heart skip a beat.

The clock does more than tell the hour - it also brings together the community twice a month for it’s maintenance “winding.” Manager Mark Wilson brings local heroes to do the job, and I was so lucky as to chance upon one such event. And it was no ordinary guy winding the clock - it was none other than Saint’s owners Mr. and Mrs. Benson.

Although I was in the midst of a sporting melt down, watching my Phillies loose to those Yanks just days before, I was quickly healed by the ever-present adoration for this football team in New Orleans. And it was easy to get caught up in the team spirit. The mustard and gold colored lobby was filled with fans, who knew where to be when Mr. Benson was coming to wind.

Check the hotel’s website for their next clock winding, or come to Teddy’s Cafe, where fine herbal tea, delish pastries, and comfy seats make a great spot to hang out or go online with free wireless, just beside this incredible clock.

If you do need to be on time in New Orleans, a truly timeless city, this is where to go to check it.

Info:
The Roosevelt New Orleans
123 Baronne Street, 504.648.1200

Come to the Women of Color Resource Center tonight, Monday, November 9th, for “Catalyst for Change” a community gathering facilitated by Nancy Kahn, to process through the tragic events last week in Richmond around female violence. This will be a chance to talk to peers about both the individual and global effects of rape and violence, plus there will be a number of local organizations there to connect with and effect positive change on your own.

Dialogue with other interested women and get involved, translating the talking into action.

It is persevering non-profits like the Women of Color Resource Center (WCRC) that are here for us in times of community stress. Donate here.

In Oakland tonight: 1611 Telegraph Ave, #303