It's been hot this week — really hot. So for this week's Best Thing We Ate, I thought: what better way to cool down than with ice cream? I've been to the Dairy Mat before, so this time I checked out the Dairy Deluxe on the south end of town, on Woodward Avenue just north of 14 Mile. I live on the north side of town, and the Dairy Mat is just a quick bike ride away, and so I wasn't as familiar with the Dairy Deluxe although I've heard plenty of Birmingham residents rave about it. And for good reason too: my vanilla cone dipped in sprinkles (although as you can see, they are not the patriotic …

Funnel cakes. For me, they taste like summer should be: fried and chewy, completely bad for you and doused in powdered sugar. And this weekend, you can find your own piece of summer at the 49th annual Birmingham Village Fair, going on through Sunday in and around Shain Park. The fair opened Thursday and Birmingham residents can check out all the Midway games, tilt-a-whirls and fair food they want through 9 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit Need to Know: Birmingham Village Fair Comes to Town. However, while my favorite fair food is the beloved funnel cake, what's yours? Is it cotton …

Toast is one of my favorite go-to places around town: it's upscale enough for guests but still casual, they've got a great patio and great food. Which is why when it came to enjoying an early dinner on a beautiful Birmingham Friday night, I headed to Toast where I was able to immediately snag a seat on the sidewalk and enjoy this meal: steak frites and truffle fries. Talk about delicious: I want something slightly decadent and this definitely fit the bill. Should I be embarrassed to admit I used every one of my truffle fries to sop up the steak's red wine reduction sauce? Because I did. Plus…

I've eaten crepes in a lot of places (all outside France, of course). I've had crepes from a food cart in Burlington, VT featuring farm-fresh ingredients from, literally, right down the road. I've eaten giant breakfast crepes at the famous St. Lawrence market in Toronto. Funny enough, however, I hadn't tried a crepe from Michigan until this week when I finally stopped by Birmingham's new What Crepe? on North Old Woodward Avenue. I had "The Obvious" from the restaurant's menu of staff and diner favorites. It's a savory crepe with a hint of sweetness, stuffed with chicken, spinach, pecans, feta…

Monday was my first time at Cafe Via but I thought: what better time to check out this Birmingham favorite than during Birmingham Restaurant Week, when 20 select restaurants around town are offering $30 dinner and $15 lunch menus. At Cafe Via, there's something for every taste on their Restaurant Week dinner menu, including a choice of: Tomato bisque, a cafe salad or crab cake as an appetizer Pasta bolognese or roasted chicken an an entree Apple crisp or chocolate cake for dessert I tried the crab cake, chicken and chocolate cake — all delicious — though my dining partner assured me the …

This week's Best Thing We Ate This Week takes us back in time a bit — back to when the Christmas-New Years rush was just about to set in and I had found a bit of time to relax over Sunday brunch at Birmingham's Commonwealth Cafe. I enjoy trying out a restaurant's seasonal menu, particularly in the winter when things tend to be full of spices, butter and warm flavors. That means I had to try one of Commonwealth's December specials, their Cinnamon Apple French Toast. Made with hearty challah and Macintosh and Granny Smith apples and then smothered in a caramel-cider sauce, this dish reminded me…

Every year, my dad makes copious amounts of snickerdoodles for Christmas, upon which my family is accustomed to snacking on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, the day after Christmas and throughout January. Suffice it to say, like many families, holiday cookie-baking is a tradition at my house (similar to our love of pies at Thanksgiving). This year, I wanted to get in on the action and make my own contributions to the cookie feast. That's when I whipped up these babies: oatmeal, cranberry and chocolate chunk cookies. OK, so it's a not a secret family recipe (I found it on the Food Network), but …

When I heard there a new bakery in town, I knew I had to make our way down to Frank Street — and to the new Frank Street Bakery, which opened in the former Cinderella's Attic location last Thursday, on Dec. 1 — as soon as possible. And I'm glad I did. For my inaugural trip, I went with our sweet tooth and bought a slice of their delicious pecan pie for only $3.17. Now, there is nothing better (in my book) than pecan pie, but this slice was phenomenal — from the light crust to the buttery, smooth filling. Of course, I stopped by during lunch time so I couldn't avoid the smells of sandwiches …

Whether you're celebrating the return of the fall colors, sipping a spiced apple cider while buying your Christmas tree or just enjoying all the tastes of the holiday season, nothing says staying toasty in cold weather than a hot drink. Starbucks embraces the seasonal frame of mind with their iconic red cups and the specialty, sugar-laced drinks that fill them — gingerbread lattes, caramel brulee lattes, peppermint mochas. While I am partial to the caramel brulee latte, nothing says the holidays like peppermint and chocolate, so my first coffee in a red cup was none other than the peppermint …

When I was growing up, one of my favorite picture books was The Blueberry Pie Elf by Jane Thayer, a 1961 book that (I believe) originally belonged to my dad. Therefore, I think it's fitting that my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is my dad's "famous" blueberry pie. My dad contends that it's not really that special, but I'm definitely addicted. There was one Thanksgiving or Christmas when he wasn't going to make it, but despite being miles away at college, I used my steel-edge determination and I'm-your-only-daughter card to wear him down and force him to make at least one that year (all …

This week for the Best Thing We Ate, we ventured out of Birmingham for a meeting at the Royal Park Hotel in downtown Rochester, a definite treat (by all definitions of the word). Though it's no Townsend Hotel, the restaurant at the Royal Park served excellent food in an airy, but elegant environment. However, the best part of my Rochester lunch was dessert. I had the Mint Chocolate Brownie Tree — a chocolate mint mousse "tree" sitting atop a dark chocolate brownie and covered in chocolate ganache. Plus, don't forget the red and white chocolate drizzle, mint whipped cream and fresh berries …

There are a lot of places to eat in Birmingham, but one of my personal favorites doesn't even have tables. Le Petit Prince is a cute but comfortinly authentic, set apart from the downtown scene but still a popular draw no matter what the day — that is if the Didierjean family who's owned Le Petit Prince since 1979 is in the country at the time. If the interior of Le Petit Prince lacks the pizazz of downtown bistros or coffeeshops, it more than makes up for it with its food. With dozens of pastry choices baked fresh every day, as well as tarts and other sweet desserts, there's plenty to choose…

I was craving pizza all week, so I decided to give a new pizza place a try – Brooklyn Pizza. It's hard to miss with it's mini Statue of Liberty perched near the corner of Maple and Henrietta, but I had yet to walk into the pizza joint. It has a handful of different kinds of pizza slices on display, and because I was having lunch solo, I opted for just one slice of the Margherita Pizza. That particular type of pizza, cooked in a wood burning oven like all the rest, is served with tomato and fresh basil over a thick coat of mozzarella cheese and costs $3.30 for a slice. In addition to the pizza…

Sometimes when you go into a restaurant or bistro, you don't just want one meal — you want something you can eat on all week. That's what I wanted when I walked into Great Harvest Bread Company late last week and picked up one of their cracked pepper swiss bread loaves. Not exactly spicy but definitely cheesy and flavorful, the bread is pretty dense but makes a great side to soups and salads, a pairing I made several times over the weekend. While a savory bread isn't exactly right for french toast, I also used up the rest of my loaf by using nice, thick slices when I made a chicken caesar …

Birmingham is made up of many neighborhoods and though having a walkable downtown, sometimes you need to stretch your legs a bit (or get in the car) to find a lunch that's both hearty, delicious and a little different. I wandered into the Bagel Factory Cafe at Lincoln and Adams this week for the first time and was pleased to find the Turkey Jerkey, a sandwich made up of your choice of bagel (or wrap, if you wish to cut down on the carbs), turkey, jalapeno cream cheese, roasted red peppers and red onions. I've already mentioned that I'm a fan of bagel sandwiches and this one was just awesome. …

In my tour of Birmingham's coffeeshops, I hit up a Birmingham staple this week: Starbucks. Yes, I know it's the "corporate" member of the city's caffeine crew, but I will say that when it comes to seasonal drinks, Starbucks knows how to do it right. My favorite fall coffee this year has to be Starbucks' salted caramel mocha. The first time I had one I wasn't sure what I thought, but after my second cup this week, the sugary combination of caramel and chocolate is growing on me. Plus, there is nothing I love more than salted caramel (one of my favorite fall treats is the homemade caramels from…

I love cupcakes, and I love the folks over at Birmingham's Cupcake Station. So when I heard they were selling something called a Cupcakeasaurus — how could I resist? The Cupcakeasaurus can be purchased with either vanilla or chocolate cake and is decorated with bright green and white icing to look like, well, a ferocious Cupcakeasaurus dinosaur. I'm not going to lie — it's absolutely adorable. What makes the cupcake even more delicious is that $1 from every Cupcakeasaurus sold goes toward the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, which donates musical instruments to underfunded music programs in …

Sometimes you need a quick lunch during the work week, and what's quicker than a sandwich and some chips? Now I know there's nothing more generic than a working lunch at Panera — step into any and you're likely to find dozens of freelance writers working on three-hour ice teas — but Panera truly came through this week, and for that, I say thank you. My lunch in Birmingham this week involved Panera's roast beef sandwich. It's made of roast beef, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo on a delicious cheesy bread. I'm not a fan of mayo but it hit the spot right when I needed it. The other hit …

So maybe I'm cheating by spotlighting drinks two weeks in a row here on Best Thing We Ate, but I can't help myself: When it's cold, and wet, and generally miserable outside, nothing hits the spot better than a warm drink (well, except for a fuzzy blanket and a good book). So what better way to get through my Wednesday than a hazelnut mocha from Birmingham's downtown Biggby, a favorite spot on my caffeine hit list. I like all of Birmingham's coffee houses equally, but I especially love the extra care Biggby employees dedicate to their work. And while nothing screamed "fall" to me on Biggby's …

Sometimes, on a late summer day, you don't really want coffee. You don't want soda. You don't even really want food. But for the perfect refreshing treat, there's nothing better than a smoothie—and luckily for us, Birmingham has the perfect spot for them. I hit up Beyond Juice for the first time this week, and now I can't believe it took me this long to try it out. I'm not the biggest fan of yogurt in my smoothies, but luckily Beyond Juice has plenty of choices for those who prefer fruit juice and ice. I tried the Very Berry Berry smoothie, which is full of strawberries, blueberries, banana, …