>yummmmmy bar code design

Noodles with chopsticks - brillllllllliant. (Courtesy of Bar Code Revolution)

>Mont Blanc cupcake - a faux "spaghetti" treat

Have you ever tried Spaghettieis ("spaghetti ice")？

It's a sweet ice cream dessert that delights in fooling you into thinking it could be vermicelli.

A somewhat similar "pasta" confection is still popular as Mont Blanc, a delectable cake covered with wispy noodle-like strands of cream that comes in all colors of the rainbow.

Relished at chic cafes in Ginza, such as at Hills (ヒルズ) or Tricolore (トリコロール).

Chestnut cream is the preferred flavor. Many come in the form of cupcakes that are just too cute to unravel.

>chatty bistro menu at Chez Papa Resto

A beautiful San Francisco night at the newly happening downtown Chez Papa Resto. A bereted chubster holding a red wine glass winks at you. A cartoon drawing at the top of Chez Papa's sensible dinner menu, that is. It comes with a ratatouille side, too, of course. Cute.

You can order "Jessie is in Cuba" cocktail made with Rum Toucano, Chambord, fresh fruit juices and soda. Under it is a perky comment, "....Still!!!!! We are jealous!"

Papa Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, the Dadaists, even the 5th street zombies make cocktail contributions.

Pastis "will be served the traditional French way. Water and a few ice cubes on the side. We suggest a ratio of 1 to 5. Ask for a "Tomate" (pastis and grenadine) or a "Perroquet" (with mint) or "Mauresque" (almond syrup)". Why, thank you, papa. I go for the red tomato, not my usual choice of plain old pastis. Our bubbly server from Marseille beams.

Under Valrhona chocolate fondant you find our papa exclaiming "of course, a cognac!... or a port!"

When it comes to cheese, "wine pairing becomes more and more subjective". (You think, papa?) "For example, Sauternes, hearty red wine, Calvados, Sancerre could all stand up to some cheeses. One well accepted rule is to marry products from a same terroir i.e. Loire cheese, Loire wine. We leave other rules with you... to be broken. Enjoy!"

How genial. It feels warm, stylishly casual, and welcoming. And talky, like my own papa.

--photos by Sharon Hahn Darlin

>battered art

by jun0504

Created by a bored Japanese food enthusiast - no information is given on what this panko art is hiding inside.
For those of you who don't read foreign jibber jabber, here are a few selected comments:

-Never... never... never... please, no ketchup -- (yororic2y)
-Pompeii...? (id1135)
-If overfried and blackened... it'd be a burned body, oh my god. (kunakunajj)
-I'll start with the legs, hahaha, he shall never walk again (mmx1_8)
-A voodoo doll, chew it slowly thinking of that hateful guy (bibianee)
-I wonder if I should use... a knife (toymaki)
-Perfect for sex education *^^* (jw0817)
-...pugilistic attitude... (nubjuck)