Red Guadalupana

1) I never forget how much I love farmers markets, but I sometimes forget about the exceedingly happy, wonderfully relaxed feeling of Zen I get while sipping my coffee among the vendors and fresh produce. Saturday morning found me at the Midtown Farmers Market, where I indulged in an open-faced breakfast sandwich with all my favorites: Rosemary flatbread topped with garlic spread, a thick layer of eggs, gorgeous smoked salmon, shreds of lettuce, and grilled sweet onions. Dfkhgskghsdfkgh! That’s how good it was.

2) Later that day I ran into Jay Francis, food explorer, at Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen on Woodway. Jay cradled a bottle of his storied homemade Rompope with care, and we were fortunate enough to beg a taste. Upon hearing about the mixture of milk, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and rum, I immediately assumed it would taste like eggnog, which I do like (read: loathe). But what I tasted in the Rompope was a deliciously creamy, lightly sweet custard of a drink. It was divine.

(Photo courtesy of Rompope King Jay Francis)

3) There are few places I enjoy more than La Guadalupana for breakfast. Crammed into a dilapidated triangle next to a Laundromat and corner store, the place was ravished by Hurricane Ike in 2008; the owners had no insurance, leaving patrons with a sick feeling that this Little Engine that Could just wouldn’t survive. Rightness has prevailed, though, and the storied joint reopened its doors only a few months after closing them. Insert huge sigh of relief. Owner Trancito Diaz was once a pastry chef at the Houston Country Club, so you know the breakfast sandwich -- a spicy omelet served in a flaky homemade croissant -- rules. What a great way to start the new week!

So last Thursday was the third installment of Bike Night at Westgate City Center in Glendale, my son in law and I got there when it was already dark and the place was so packed with motorcycles that the overflow was starting to park in the adjacent parking lots. No I did not count them but there were surely at least 500 bikes there.

For a limited amount of time Bike Night is every Thursday night but if profitable for Westgate it may be there to stay. To date this is the closest we Arizona bikers get to having a place where bikers can meet and park their bike within view. It gives the feeling of Sturgis or Daytona minus a few thousand bikes of course but nevertheless just to peruse some 500 bikes can take a while.

Every restaurant in the venue was packed and bikers are known to be very generous which again leads me to believe that Bike Night at Westgate is here to stay. I really hope so.

All these images were captured by "Junior" my son in law. He is still learning but sometimes his captures prove to be display worthy.