Restaurant Roulette with Suzanne! September Issue!

This month was my choice of restaurants and it was a fun night out. We enjoyed a leisurely dinner at Tocayo, a brightly decorated Mexican restaurant in Shadyside.

Rachael ordered a drowned carnitas burrito, huge!! A flour tortilla stuffed full with tender pork, white rice, peppers and onions and doused in queso and roasted tomato salsa. ($15)

Mine was traditional steak  fajitas, a very generous sized portion so we both went home with leftovers. ($18)

Then we went to AWC (Awareness and Wellness Center) on Walnut Street for a sound bath session with Monique Mead. This was my second visit, a first for Rachael. There were about a dozen people, a much larger class than my first visit. Each person lays on a big bean bag – a Yogi Bo Max – covered with a blanket and has a small bean bag eye cover. She turns the lights down low and the various sounds envelope the room, beginning with Monique playing the violin. I read her profile online and it is impressive. She is a professor at CMU and even studied under Leonard Bernstein!! The idea of the sound bath is like yoga to exercise, relax and forget the cares of the world. The Yogi Bo is ultimately comfortable and the experience is so relaxing that I fell asleep. ($35/person)

We topped off the night at Cinnaholic in East Liberty where you customize your cinnamon roll with a huge assortment of toppings.

We split the Incline with frosting, cookie dough, peanut butter cups and a chocolate drizzle. It was good, shockingly sweet and $9 for one cinnamon roll. At 8:30 PM they only served regular coffee and there was no seating. I was not a fan of the business model. It was a beautiful evening so we sat outside on the steps to enjoy our purchase with the other Cinnaholics since they offered no seating. I would only recommend going on a nice day unless you plan to take your goodies home to enjoy.

After the Sound Bath experience I came home and slept soundly.