Bread and Ink Cafe

Just popped over to Hawthorne for a bit of brunch and catch up with my cousin. I haven't done much breakfasting on this blog (not much of an early riser, I'm afraid) but I probably should!

The Bread and Ink Cafe is a hopping place on a Saturday morning! If you don't have a large party, you should be fine, though.

Contrary to what you might think, they serve much more than just bread and ink. (That was a joke). They serve a variety of breakfast and brunch items, sweet and savory, local and delicious!

We ordered blueberry pancakes, and Belgian waffles (served with fresh strawberries and whipped cream today), with a side of Carlton Farms sausage patty. They were so pretty, it was hard to actually eat them! I'm most glad I did, however. Drizzled with some of their house syrup, mmmm. The sausage patty was nice and "homey;" round and lumpy and freshly sizzled. Delicious.

Mio Gelato

A sunny Saturday morning spent visiting the Japanese Gardens can only be followed by having gelato.

So we went to Mio Gelato, on NE Brazee St. We ordered paninis first, partly because we were hungry, and partly to give us more time to decide which flavors of gelato we wanted! Black Forest Ham, and Chicken. The chicken one had red peppers and avocado -- perfect!

And the gelato. After four different samples and many, many minutes staring at the swirled masses of white and brown and pink and yellow and green delights, I decided on a double-header of Italian Sweet Cream, and Strawberry. The sweet cream was what vanilla usually boasts: light and sweet. And the strawberry -- oh, the strawberry! -- sorbet had real strawberry parts in it! Imagine! :)

Panini: 5.9 (ea)
Gelato: 3-5 (or pints for 7, quarts 14)