Bday dessert @ Eclipse w/MFH

Last year MFH took me to Alchemy for brunch and Cafe Madeleine for dessert. This time, dessert would be here...

at good ole Eclipse in South Park since MFH hadn't been here yet and because I wanted to try something new...

MFH really loves ginger, so she chose the ginger lemon cupcake. There was candied ginger on top with dark chocolate ganache frosting and lemon cake within.

The last time I had their cupcakes (at their old location), I found that there was not much "cake" and too much "filling" and frosting. Looks like this time the proportions were much better. I didn't taste MFH's cupcake but I'm assuming she liked it since she finished it.

My favorite server was there, Mikey (the one who loves fairy tales and my  Tokidoki bags).  I had ordered affogato with chocolate gelato, but it was served to me, I noticed that the gelato was vanilla. What Mikey did next was really cool...when I mentioned that the gelato flavor was not what I ordered, he GAVE it to the lady sitting next to MFH. So that was my affogato in the photo, snapped right before the lady scooted it closer to her. She was so delighted to get a free dessert and thanked both me and the server! I'm glad someone got to enjoy it and I didn't bad afterwards since the dessert wasn't "wasted" or thrown out.

MFH's coffee was the Sea Salt Caramel by the way. My affogato was "redone" with the chocolate gelato.

I noticed that they put more espresso in mine compared to the amount I had from Caffe Calabria.

I liked seeing the layers in my dessert...

The bitterness of the espresso went really well with the creamy gelato. I'd rather have this again than a cupcake.

Before we left, MFH and I went to take a peek at the dining area in the middle of Eclipse; it has several circular windows where you can watch the workers make and assemble the chocolates.

There's the chocolate enrobing machine. You can also see the plastic candy molds. I remember we used those for the chocolate bar making workshop during their grand opening in early February.

The workers here are so cool and seem to enjoy their jobs. It's nice having my birthday stretched out over the month and celebrating it with different folks, like my family and close friends. This Friday, I'm going out with my neighbor and I'm still deciding which places we should go (plural, ha ha).

It was great spending quality time with MFH. We used to work next door to each other but she transferred sites seven years ago.  I've known her for nearly 20 years and she is going to retire this school year! Anyhow, Mr. TJ (TightJeans) and La Ley and I are planning a small retirement party for her once the school year is over...something to look forward to.