Damn you, Facebook. Ever since I posted about my desire to build a Foodie Town, I keep dreaming about how it would be like, despite the fact that I have been staring at the same page about municipal water system for hours.

Just think about it! A whole village, inhabited by foodies and foodies only. Obviously I’m not rich or powerful enough to make that happen, but if anyone of you happen to win the lottery or become President of the United States or something, please consider my heartfelt request. We foodies are so cool and awesome that we need our own village. Please.

Yes, my head has been entirely drifting about Foodie Town this afternoon. I mean, who cares about learning about the drainage system, when our town would have a fountain of bubbling champagne!
And our streets would be dotted with colorful sprinkles…
 And the sidewalks would be laced with rows and rows of quaint bakeries selling all kinds of sweet goods for a discounted price for its inhabitants…
…but they would be sold at full price for tourists, of course. We foodies would live off tourists, who visit gushing and oohing, full of admiration and envy. 
And when a foodie resident’s  having his or her birthday, there would be free smiley cookies for everyone!

We would all be living within walking distance from each other, so we would have frequent cook-outs together, and our book clubs would be reading Anthony Bourdain’s new book Medium Raw, or discussing the merits of Amanda Hesser’s The Essential NY Times Cookbook.

Oh, and obviously, because we are doing such a service to the world with our drool-worthy contributions via our blogs and recipes and reviews, everything in our village would be tax-free.

Speaking of contributions; we’ll also have monthly bake sales, in which all profits would go to charities feeding the nation and sustainability organizations.

Hm, I guess we should also have our own federal-funded department and court, where we would dispute all things food. We would replace the crappy FDA. We would work on laws that prevent food contaminations, expel ridiculous diets, fight immoral corporation practices, and advocate the celebration of food.

Our town would be divided into sections: the Omnivores, the Locavores, the Vegans, the Gluten-Free, blah blah blah. Obviously each section has its own eating habits and  beliefs, but everyone would generally coexist peacefully together. Except during the Annual Food Fight, in which we would battle it out with an intensity and fervor that matches the World Cup series.

But the best part of it all? The camaraderie. The shared passion for the fun, challenges, and traditions that come with cooking and eating. The preaching and embracement of a healthy, balanced relationship with food.

There would be no awkwardness or embarrassment when we whip out our cameras to take a picture; instead, everyone would be patiently waiting for their turn to take pictures of the food.
When someone squeals with joy about the latest cooking adventure, everyone would perk up and listen with bright, attentive eyes. There would be no such thing as “greed.”
Nobody would feel the need to binge because there is no such thing as restriction; just a healthy, hearty appetite and genuine peace and truce towards food.

Now, tell me, wouldn’t that be wonderful?

It may not ever happen, but the image of Foodie Town is stuck indelibly in my head. It doesn’t help that I am meeting up with bloggers more frequently. Blame it on the wonderful LA bloggers. They keep that dream pumping close to my heart.

This is over a week ago, but Lynn sent me an impromptu Twitter message asking if I wanted to join her, Kaitlin, Amanda and Andy for a coffee meet-up. She even offered me a ride. I didn’t need to think twice. “YES!” I replied immediately, hopping up and down in my seat.
We went to Intelligentsia at Pasadena, a famous coffeeshop that started at Chicago and has since expanded to Los Angeles and New York.

Lynn said that this was the only Intelligentsia in Los Angeles that sold food as well as beverages, but I was there just for the coffee. After my trip to Blue Bottle Coffee I knew prices would be high for a small cup of coffee, let alone the food. But we met up late in the afternoon so I ate lunch beforehand.
It’s easy to see why Intelligentsia is a hotspot. It is modern and swanky, with snazzy decorations, cute baristas, and free wi-fi. Like all super hip coffee shops, the place was dim, but the way they did the lights were cool:
The place was already buzzing with people in mid-afternoon. Now that I look carefully, I am realizing that somehow, most customers were dressed in black. Is that like a dress code for expensive, fancy coffee-drinkers?
Somebody also said that the baristas wore really cute work attire. I’m sorry, I did not notice that at all. I mean, why would I be observing their clothes? I was mostly distracted by the star of this coffee shop—the coffee.
And also, the bakery case.
I debated buying a muffin, but decided it wasn’t worth the $3.50 when I could get a bigger muffin at my local Mexican bakery for 60 cents. But my cappuccino cost me $3.50:
$3.50 for a foamy, milky drink smaller than the size of my fist. I guess I paid the extra $3 for the swirly drawing floating on top?
Amanda and Andy, the two lovebirds, calls the drawing a heart, but the first thing I saw was a budding flower. What do you see? A heart or a flower?

In the expensive drink’s defense, it was seriously the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had. It needed no sweetener at all; it was the perfect harmony of bitter and milky-sweet. There was a smooth, velvety coat of cream that lightly graced my lips as I sipped it.
Unfortunately, it also disappeared within 2 minutes. Sigh.

It turns out I was right not to get that ridiculously priced muffin. Kaitlin got a maple scone:
And she said it was bad. I’ll take her word, because apparently the girl knows her scones.
But then, Andy seemed to enjoy his Chocolate Croissant:
Hm, but how can you go wrong with anything stuffed with chocolate, right?

Amanda definitely got the coolest thing on the menu:
A lasagna cupcake. Or at least, it sounded cool. Because it turned out just to be a typical lasagna baked in a muffin pan. But at least Amanda seemed to enjoy it!

And Lynn got a butternut squash soup, but I didn’t take a picture of it.
She’s so much more interesting and prettier than soup anyway.

It was awesome catching up with my LA homies. I’d met Kaitlin briefly at the Foodbuzz Festival, but this was the first time I actually got to sit next to her and talk for about an hour. Now I know why Amanda adores her so much. She is super nice and easy to talk to, and the way her face turns serious with concentration as she takes pictures is adorable.

Thanks guys, for a wonderful time!

Now, let’s start planning on our foodie invasion. Tell me, what do you want in our Foodie Town?

I’d like to add schools. We shall teach baking and cooking since Kindergarten. And in our colleges, we shall offer degrees in everything from Coffee-roasting to Ice-Cream History to Cheese-crafting.