Zinque Cafe and Wine Bar in West Hollywood

The old Nishimura space across the street from Pacific Design Center was always closed off by a tall wooden gate. Now it has turned into Zinque Cafe and Wine Bar and the gate gave way to a charming outdoor dining area, complete with a fireplace.

The food menu is small, but we tried some good things here, starting with the Cheese Plate ($16) which included comte, blue cheese, and epoisses

Though you don't get to choose the cheeses, they're all good and come with fun accompaniments. Now, the server might tell you the one at the end is brie, but I was told Zinque is one of the few places in town that serves Epoisses. Instead of brie, we had a slice of the wonderfully stinky epoisses, even better with the honeycomb.

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Anniversary Afternoon Tea at The Langham Boston

Once a year, The Langham hotels celebrate their anniversary by serving afternoon tea service for the original price that the first Langham hotel in London charged. Back in 1865, afternoon tea was 1 shilling and 6 pence. That means, dear readers, that on June 10 you can get the $38 afternoon tea at The Langham in Boston for only $0.15!

I was lucky enough to go to the Pasadena Langham in 2011, but now it's gotten so popular you can only get reservations for the special priced-tea by lottery only. Knowing I would already be in Boston, I entered the lottery for the Boston Langham, and what do you know, I got it!

My friends and new roommate and I took a long lunch that Tuesday and headed to the hotel lobby. Gift bags in the pretty Langham pink color were on the table .. ooh, but more on that at the end.

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Freshology: Delivering Healthy Meals

We've seen a surge of meal delivery services recently, from vegan to raw to special dietary ones. One of the big players is Freshology. Freshology delivers a day's worth of prepared meals that are healthy, low calorie, and well made. They'll drop off the cooler in front of your door really early in the morning, so you'll have your breakfast ready.

The menu changes daily, of course, but here's what I had:
Breakfast was oatmeal with almonds, a bit of milk, and fresh grapes and berries.

The oatmeal was light instead of dense, and I really enjoyed it with the grapes. I normally eat pastries or something rather unhealthy for breakfast, and I have to admit I felt rather energized after finishing this.

For lunch, a shrimp salad sandwich with a side of watermelon salad (not pictured)

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