A Cause to drive over the Causeway

My company decided to ship me out to our Davis office for the past two days (thanks, Yelena), and while I was pretty annoyed about the fact that I'd have a drive considerably longer than my usual jaunt down J Street, it actually turned out to be a culinary adventure. Too bad I'm actually supposed to be working most of the time I'm here.

My only previous experiences with Davis cuisine were slices of Woodstock pizza over beer bongs and shots at my best friend's house prior to hitting up a frat party. No surprise, I don't really remember too much about it, except that the pizza was DAMN good. But let's face it, any pizza is good when beer and cheap vodka are involved.

I decided to venture out a little bit, since I'm a little bit older, a little wiser, and a tad bit more sober (I did say "tad"). Also, I'm here during the day, and have to drive back. So no drinking. (Although I will admit, the G Street Pub was calling my name...)

Yelena suggested I try the Farmer's Kitchen Cafe for lunch because they have yummy sandwiches. Also, they specialize in gluten-free products. I'm not going to go into it, but I've recently discovered that I have an intolerance to wheat. (Freaking awesome for a good little Italian girl who loves her pasta, let me tell you!) It's a cute little cafe with a brief menu and has a lot of organic and local items on it. I had a tuna sandwich on gluten free bread. The tuna was really good, while a little messy (apparently whatever they used instead of mayo isn't as sticky). It had great flavor though, and tasted a lot fresher than the kind that you normally get. If you never had gluten free bread, it's a little strange. A little wetter and denser than normal bread. It had good flavor though, and while it was an overall wet meal, was satisfying. The service was a little odd. Yelena had told me about the Jane Goodall type that runs the place (She even has a book on Jane Goodall for customers to read. I almost laughed out loud.) and that she's a little spacey. I waited for my check for over 10 minutes. They seemed to forget about me. Also, they serve you luke-warm water, although they do put a lemon in it. I want to go back and try some of their other gluten free products some time.

Today I wanted Thai Food. After walking around downtown Davis and getting a little lost (only I could get lost in a town that's about 5 square blocks) I found Thai Bistro. They had a great lunch menu and I opted for the Drunken Noodles (I forget the Thai name, but it's number 20). Bright, crisp green beans, yummy onions, tomato and red bell peppers. The chicken was just right--not too tough as it sometimes can be. The sauce was the perfect balance of spicy and sweet. Delish! Could have fed me twice, but I was starving and ate 3/4 of it and just ate the rest... what can I say, it was THAT good!

Jennifer always recommends Sophia for Thai, as does my sales manager who lives in Davis. And there is always Woodstock's. It was amazing to me--there are so many choices for food here! Got to love a college town. I also noticed that Aioli has a restaurant here, as does Bistro 33. But if you're going to come here to eat, I would go for the more adventurous and ethnic choices. There's even a Bohemian restaurant (I'm not sure what they would serve). If you're interested in more food choices for Davis, check out this great website: www.daviswiki.org. They have great reviews, price ranges and recommendations. They'll also tell you where these restaurants are because I can't remember. I got lost in Davis, remember.