There are few things I enjoy quite as much as a decadent breakfast. It's not just the abundance of food, the gracious service, or being somewhere elegant and bathed in sushine, no - it's the leisure of it all. My favorite thing to do when friends come to visit is take our time making coffee or tea, whip up some whole wheat pancakes, make a frittatta (thanks, Martha, for teaching me this skill), bacon, and then toss some fruit on top of plain yogurt and granola. It's the thing that I never do on work days, the sumptuous feeling of taking our time through the morning, and the delightfully full way to start a day.
My favorite breakfast of all time was at the Serena in Zanzibar. I haven't written much about my trip there, honestly because there wasn't much to tell - my two friends and I sat on the beach, drank rum n coke, swam in the crystal waters, and soaked in the incredible sunshine for 3 glorious days. But the first morning we were there - oh, that breakfast. You wake up to the most blue water you've ever seen, right out the balcony (glad to be out of bed, since we got a 1 person room for 3!). You rub the sleep out of your eyes and strategize how to walk downstairs as if 2 of your party had just met you for breakfast rather than slept at the hotel with you. You are served a delightful cappuccino probably with the shape of a leaf or a heart made into the foam (which you try not to destroy by pouring sugar over it). The Indian Ocean breeze is wafting through ceiling-to-floor windows, and fishing boats that look remarkably like pirate dinghies pass by. The blue water is a lovely breakfast companion.
You walk over for your first course - begging your stomach to take it slowly and enjoy all this food. The fruit is fresh mango and honeydew and orange and papaya, and it's ripened to perfection. Second course - some eggs perhaps? Now, all the eggs in all of east Africa taste the same to me (all the same ingredients - I could write a book about 'spanish omelette, please') - but you eat them with the knowledge that the cook made these especially for you - just you. By now you are on your second coffee, or maybe you've switched to juice in the meantime - what a selection of juices. And finally, when you know your stomach really should be winding down - that's when your custom-ordered waffles arrive. You drizzle them in some blueberry compote, and take that one moment (the first bite moment) to recognize that this is your happy place.
Perhaps you've been talking through breakfast, or perhaps you've been sitting in silent appreciation. It doesn't matter. I've never experienced breakfast like that. Other places are also nice if you're not vacationing - the Sankara in Nairobi has a delightful spread (although they only get your eggs right 1 day out of 4), but the crepe man is so friendly. In Kampala, the Serena breakfast is also luxurious, and the staff are the kindest in the world. In San Salvador, the Hilton Princesa is delightful - and you have to get a cup of their cafe con leche, because that's the only way to start your day correctly. Or perhaps you're in Milano, and your breakfast is espresso and lemon cakes and focaccia bread. Delightful and unbelievably unhealthy! In Harare, I know I've told you about the incredible scones with real clotted cream to eat with your tea.
But Zanzibar, wow. Try it sometime...
My favorite breakfast of all time was at the Serena in Zanzibar. I haven't written much about my trip there, honestly because there wasn't much to tell - my two friends and I sat on the beach, drank rum n coke, swam in the crystal waters, and soaked in the incredible sunshine for 3 glorious days. But the first morning we were there - oh, that breakfast. You wake up to the most blue water you've ever seen, right out the balcony (glad to be out of bed, since we got a 1 person room for 3!). You rub the sleep out of your eyes and strategize how to walk downstairs as if 2 of your party had just met you for breakfast rather than slept at the hotel with you. You are served a delightful cappuccino probably with the shape of a leaf or a heart made into the foam (which you try not to destroy by pouring sugar over it). The Indian Ocean breeze is wafting through ceiling-to-floor windows, and fishing boats that look remarkably like pirate dinghies pass by. The blue water is a lovely breakfast companion.
You walk over for your first course - begging your stomach to take it slowly and enjoy all this food. The fruit is fresh mango and honeydew and orange and papaya, and it's ripened to perfection. Second course - some eggs perhaps? Now, all the eggs in all of east Africa taste the same to me (all the same ingredients - I could write a book about 'spanish omelette, please') - but you eat them with the knowledge that the cook made these especially for you - just you. By now you are on your second coffee, or maybe you've switched to juice in the meantime - what a selection of juices. And finally, when you know your stomach really should be winding down - that's when your custom-ordered waffles arrive. You drizzle them in some blueberry compote, and take that one moment (the first bite moment) to recognize that this is your happy place.
Perhaps you've been talking through breakfast, or perhaps you've been sitting in silent appreciation. It doesn't matter. I've never experienced breakfast like that. Other places are also nice if you're not vacationing - the Sankara in Nairobi has a delightful spread (although they only get your eggs right 1 day out of 4), but the crepe man is so friendly. In Kampala, the Serena breakfast is also luxurious, and the staff are the kindest in the world. In San Salvador, the Hilton Princesa is delightful - and you have to get a cup of their cafe con leche, because that's the only way to start your day correctly. Or perhaps you're in Milano, and your breakfast is espresso and lemon cakes and focaccia bread. Delightful and unbelievably unhealthy! In Harare, I know I've told you about the incredible scones with real clotted cream to eat with your tea.
But Zanzibar, wow. Try it sometime...
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