If you find yourself in Venice Beach (Los Angeles) craving a good cup of espresso and a vastly different cafe experience, head over to Intelligentsia Coffeebar on Abbott Kinney Boulevard. Intelligentsia roasts their own coffee and sources them directly from coffee growers they work with to ensure high quality. The coffee bar is a cross between a chemistry lab and a high-tech Italian bar/cafe.

Intelligentsia’s website says:

“[G]uests are not met with the standard experience of waiting in line. After passing through the iron gates facing the bustling boulevard, visitors walk down an ivy-covered hall open to the sky where they are greeted at a butcher block “concierge desk.” From this point, they are taken to one of four custom-fabricated espresso machines where their espresso drink or coffee-by-the-cup is prepared. The idea is for a barista to stay with one person throughout the interaction to create an individualized experience for every customer, regardless of how many are being served.”

There are hardly any tables, just an open space with stadium-like concrete steps on which people sit with their coffee, croissants and newspapers (make sure you grab one of the cushions if you are going to linger).

Intelligentsia Coffeebar
1331 Abbot Kinney Blvd
Venice, CA 90291
+1 310 399 1233
www.intelligentsiacoffee.com
Hours:
6am – 8pm Monday – Wednesday
6am – 11pm Thursday – Friday
7am – 11pm Saturday
7am – 8pm Sunday

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Check out all of Mapplr’s favorite restaurants in Los Angeles and see the Google Map of Los Angeles with my favorite hotels, restaurants and cafes.

Brekkie – that’s what locals call breakfast and I find Sydney’s breakfasts to be among the best in the world because of the freshness of local ingredients (especially the fruit). Here are my favorites

(1) Bill’s: I reviewed it yesterday. Bill Granger has outposts on Surry Hills and Woollahra. Read my review of Bills. No Wi-Fi.

(2) Tigerbakers: this cozy, lively cafe on Victoria Street is packed every morning. The ricotta hotcakes, with marscapone, golden syrup and seasonal berries are very delicions as is the porridge with berries. They also have egg dishes, muesli, salmon benedict. For lunch they have sandwiches. No Wi-Fi.

(3) Cafe Bondi: this cafe is located on a hill at the base of a tall apartment building on Kings Cross Road. Good views onto the park below, large outdoor seating, excellent breakfasts including shakshuka, my favorite Israeli breakfast dish (baked tomatoes and red peppers in a rich tomato sauce, topped with eggs). Fast, free Wi-Fi. Cafe Bondi has outposts on Bondi Beach and Rose Bay. The Bondi Beach location also has Israeli salads.

Bill’s
433 Liverpool Street
Darlinghurst
Sydney, Australia
+ 61 2 9360 9631
www.bills.com.au

Tigerbakers
292 Victoria St
Darlinghurst
Sydney, Australia
www.tigerbakers.com

Cafe Bondi
3 Kings Cross Road
Kings Cross
Sydney, Australia
www.cafebondi.com

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Check out reviews of my favorite hotels, restaurants and cafes in Sydney. View my Sydney favorites on a Google map below.

View Mapplr Sydney Favorites in a larger map

Bill’s is a Sydney institution. It is the cafe of Sydney celebrity chef, Bill Granger, who is also known for a series of beautifully photographed cookbooks. It is a place where people hang out for breakfast, lunch and in between.

I went to Bill’s in Darlinghurst for the first time in 2002 and returned last month on my second trip to Sydney. The food is just as good as it was back then, the atmosphere welcoming and relaxing. I went for breakfast and had the ricotta hotcakes with bananas and honeycomb butter, which were as delicious as I remember them.

The toasted coconut bread was divine. My partner had the toasted grain cereal with vanilla-poached fruit and yogurt, which he reported to be just right in sweetness and size.

The Darlinghurst cafe is large and airy, with a large, long community table in the center and piles of magazines. Just the kind of neighborhood place I would visit regularly. Bill’s has expanded to Woollahra, Surry Hills and even Japan.

Bill’s
433 Liverpool Street
Darlinghurst
Sydney, Australia
+ 61 2 9360 9631
www.bills.com.au

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Check out our favorite restaurants and hotels in Sydney.

If you are going to Sydney, do not even think of leaving without a visit to many of the city’s swimming pools and not just the rock pools at Bondi Beach and Coogee Beach. You must visit the Andrew (Boy) Charlton pool at Mrs. Macquaries Point opposite the Wooloomooloo Wharf. It lies below the Royal Botanical Gardens, at the edge of the water with a stunning view of the wharf and several Australian battleships. The Charlton pool is a salt water pool (no nasty chlorine here) which is 50 meters long and has 8 lanes. There’s a kiddie pool on the side so you can train your future Olympic swimmers. But if you prefer to just sunbathe, you can join the crowd on the right side (see above).

The one thing I must warn you about the Charlton pool is this: there are eight lanes marked slow, medium and fast. Before you jump in, you have to figure out how fast you swim by timing yourself with the huge clock on the wall. To swim in the fast lane, you need to come under a certain time (in seconds). On the day we visited the pool, there were 3 to 4 people swimming in all of the lanes except the fast one, which was dominated by a young guy in perfect shape doing the Butterfly.

In the slow lanes were several older ladies, one of whom seemed to be wearing a bathing cap with flowers, like the ones worn in 1950s Esther Williams synchronized swimming films, pushing through the water at a very leisurely pace. Given that I was too fast for the slow lane and too slow for the fast lane, I sighed and picked one of the “medium” lanes. Unfortunately, I was much slower than all three of my lane companions, one of whom I shall call “Mr. Olympics” who should have been in the fast lane, but was probably too intimidated by Mr. Butterfly.

Feeling the need to keep up with Mr. Olympics and his speedy companions, I pushed myself very hard to swim very fast. Since I am used to swimming in a 25-meter pool in San Francisco, at a fairly leisurely pace, I ran out of breath so often that I was forced to take short breaks after every three laps. Meanwhile, my lane companions continued to chase one another down the pool, barely managing to avoid hitting me as they did their flips at the end. Seeing that my efforts to keep up had not been successful, I decided to try one last thing: I imagined a giant barramundi chasing after me. Although the imaginary barramundi did force me to swim faster, after half an hour, I felt utterly exhausted, demoralized (for failing to keep up with my lane companions), guilty (for not keeping in better shape), and out of energy. I got out of the pool and headed for the cafe on the second level, leaving the barramundi, Mr. Olympics and his competitors to enjoy the rest of the afternoon without me.

Although the Charlton Pool is more crowded than the rock pools at Bondi and Coogee, it is more modern and has cleaner facilities than the one at Bondi. The Charlton Pool is also heated (unlike the rock pools), has dressing rooms, massage facilities, and hot showers.

The cafe on the second level serves delicious food including fruit shakes and smoothies, and it’s open for breakfast and lunch. Sitting up there, sipping a smoothie, enjoying the view after an exhausting swim is a perfect way to spend an afternoon in Sydney.

Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool and Cafe
1C Mrs. Macquaries Road
The Domain
Sydney 2000
Australia
www.abcpool.org

When you visit Zurich, you will find it impossible to resist the lure of scrumptious pastries and decadent chocolate creations. The city is packed with old-fashioned konditorei, but if you don’t stumble across one, you can rest assured that there will be a Sprüngli boutique placed in your path for the sole purpose of sabotaging your diet. You could, of course, go to Cakefriends where they give you the choice of eating something healthy (like a salad) or something utterly decadent. You could also just go for coffee or hot chocolate. The cafe is popular among younger people so the vibe is quite hip and modern. The location is ideal: not far from the lake and in the midst of a district filled with quirky boutiques.

Cakefriends
Torgasse 3
8001 Zürich
Switzerland
+41 44 252 2211
www.cakefriends.ch

View Mapplr’s favorites in Zurich on a Google map and our list of favorite hotels and restaurants in Zurich.

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