Oriol Balaguer

The cakes at Oriol Balaguer in Barcelona are works of art - glossy, delicate toppings and layers of flavor inside.

Piscolabis

Piscolabis in Barcelona has lovely outdoor seating on a beautiful boulevard and is a great place to sample traditional tapas. We started with the classics - iberico jamon and manchego.

And of course, pan con tomate.

Fried courses - croquettes and tempura vegetables with romesco sauce.

The eggs scrambled with cheese and chorizo over crispy potatoes was amazing. This could have been breakfast every day.

The squid was gorgeous and light.

A foie gras "slider" with apples and balsamic.

Coppelia

Coppelia is great for brunch; for dinner I could eat there all the time for dishes like their mac and cheese. It's spicy and has crispy pork belly and chicharron mixed in.

The fish tacos are also really nice with soft tortilla, crispy flounder, spicy chipotle slaw and guacamole.

As good as the savory part of the menu is, it's the desserts that really shine. The chocolate cake is rich, dense and is layered with dulce de leche frosting, covered in caramel, topped with chocolate spheres and served with chocolate sauce and powdered sugar.

Even better is the torrejas de oliva, a bread pudding served with blackberries, fresh cream, a couple dabs of olive oil and a crunchy/salty bread crumb mix.

My favorite was the angel food cake in a margarita glaze - toasted meringue with hints of lime and salt and an effervescent texture, served with blueberries - amazing.

Bouchon Bakery Cafe

The Bouchon Bakery Cafe in the Time Warner Center is a great place for a glass of wine and a bite to eat on a chilly night. The butternut squash soup was accented with cinnamon creme fraiche and cranberries.

The squash sandwich was topped with pickled cabbage and a creamy cheese. For dessert, a chunk of ice cream smothered in chocolate on a cookie base, served with ice cream and fresh cream was a rich way to end.

Dominique Ansel Bakery

 The newly opened Dominique Ansel Bakery is dangerously close to my office - dangerous because the pastries and desserts are amazing and I want to go there every single day. There are beautiful slices of Torta de Santiago, a Spanish almond cake; glossy espresso tarts; lemon poundcakes; rich flourless chocolate cookies...the list goes on and on!

1618 Seafood Grille

1618 Seafood Grille in Greensboro, NC, has a great wine list and a menu full of seafood and American fare. We started with the oversized taco appetizer, which consisted of an amazingly seasoned flounder taco and a ground kobe beef taco topped with pico de gallo, lettuce, avocado and shaved manchego.

The pan-seared grouper was cooked perfectly, and arrived on a gorgeously styled plate on top of stone mill grit cakes, with a spicy roasted red pepper sauce, saffron oil and ricotta filled cabbage wraps.

The pork shoulder arrived as thick chunks of pulled pork in a sweet and smoky bbq sauce, with an onion ring as a stand-in for a bun, and goat cheese potato salad with jalapeno slaw.

The Pan American

Re-opened after a fire closed them down for most of the year, The Pan-American is a great place for a Latin-inspired feast with locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients. The fresh-made guacamole was a great start, with the unusual addition of corn to the mix for a sweet twist.

The tomato soup swirled with tomato cream and basil oil had a sweet, smoky flavor and came with an adorable trio of mini grilled cheese tortillas.

The spicy blue corn jalapenos stuffed with farmers cheese was nicely complimented with a sweet berry jam.

A thick beef tenderloin was encrusted with chimichurri spices and served over a bed of butternut squash puree with steamed kale and sweet cherry tomatoes.

Dessert was amazing - two slivers of impossible chocolate cake, topped with flan and served with caramel and chocolate sauces, whipped cream and strawberries.