Local and Loving It

Rosewood Drive is one of Columbia's major thoroughfares. It's a retail/commercial corridor that those of us living in Rosewood and Shandon traverse and rely on daily. Our kids go to school on Rosewood, we shop at our Publix on Rosewood, we eat and shop in the Rosewood Market, treat ourselves at the Dairy Bar and Pelican's Sno-Balls, some of us even live right on Rosewood Drive. I can pretty much make my way up this street and get every errand accomplished and run into several of my neighbors along the way.

This is exactly what my friend Stephanie Bridgers identifed and banked on when she decided to open The Local Buzz at the corner of Rosewood & Shandon Street. Stephanie loves coffee.  She loves to serve coffee. She loves to bake. She loves her 4 kids and she loves all the kids they go to school with too.  So, her idea for her coffee shop took on a shape that most business owners don't consider.  It's the LOCAL buzz.  See, that's significant for a few reasons.  Obviously, she's a local.  She sells other local businesses' wares (Double Trouble doughnuts, Silver Spoon Bakeshop, Sweet Cream Co. ice cream).  But, what really sets The Local Buzz apart is Steph's vision and desire to make it a local hangout. 

And, she's been successful in achieving it. Kids and parents come in after school to tackle homework and eat ice cream. The morning crowd comes in for coffee, leaves their personal cup behind and the staff washes it and hangs it back on the wall for tomorrow.  There is a little free library.  She hosts "Rosewood weekends" where she donates some of the proceeds of Rosewood families' sales back to the PTO.  She's hosted movie nights.  And today was no different.  As the kids left school for Spring Break, they were invited in for an Easter cupcake decorating party.

The kids were given a blank "canvas" cupcake, supplied with various decorating supplies and were then given free reign. 

As you can probably imagine, the kids were in heaven.  Add in banana, strawberry and pineapple smoothies and you have a successful kid gathering! 

If you haven't made it to The Local Buzz, put this on your calendar.  Preferably on a day when you can take your time, relax on the big sofa, read a book or just chat with friends.  The coffee's great, the sandwiches and soups are homemade and the atmosphere is all community.  

Biscuit Head

Things in the this world to love: family, travel, food, wine. Over the last couple days, I got to have them all. My sister was in Asheville for some biz meetings and invited me and the little foodie to come share the hotel room.  We have had an action-packed couple of days including Sliding Rock, Biltmore House, Looking Glass Falls, Grove Park Inn and chillin' in downtown Asheville.

Since K was involved in meetings all day, Viv and I had all the time in the world to do whatever we wanted, including seeking out good, eclectic A-ville food.  At my sister's recommendation we followed our noses and our GPS to Biscuit Head.  We went to the newer location on Biltmore Avenue.  It's a small, cute space with a really friendly and close-knit atmosphere.  You order at the counter, fix your drinks, make your selections at the (extensive) jam, jelly, butter and honey bar and then the staff delivers your food to the table.  At first, Viv wanted to sit at one of two cool terrarium tables that were fashioned out of old windows over table tops to create living terrariums.  Very cool touch.  But, she changed her mind and chose a small table for two that appeared to be made of one slab of hand-hewn wood.  

Viv has a tendancy to be a purist.  She asked for some milk and then blew my mind with this line:  "I was noticing that "got milk" mug hanging in your window."  So, the lady says, "would you like to use it?"  and there you go.  Probably got her twice the milk of a regular order.  She wanted just a plain biscuit with honey, so learning about their honey bar was quite a plus.  She tried clover, wildflower and sriracha honey.  The wildflower won out as the favorite.

Their whole deal is about making biscuits the size of a cat's head

 I chose the fried green tomato biscuit.  In a word(s)?  Holy mother of all that's put on a biscuit with smoky, creamy, brie-y, what-what????

Holy biscuit Bat Man!

 First of all, it's humongous.  Way bigger than your average bear can consume alone.  So, unless you're a lumberjack sort, I'd recommend splitting this with a friend.  It's a cat-head biscuit (of course) split and each half topped with a fried green tomato, a slab of fresh tomato, brie, a poached egg and smoked tomato hollandaise. The only hiccup at all was the the poached egg was a bit over cooked, but if you've ever tried to make poached eggs, you know this can happen in an instant and until chickens start laying transparent eggs, you just don't know. The tomatoes were fresh and wonderfully flavorful but man! that smoked tomato hollandaise was a creamy nectar of the gods.  So perfectly smoky that it lingers with you, in a good way. Add all these strong flavors with the creaminess of brie and you're in a culinary tongue twister. 

 Now, we Southerners can consume iced tea in volumes to rival all the tea drinkers in China.  Unfortunately, that volume leads to some weak, mediocre tea that in some cases ends up just being overly sweet brown water.  I ordered tea at Biscuit Head and it was RIGHT.  Good flavored tea, brewed properly, sweetened to my specs and was an awesome glass of iced tea.  Any more, I think it's of note when a restaurant is actually brewing a good batch of tea because too many aren't.

Take a look at the menu.  These are some really innovative preparations that elevate the biscuit to new heights.  Those of us in the South have always known the pristine beauty of a perfect biscuit, but now with these creative variations, even a Yankee tourist can get in on the game and realize the true culinary aristocratic nature of a proper biscuit! 

The original Biscuit Head is located at 733 Haywood Rd and the newer one is at 417 Biltmore Ave.  Click the link to their site and check out the menu.  Oh, by the way, the coffee rocks as well!

Dropped by Drip for a Drink

I like coffee, but do not consider myself an aficionada.  My buddy The Hungry Lady however, is a coffeenista.  After reading her review of Drip and several others on Urbanspoon, I decided it was time for me to check out this new locally owned addition to Columbia's scene.  Yesterday I needed to prepare a contract for a client, so I decided I'd go to Drip, have a coffee and do the paperwork.

First, I love the look of the place.  It's got that same comfy vibe that Adrianna's had and that's good.  It has the rustic qualities that you find in an old coffee house in the big cities and in Europe.  I noticed that the man who runs the place knew the guy in front of me by name.  That's cool when business people take the time to get to know their customers.  They also offer customers a coffee card...you know, get a stamp and after you collect so many, free coffee.  

There were three coffees listed and described on the board.  I chose the El Salvador.  I only had to wait a couple minutes before it was ready.  It was served in a real coffee cup and saucer (no paper with the sippy lid).  I appreciate this because, you know, most of the time I feel responsible enough to handle a real cup.  And a spoon too instead of a little wooden stick or mini-straw. The excess coffee is given to you in a little glass pot to take to your table to freshen up your cup.  The El Salvador was a nice rich tasting coffee, kinda cocoa-chocolatey but not chocolate flavor.  I'm not sure if that makes sense to you or not, but it's the best I can do!  

Anyway, it's all good, but for one detail.  My coffee wasn't hot.  It was warm, but not a steamy cup like I like.  I'm going to chalk this up as (hopefully) just a stroke of bad luck on my part.  I will go again and try it out.  I want local business to thrive in this town, so I am eager to support them.  But, I hope on my next visit I get hot coffee.  

Croissants and Honey on a Rainy Morning

I have so many great memories from being a kid.  I find that my daily goal is to create one good memory for my little girl.  Create a great one; well, that's just a bonus.  Quite some time ago, I discovered that Vivi loves croissants.  I mean really, who in their right mind doesn't? Now that she's entered "Big Kid-dom" going to restaurants with her is becoming not only easier, but more fun for Mommy.  We are developing a little every-now-and-then ritual that I just adore.  Periodic Mommy-Vivi breakfasts at the Gourmet Shop.

We both had the day off yesterday since it was Good Friday.  So, we already had the plan to head down to the Gourmet Shop for croissants (or "guh-sonts" as Vivi calls them).  Add a nice, gray, rainy morning to the mix and it was a perfect breakfast date. Vivian loves ordering milk there because instead of a styrofoam cup, lid and straw they bring her the milk in a "grown up" coffee cup with the sippy lid.  It makes her feel very adult.  And, of course, there are the croissants. These are the real thing too.  They serve them with butter, which is funny because they are made with like a pound of butter per dozen, and this really nice seedless raspberry jam.  But this time, Vivi surprised me by asking for honey with hers.  Nice touch, really.  

So, the two of us enjoyed our guh-sonts, milk for her, coffee for me and listening to the rain pelt Saluda Avenue outside the open french doors.  I love dates with my baby!

Coffee Season

I become a big coffee drinker when the weather cools off.  During our SC summers though, the mere thought of coffee makes me queasy, literally.  And, the diehards who drink it throughout the day; how do they do that?  Or the Marlboro Coffee Man/Woman who drinks a steamy cup with a cigarette dangling out of their mouth.  And, I have never understood how some people can order a sandwich and a cup of coffee.  I mean, coffee just isn't a "with a meal" kind of drink.  I guess maybe if you're a Mount Pilot girl perhaps (Hi, Doll).

Anyway, my office has a Keurig.  I am officially enamored with this machine.  What a brilliant invention!  So, this time of year, I can pop in a K-cup of hot chocolate, regular coffee, decaf, hazelnut, oh, the possibilities are many!  I'm a seasonal coffee drinker, so this is perfect for someone like me.  And, since Neil's coffee consumption comes in waves, no more making a pot of coffee for me to have one or maybe two cups and then have coffee left over.  I can't bear to waste anything. So, I have a ziploc full of coffee ice cubes in the freezer.  You know, for all the coffee ice cream I'm gonna make one of these days. Yep, any day now...

Most Expensive Coffee

I had a few extra minutes this morning, so I popped into Starbucks for a cup of coffee. I just ordered a grande half decaf which is about $2 and some change. Now, add in the $7 parking ticket. As God as my witness, I'll never pay $9 for a cup of coffee again!