Our neighborhood is full of ethnic and eclectic treats. John Campbell's Irish Bakery has hot cross buns during Lent, and Irish brown bread and blueberry scones all year round. Across the street is the Russian Bakery, with huge anise-flavored cookies and mounded meringues in pastel colors, so large they look like a pink, yellow, and white mountain range in the window. The folded meat pies are hamburger-onion delicious in the same way as White Castles. Enjoy now, be sorry later.There's Starbuck's banana bread, and Pete's coffee with biscotto for the dipping. Royal Ground boasts a glass case with full-blown desserts: chocolate cheesecake, red velvet layers, and pumpkin pie with a whipped cream option. The only guilt-free treat is at Java Beach, an internet coffee-shop where Judah St. meets the sea. Their grainy bran muffins are the size of a cantaloupe and the perfect accompaniment is a steaming cup of chai. Calories, yes. But to deserve this snack you must hike down through the park to 49th Avenue, along Speedway Meadow, past the buffalo range, Spreckles Lake, and the Angler's Lodge. Then skirt the ocean for a couple of blocks to the outdoor tables at Java Beach. You'll burn off the calories on the walk back home. Or at least that's what you say.
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photo: panini and tomato bisque soup from a restaurant in the Marina
