A Treat Any Day

After returning from Europe in August, the sights and smells of amazing street food on narrow, crowded, picturesque, busy streets is etched in my memory.  It's hard to replicate that experience in most places around the 'burgh, but I have to admit, I think I've almost done it.  I'm not much of a coffee drinker, preferring tea as my caffeine of choice.  But I have a weakness for bitter chocolate, and something about the combination of expresso and chocolate stabs unmercifully at that weakness, and creates something akin to coffee desire.  Not just any coffee, as it must be deep, rich, flavorful expresso.  La Prima Expresso has got it in spades.  My first sip of their iced moka (they insist on you ordering in Italian), was swoon-worthy.   So, it didn't end there.  I was back within a week, treating my sister.  We sat on the street, sipping our moka's, and nibbling a most delectable pastry.   It was an Almond Mele.  What's a mele, you ask?  Well, it looked  a bit like a turnover.  And though I wouldn't normally order almond anything, this seemed the perfect match for this cup 'o joe.  And oh, it was.


A bit of old Europe, right in the Strip District.  Close your eyes, take a sip, a little nibble, and you are right there.  




"Take a breather with a cup of coffee and a mele, a fruit-filled pastry, at La Prima Espresso Company (205 21st Street; 412-565-7070), where the old men sitting at the outdoor tables look like they’ve been sipping espresso and playing cards for eternity."  http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/travel/06hours.html