howard's way

I've been spending a lot of my evenings out of the house at this little cafe called Howard's Way. I generally sit on the patio (it's THAT warm) and enjoy a latte. I was mopey tonight (on account of being a little bit homesick) and the waiter, maybe sensing this, bought out a dessert menu. (yes, cheeky, I know) I decided that the best thing in times of upset-ed-ness is nothing other than: CHOCOLATE. I ordered a chocolate torte with my latte and let me tell you, for 20 minutes I was literally in heaven. it was this enormous wedge of warm, smooth torte on a crumbly, buttery crust and dotted with apricot and strawberry coulis, served with a dollop of clotted cream. for the record, clotted cream trumps whipped cream and cool whip and ice cream and all of the above with saddles blazing. it is much denser than whipped cream, not sweet, fantastic consistency and texture and the perfect accompaniment to torte-o-heaven. the torte itself was like a just-out-of-the-oven brownie, but not too rich and a bit eggy (like a custard). the women at the next table looked at their pitiful salads and pretty much cried. it was so nice too, a woman came outside for a cigarette (as it's banned indoors here too) but struck up conversation with me, so I invited her to sit at my table while she smoked. turns out she grew up in dublin but has lived in portugal, france, and new york city, and her friend inside was from halifax! people here in dublin are so easy to talk to, and one thing I've definitely noticed is this: they'll be sarcastic, and always crack jokes, but are rarely (if ever) insincere. it's very refreshing, as some people in canada and the states (especially in business) are very skilled at faking sincerity. I love that the irish take pride in being genuine. this also means that they're quite honest and blunt at times but isn't that better in the long run?