5K and Fooding Tour

My first 5K of this year was last Saturday. I did exactly how I expected, maybe a bit better, considering that I still wasn't running/training consistently.

As for the fooding tour, I don't think stopping at only two places truly consists of a tour, but each place was of the utmost quality.

But first, here's what I had for breakfast a few hours before the race, along with water:

A Monster Energy and a breakfast cookie. I found the recipe on Gretchen's blog, Canela & Comino. I changed the spices and only used raisins (regular and golden). I like it because the fat was at a minimum without sacrificing taste and texture, it wasn't too sweet, and the texture was in between a muffin and a cakey cookie.

Before the race we stopped at Broad Street Cafe for their incredible bagels. The bagels are made in the traditional boiled method, resulting in a nicely chewy crust and dense, airy, and chewy innards. The flavors of the different bagels are very pronounced.

My favorite flavor, asiago cheese. (Look at the hole structure!)

Toasting these bagels results in an extraordinary sensation. The crust becomes crisp and shatters a bit when you bite into it, and the innards turn into a fluffy, puffy mass of bready-ness!

By the way, I ate this after the race.

Our next stop, post race, was Caffe Tosi. This place is high on my list of cafes I absolutely love.

I'll get back to why I should have gone with my instinct and chosen a chocolate-flavored pastry in the next post

The very first time I came to Tosi's, I ordered the borgia, which is a shot of espresso with steamed hot chocolate and orange shavings, then topped with foam and more shavings of orange peel.

Referring to a previous post, Eating from a Memory, I talk about how sometimes the first experience isn't quite the same the second time around. Or the third. And the fourth. The first time I had this drink, I remember a warm mocha drink with a vibrant orange flavor, topped with just the right amount of milk foam that lasted a while, and I could tell that the barista took great pains to make the presentation just as splendid as the drink itself was. While the borgia is still a good drink, it doesn't remind me, taste-wise, of the first time I had it anymore.

Their espresso, using illy espresso, remains the best I have ever had. The crema is nut-colored and, one of the most important parts, visible, and the espresso is slightly bitter but rich and smooth.

To go along with my espresso, I was originally going to order a granola cookie. I had one last year and I really enjoyed it, but the almond horn caught my eye instead. It featured a perfectly sweetened filling of almond paste wrapped in a shell of pastry dough. I loved this, as the nutty filling paired well against the flaky crust and was great alongside with sips of espresso.

A view from my seat

After watching the parade for a bit, we headed back to Tosi's because I was hungry for actual food. We realized that usually we get a bagel-wich at Broad Street Cafe, mine consisting of hummus and bean sprouts (maybe tomatoes, I forget) on a toasted bagel.

The first soup was clam chowder. Besides the fact that it had many clam pieces (a giant plus), the broth wasn't gloopy.

The next soup, mine, was minestrone. It seemed to have mostly been pureed, but there were some vegetable and bean chunks. The soup was on the verge of flavor without completely coming through, however, which is the only minus I had against it.

Both soups came with a small container of homemade croutons. I usually don't put croutons in my soup, but I knew these would be worth it. Little pieces of crunchy oil-and-herb-coated bread are usually worth it if made properly.

I couldn't leave without ordering my standard non-fat, dry cappuccino. The foam was perfect, nice tight bubbles that didn't evaporate quickly. Also, even "diluted" with milk, I could not taste any bitterness coming from the espresso. (*AHEM*Starbucks*AHEM*)

All in all, the perfect way to spend a post-race day!

---

Addresses

Broad Street Cafe
614 Broad St
St Joseph, MI 49085

(269) 983-7646

Caffe Tosi
516 Pleasant Street
St. Joseph, Michigan 49085

tel: 269.983.DELI fax: 269.983.5006