Pastries & Trivia

Last night Pancho and I went to Little Italy downtown for Vaccaro's All-You-Can-Eat Coffee and Dessert night. I'd been looking forward to it for days because the thought of gorging myself on cannolis was just too tempting. It's basically THE place to go for Italian pastries in Baltimore and we've been once before, a few years ago. The portions are indescribably huge, to the point of ridiculousness. So for Round 1 we started off with a latte, chai tea, chocolate hazelnut cake, and a sampler (two mini cannolis, 3 cookies, 2 cream puffs). The rule is you have to finish at least half before you can order something else. We polished off the cake and all of the sampler except one of the cream puffs. I was thoroughly enjoying myself until it came time to order Round 2. Decided I would take it easy and get an eclair, Pancho got a Belgian waffle with Baci gelato, hot fudge, and whipped cream. I was visibly in eating distress when the waitress brought out a BRICK of an eclair. Got through maybe 4 bites and it was lights out. Pancho, for his part, did do a number on his. I certainly got my sweet tooth satisfied, slightly disappointed I couldn't eat more, but it was just sheer sugar overload. I had read some other forum postings about Vaccaro's before we went, seeing what other people thought, and I have to agree with many people that maybe it used to be a great place but now is perhaps resting on its reputation and history in the area. I mean, the cannolis really were fantastic, the filling was some of the best I've ever had, but the prices are exorbitant ($6 for a latte?!) and there really is no reason to get dessert in the portions they serve, unless you're sharing with like 3 people. And other people had mentioned that there is a focus on quantity over quality and I think that is probably true as well, it was all yummy in the way that dessert is always yummy but nothing that I would absolutely rave over (except maybe the almond cookies. delightful). Either way, it was a fun thing to try and it has now pushed me to eat in moderation.

But we were sitting at the table there, uncomfortably shifting to find positions to sit to accommodate the dessert, and Pancho's friends called to see if we wanted to stop by Trivia Night on the way home. Its become the Monday night tradition, usually a good-sized group goes down to James Joyce, an Irish pub downtown for Trivia Night. Basically, 6 rounds of questions, very random, and you're in teams with the people you come in with. The winners get a $40 tab. Pancho went last week but I hadnt gone yet, so we went, and it was so much fun. I single-handedly contributed the answers to identifying a picture of Emma Roberts, knowing Jean Claude Van Damm was Belgian, that Gone With the Wind was released in 1939 in Atlanta, and that Rochester is Jane Eyre's love interest. It was all insanely random knowledge (which of New Zealand's islands is larger? Can you see the Great Wall with your naked eye from space? -- the Southern island and No) Between rounds you can answer individual questions for free beer, Pancho won a Blue Moon pilsner glass on one. And our Team-- Looks Are a Bonus-- ended up winning! So I got a free glass of Magners hard cider out of it and the satisfaction of being a winner at pub trivia, not bad!