Eating At a Restaurant That Starts With "B"

Anaheim, CA

Francis is incorporating Tai Chi into his morning routine

Half A Rest Day

We had a full day planned in Orange County but half of the plans fell through so now we have a half of a rest day which will be enjoyed.  Not sure if you have been keeping up on past posts, but we have been active!  

We started the day out by drinking our morning coffee and having some Avocado Toast with a side of Mango.  Donna read The Seattle Times and The LA Times.  We still have a Seattle Times Online subscription and The LA Times sent us a 3 month for $1 offer so we took that too.  It's nice being able to read the local paper even though the paper isn't what it used to be.  While Donna read the papers, I blogged, made sure no recent bills were overlooked, and obsessed over the trip plan.  We also took Francis for a walk.  He will stay at home today so we need to help him get rid of the small amount of energy he builds up while napping.

Francis was more inclined to sit in the sun on the patio than to go for a walk but we talked him into the walk

Late Lunch and a Home Tiki Bar in Anaheim

We headed to Anaheim mid-day.  Traffic isn't too bad at that time.  Our first stop was Stater Bros. Grocer in Buena Park.  We had to pick up more coffee, half and half, and supplies to make granola (the granola that is officially endorsed by the squirrels at Silver Falls State Park).  After our stop at Stater Bros, we headed to Darrin's.  Darrin has been a friend of ours for years and years. I met him working at Disneyland in 1990.  He is the type of friend you can travel with and we are already trying to plan our meet ups while we are on the road. 

Last year when we visited him, (he actually invited us to stay with him) we went out for lunch.  Donna chose a place that was close to his house and he had never been there before.  The food was great and he said something like, "I need to get out and explore my local area more.  I end up going to the same places and I should try new places."  We suggested he start going through the Alphabet with restaurants.  We did this with bars in San Francisco and it was really fun.  He liked that idea so we ended up going to an "A" restaurant with him before we left last year.  This year he is on "B" (you seem we got this pandemic going on and it keeps people inside) so we went to Baran Mediterranean Restaurant.  It just opened so the staff was incredibly attentive, or it could have been because it was 3:30 in the afternoon and they didn't have many others to attend to.  The décor is really Insta worthy and the food was delicious.

The entrance

Insta-tastic right?

My awesome skewers

They are working really hard at building a customer base.  We got a free Humus for checking in on Yelp and when Donna ordered a dessert they didn't currently have, they gave us free baklava.  Great food, great decor, and great service.  I hope people support this place.

After lunch, Darrin invited us in and showed us his new Tiki Bar set up.  He moved it to the front of the house because he needed more space for it.  It's really cool.  He is great with technology gadgets so lights cycle through different color themes every half and hour, the blinds automatically raise and lower based on position of the sun, and he has quite a few objects lit with animating lights.  It's a very comfortable space to sit.  He made us a Mai Tai and we sat and talked about his recent trip to Vancouver and adjusting to going back into the office.  A bit later we hopped into his hot tub and let the stress of our work day (Ha, just kidding) melt away.  

Cocktail please!

His bar is legit

He really uses lighting well

He goes to Tiki conventions and picks up cool stuff

I'm chilling

More animating lighting

An awesome coffee table complete with coffee table books

He bought this hot tub a few yeas ago and still uses it almost every day.  He knows how to relax!

Soon it was time to say goodbye and head back to LA to attend to Francis.  I owe him a list of free days between now and when we leave.  We don't have many so we will see if we can squeeze in another get together before we head to Arizona and Colorado.  The drive home was uneventful and Francis was very happy to see us.  

Yesterday we went to a museum and ate a pastrami sandwich at Canter's Deli.  Read about it here.