after dinner sneeze

I first went to Barbuzzo for a lunch [by myself].  And while most might be afraid to eat alone in restaurant, I have no such fears if the food is good enough – and it was!  I enjoyed a nice glass of rose of tempranillo, which had a good amount of spiciness and acidity to it, cutting through the richness of the mushroom and pesto and mozzarella pasta.

and the reward: puddin’ pop!  Now, in order to secure these, I did have to go to Verde first, before lunch, so I could buy two, pay for them, and have them set aside for me.  Then, after lunch, I came back and picked them up.  One of them I consumed in the cab on the way home (I had to get the other one home quick – it was for g, so it needed to make it to the freezer, pronto!).  Above is the picture – I’m glad the cabbie didn’t care that I had a rapidly melting ice cream pop in his back seat (don’t worry – not a molecule was wasted).  How’d it taste!  Pretty darn good!  I have to confess that the original budino is better because it has a more optimal ratio of chocolate to budino (the puddin’ pop’s single chocolate ribbon in the middle is pitiful), but as far as ice cream pops go, it’s a winner!  I think it’s because there’s a very pronounced creme fraiche flavor in there that keeps it nice and lively so you want to come back for more over and over.  Oh – and that salt in one corner was absolutely wonderful on the really nice chocolate shell they had going there – I would have preferred even more salt over the entire thing (but I also like salt …).  So while these pops aren’t as amazing as the original budino, they are certainly noteworthy enough to stop by on a hot summer day to snag if you are so fortunate as to find they are still in stock.  I think g feels like they’re not quite worth the $5 to buy one, but I’d say it’s pretty close – especially if you consider that a capo giro gelato is ~$5.  Just sayin …