You know you’re in for a treat when the restaurant you’re going to has a line out the door and around the corner, while the neighboring joints are hosting no one but crickets.

We stumbled across Splash Café while walking in Pismo Beach on day four of a five-day jaunt from L.A. to San Francisco and back. We thought we were chowdered-out, after Pier 39 in San Francisco and the Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey—which is apparently involved in some kind of Chowder Wars, cause every single place along the pier has a guy ladling chowder from a giant metal soup tureen in an effort to lure them inside.

We’d had our fill. Literally. And then came Splash Café. This is the type of place where you scavenge for a seat, much like a seagull hovering overhead waiting for discarded scraps on the nearby pier, and wait with the other hungry folks to order at the counter. But get that steaming bread bowl full of chowder (or chili, if you must, along with burgers, tacos, and a bunch of fried stuff) in front of you, and it’s all worth it. It’s more than worth it. It’s chowder porn.]]> jaymi 2009-07-24T16:29:45-05:00 35.1399620 -120.64227 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/7/24/1131/23401

A while back our favorite quick Chinese place, Pick-Up Styx, closed down in Santa Monica on bustling Wilshire Boulevard. But what eventually replaced the joint was a cute little cafe that serves cute little pastries and desserts and cute little cafe specialty items like soups and gourmet sandwiches. The place even has a cute backstory as the two chefs behind the cafe actually met and fell in love while working at the Rustic Canyon restaurant just a few blocks away. All of this of course means the place has a cute name too--Huckleberry Cafe.

The space is appropriately cafe-sized--not too big, not too small--with plenty of indoor seating and a few tables outside as well. Cutesy names and pastries aside, the restaurant's interior space is done up in modern simplicity--blond wood counters and tables and white ceramic dishware and blackboards high on the wall are filled up with the menu options. ]]> juliana 2009-07-24T11:39:23-05:00 34.0241191 -118.49210 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/24/82043/4473

All this week, Amanda Pressner will be bringing us reports from her recent trip to Colombia. Was her adventure more "Romancing the Stone" or more "Medellin"? Stick with us this week to find out. Any questions about traveling to Colombia? Let us know.

Pop quiz, caffeine junkies: What’s the only coffeehouse that’s actually headquartered in a coffee producing country? It’s Juan Valdez Café, a multinational chain created in 2002 by Colombian National Federation of Coffee Growers. Named after the country’s longtime java icon (you know, that mustachioed guy with the donkey who hand-delivers beans to sleep-deprived Americans in commercials) the company has locations in 25 Colombian cities, nine countries, including the U.S.

]]> The Lost Girl 2009-02-24T13:36:10-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/16/2529/98948

In a city we expect better from, the usually-culturally-rich Vienna, someone's really let us down by creating a cafe with a bunch of toilets lining the walls.

The theory is that if the male customers can sit on the toilet while drinking their coffee--they're not functioning toilets, in case you're freaking out--they'll be more rested and happier and, we presume, more likely to come back and buy their next coffee in the same spot.

The name now translates to "A Quiet Place" and we're thinking it's an appropriate name. Watching other customers sitting on the toilet is not our idea of high culture in Vienna, so we'll be staying away and leaving the cafe nice and quiet.

Related Stories:
· Cafe Loo-ses the Plot [Ananova]
· Phil Café and Store in Vienna [Jaunted]
· Vienna Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: Ananova] ]]> amandak 2009-02-19T10:32:11-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/17/121524/413

The New York Times today reports on an interesting trend in Mumbai where "hunger cafes" take drive-by donations for the starving. These restaurants serve cheap meals to the poor who sit in front and wait for passing motorists to give them the cash they need to eat.

The hunger cafes are clustered together on a street in the city's Muslim Mahim neighborhood. They serve rice and "yellow curried gruel" in both meaty and vegetarian varieties. A meal at one of the cafes costs about 25 cents.

According to the Times, this up close and personal style of charity is a part of Indian culture. The paper reports that "anonymous, checkbook-style charity has yet to catch on" in India. Mumbaikars apparently prefer what the Times describes as good old fashioned "feudal charity: making donations to those below you in your household chain of command."

Related Stories:
· In a Restaurant Row, Drive-Through Charity [NYT]
· India Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: NYT]]]> Hunter Walker 2008-06-17T12:45:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/19/17155/3910

As of today, Turkey has banned smoking in all enclosed areas. But getting people to comply may be quite a task, as half of all Turks smoke at least occasionally, according to Gallup.

If you're not ready to quit, you'll find a reprieve at bars, cafes and restaurants: They'll have until July 2009 to go smoke-free. Until then, one waiter says, you'll be able to skirt the restrictions:

I don't think the Turkish people will follow this law ... They will find a way around it. But I think it's a good change. Even as a nonsmoker, I feel like I am smoking.

Maybe we shouldn't be so cynical, though. If the French kicked the habit, maybe the Turks can too!

Related Stories:
· Turkey, Smoking Nation, Tries Out Ban [NYT]
· Turkey without Tobacco? [IHT]
· Turkey Widens Smoking Ban to Enclosed Areas [AP, via Google]
· Places You Can't Smoke, from Bhutan to Uganda [Wikipedia]
· Smoking coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo from Istanbul: John Picken]]]> pbb 2008-05-19T17:17:39-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/1/2/141648/0574

Starting today, the only places you can legally smoke in France are private homes and open-air public spaces. About 70 percent of the French public thinks the ban is a good idea. But there's at least one way around the prohibition.

Christophe Cadet, who owns Cafe 203 in Lyon, plans to flout the ban in the name of performance art. Patrons will be allowed to smoke, he says, between noon and 2 pm. He's put up a banner reading:

Cultural and social experimental zone: You are exposing yourself to the threat of second-hand smoke.

Cadet plans to endure the government fines--of up to $1,100--by selling ashtrays. Knowing how popular smoking is in French cafes, we're guessing he'll also rake in tons of sales for those two cig-friendly hours.

France isn't the only place kicking the habit in 2008. A wide-ranging indoor smoking ban Chicago--and the rest of Illinois--started at 12:01 am on January 1. While some locals don't like being told they can't smoke, others are loving it. One woman even came up with a new name for New Year's: "Happy no more smoking in bars day." Guess we shouldn't expect any civil disobedience from Chicago, then?

Related Stories:
· French Cafe Owner Rebels Against Smoking Ban [AFP, via Google]
· Cafe 203 [Official Site]
· New Year, New Habits [Chicago Tribune]
· Smoking coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: L'Apéro du Jeudi]]]> pbb 2008-01-02T14:30:02-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/