Food Hangover

Last night, Dozen Bake Shop in Lawrenceville hosted a summer cupcake party to release their new flavors. I had the opportunity to taste a lemon basil cupcake that brilliantly fuses together savory saltiness with sweet. Like the current flavor, salted caramel, I am glad to see the salted flavors are continuing with a margarita, salt lined cupcake. I was also excited to see lavendar being used for the passion fruit lavendar cupcake, a refreshing change for the summer. As I navigated through the cupcake towers, filled with a whopping 2000 cupcakes, flavors such as Apple Pie à la mode, Chocolate Chai, Lemon Merengue and Key Lime Pie were tempting. The most intriguing flavor was Twinkilicious, a white cake batter with topping identical to that of the consistency of actual Twinkees (mouth-coating, bland yet subtly sweet). After doing research on Twinkee culture, I'm interested to discover more about this particular flavor and the inspiration behind replication of this petroleum derived product.

I am really intrigued by Dozen not just for their delicious products such as pot pie infused with rosemary, empanadas, cinnamon buns with inch-thick cream cheese icing and the life-altering lavendar waffles with lemon curd. This notion of blurring the lines between savory and sweet complicates my notion of what makes a meal. For me, a meal includes the equation of one savory plus one sweet- for instance, breakfast equals a cinnamon bun (sweet) and a latte (savory). If I apply this reasoning of consumption to Dozen's cupcakes- one lemon basil (savory) and one banana butterscotch cupcake (sweet) makes a meal. Of course this is not a healthy nor sustainable way to eat, but I really appreciate the fact that Dozen challenges and expands my taste buds with such tongue twisters.

Dozen also strives toward the local. The shop's website (http://www.dozenbakeshop.com/html/about.html) includes a list of local suppliers including Penn's Corner Farm Alliance, Grow Pittsburgh, and Turner Dairy Farms, Inc. The shop was listed in Pittsburgh Magazine last year for their noble sustainability efforts.

The night did not end after the cupcake party, as my fellow foodie friend Jenn and I went to the "Waffle Shop, A Reality Show" in East Liberty, located between Ava and Shadow Lounge. The view from the outside is initially peculiar. Looking in through the open view windows surrounding the shop, there is a bar and tables with a talk show stage set up towards the back. On the prominent blue wall in lighting that reminds me of a circus ride, hails customers and potential talk show guests: WAFFLES. After walking in we were cordially greeted by multiple waiters, as well as the shop's manager, Dawn. The shop's website (Waffleshop.org) offers the most succinct explanation of this unique space:

...a neighborhood restaurant that produces and broadcasts a live-streaming talk show with its customers, operates a changable storytelling billboard on its roof, and runs a take out window that sells food from countries engaged in conflict with the U.S. The shop is a public experiment that brings together people from all walks of life to engage in dialogue and the co-production of culture.

Ultimately, the waffles are bait to get people in to talk. The take out window, Conflict Kitchen, is a connected project, as next door they will be selling kafta (lean beef heavily spiced with basil and other ingredients- try it at Aladdin's, too) wrapped in homemade bread wrapped in information about Iran. The layers in which this project operates is so interesting, combining local initiatives and dialogue with international awareness.

The waffles in themselves are completely tempting, as we had the options to choose between the traditional buttermilk, mint blueberry and coconut chicken curry waffles. The food aspect of the shop indeed operates in a (relatively) local-focused paradigm, as they are in partnership with Whole Foods Market. Jenn and I opted to share a mint blueberry waffle, as we were operating on cupcake overload. The tasty concoction had fresh blueberries in the batter, with vanilla bean ice cream on top, and a sprig of fresh mint. Pairing this along with great conversation and talk show entertainment, I will definitely be returning after having something savory to counteract this sugar shock.