Modern Mediterranean

The Girl started swimming lessons at Independence Park last week. The time -- 6 p.m. -- is rather poor for a group of 3-5-year-olds, but I initially thought it was a parent-and-kid class and it was the only time that I knew could get in the pool with her. As it turns out, it's an unaccompanied-by-parent class. OK by me. The last thing I really want to do in January after a long workday and a long workweek is put on a bathing suit and get in a pool.

But today was lesson #2. So we made a mama-Girl playdate out of it. After her lesson, we headed out in search of food. The original plan was to eat at Target, where we needed to run an errand, but since The Dad took The Girl to McDonald's for lunch, I thought we had eaten enough crap for the day. Instead, I took her to Zebda, a new mostly-carryout deli that has opened not far from our house. 

We've ordered Zebda a few times -- twice for carryout and once, The Dad and I took The Tot there to eat-in. I've tried three different dishes on the menu and they've all been good. I usually find a restaurant, find what I like on the menu, and then order it every time. In the case of Zebda, it's all been so good, I want to keep trying stuff! Tonight, I had the grilled chicken panini ($6) and The Girl had the Gnocchi ($11). Both were fabulous. We also met the chef, Katie Garcia, who happened to be there. While I know there is some advantage to meeting the chef, I could think of nothing great to say except, "I'm glad you opened. And I didn't know you had cookies!" The Girl and I also got some gorgeous cookies to take home -- a round thing soaked in orange blossom scent and decorated with a white fondant flower dipped in pink sparkly sanding sugar, and a coconut petit-four dipped in white icing and decorated with blue dragees. We ate them after our trip to Target, but they'd be perfect with coffee.