Local Phoenix

Feb 14
0

Forget Valentine’s Day? Never Fear. I’m Here to Save Your Day.

By | Uncategorized | One Comment

Oops! Did you forget today is Valentine’s Day? It happens to the best of us. Don’t worry. I’ve got the hookup for you. Don’t stop on the side of the road and spend a fortune on a big cheap red teddy bear and nasty wax filled candy. Instead, visit a fabulous local pâtisserie. They’ll save your day.

To make you feel better about being late, I’ll admit, I am too! On my post, that is. I genuinely intended to put this up early in the week but life sort of obliterated my plans. Is it good that I’m getting used to being thwarted?

Instead of getting stressed about my plans, I spent the afternoon with my little reader, making Valentine bookmarks. Usually I lack talent in the crafting department but thankfully cut paper and ribbon tying is within my skill set.

So, on to the saving of Valentine’s day!

If you need chocolates or pastries, a local family business has both offerings all tied up in a bow. Literally. Karl’s Bakery and The Baker’s Daughter, located on 7th Avenue and Dunlap are two deliciousness-filled destinations.

Whether your darling loves cream filled goodness…

Like Creampuffs,

OR one of my favorites, Lintzer cookies.

Or they’re all about the chocolate (like we are at our house!).

Start with a box made of chocolate, like this one.

Or this one! (Excuse my “eh” photo. It’s beautiful and shimmery in person!)

Now, you get to fill it with some of The Baker’s Daughter’s incredible chocolates. They’re made with REAL ingredients – like honey, raspberry, amaretto etc. – not “flavorings”. I LOVE these chocolates!

Here are some more options.

Are you hungry yet? There is a plethora of choices.

I love the word Plethora. People don’t use it nearly enough.

Maybe they just need to feel like they have more choices.

Ok, there it is. If you’re looking for a last minute but incredible gift for Valentine’s Day, you’ve got it.

Karl’s Bakery and The Baker’s Daughter are located on the Southeast corner of 7th Avenue and Dunlap.

Gotta run. I think I’m going to make a quick stop for chocolate on the way to The Reader’s Valentine’s Day party.

Chocolate is a food group, right?

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*In the spirit of full disclosure, I should reveal that I’m NOT getting paid for this post. I just genuinely love Karl’s Bakery and The Baker’s Daughter, as well as their owners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sep 13
0

Local Central Phoenix, AZ Coffee Shops Review

By | Local Phoenix, Local Restaurants | One Comment

Today’s post covers two things about which I’m passionate – supporting local business and introducing you to some of the great people in our neighborhood of Phoenix. The review of the week is about the delightfully delicious drink many of us love – especially with a generous serving of real cream and a scoop of ice.  Yep.  We’re talking about Coffee, folks!

Alas, my queasy pregnant stomach (and nose) can only dream of such indulgences right now. Lucky for me, I’m privileged to know one of Phoenix’s foremost coffee connoiseurs, Jim Helman, earned by virtue of his passionate obsession with coffee. (I’m sure it’s a healthy one).

A while back, Jim and his wife, Colleen, embarked on a mission to explore some of the great local coffee shops we have in Phoenix and share them with other java lovers. He kindly agreed to share a little bit about himself and his favorite shops (so far!).  So – without further ado – meet Jim Helman.

Jim, how long have you been in Phoenix?  “I moved to Phoenix, Christmas 1977 to enroll at ASU for my Master’s degree in Music. My original plan was to go to ASU for a year and then move to Texas to work on a doctorate. Eventually I wanted to teach music at a Christian college or university.” (Monna: We are lucky to know Jim because he chose a job on the music staff at the church where Rob works.)

We are starting to talk a lot about building community in this blog space. What do you and Colleen do to contribute to this idea? “I have been meeting business owners in the area for a while … some examples, I developed an exchange with the owners of the Ace Hardware Store in the Cinema Park Shopping Center. That ended up with me officiating for a the wedding between two of the employees. I’ve know the owners of Cheese-N-Stuff family since those early 1980’s days. Also, Luci, after which Luci’s Marketplace is named, is also a breast-cancer survivor like Colleen. We’ve begun the relationship speaking with them… of course, it takes time to develop genuine rapport, as you can imagine.”

How did you come up with the idea to review local coffee shops one at a time? “ …Colleen and I took our weekly Saturday morning dates for coffee and mixed it with an idea to visit ALL the coffee spots within a five-mile radius from [our Central Phoenix] church. We make it a point to introduce ourselves to the owner, if they are present, and then just take it from there! The owners all want to reach out to the customers and I just want to introduce myself to the owners so it works easily enough. Social networking makes it easy to get recommendations from other coffee connoisseurs. I’m thinking there are probably 20 locally-owned coffee spots not counting eight or so Starbux in that five mile radius.

…Phoenix has it’s own personality but it’s leaning more and more like a Seattle-esque city with people walking, jogging and using light-rail and bus to get around that five-mile radius I mentioned.”

How long have you and Colleen been married? “Colleen and I have been married since 1981. She is a native Phoenician and can tell you stories about many of the buildings and the previous businesses that once occupied the space now being used by these coffee places.”

Isn’t it nice to meet new people? You’ll see Jim around town at some of his favorite coffee spots. To find the shops, just click on the name. They’re linked to their own websites. Check them out!

Jim’s Favorite Coffee Experiences

Best, consistent Americano:  Lux Coffee

 

Most romantic Coffee Place:  Fair Trade Coffee, Midtown

Best places to meet someone to talk:

North Valley: Next Coffee

Midtown:  Luci’s Healthy Marketplace – Summer cold drink happy hour from 5-close daily!

Downtown:  Cartel Coffee

Best Coffee +Plus something to eat : AJ’s Coffee Bar, AJ’s Fine Food Uptown Plaza

Three Downtown Coffee Spots you need just need to try out:

Two of Cartel’s awesome crew

Cartel Coffee Lab Downtown ~ NE Corner of 1st Street and Washington, this place is eclectic.  The baristas are super cool, love their work and make a terrific Americano.  You can meet someone here to talk, sit alone and study, drop by for a quick jolt, or hang alone to write your autobiography. It has weekday hours.

Cartel on Facebook

The cool view from Gideon’s

Gideon’s Coffee ~ Gideon’s Coffee opened about the middle of September, 2010 and really caters to the downtown, working crowd. It’s a block south of Sing High Restaurant and just south of the new Maricopa County courthouse. It’s hours are early morning to mid-afternoon Monday through Friday so we had to catch them some time other than our usual Saturday coffee time together. It has weekday hours.

209 West Jackson Street  http://www.gideonscoffee.com/

Jim’s lovely wife, Colleen

Lola Downtown ~ One spot that is worth the effort to find is the DOWNTOWN edition of Lola Coffee in the older Roosevelt district. It’s inside a brick building amidst a bunch of new loft condos and apartments. It reaches to a younger crowd, again in the 20’s & 30’s with the occasional Baby Boomer.  (I.E. Colleen Helman)

1001 N 3rd Ave   http://www.lolacoffeebar.com/

 

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Sep 02
0

Windsor Restaurant Review

By | Local Restaurants | No Comments

Rob and I, like most parents we know, are on a budget. So, date nights when we actually go out for dinner are a special event.  When we do go out, we choose local restaurants.  We love meeting our neighbors and supporting the local economy. According to Local First Arizona, when we spend $100 at local businesses, $73 stays in the state. When we spend the same amount at a big box store, only $43 stays in state. It’s a painless way to invest in our own communites.

Don’t know any good local businesses? No problem! Over the next few months, I’m going to share with you some of my favorite local spots and introduce some friends who also love to shop local.

This week’s choice is Windsor Restaurant. Here are some of my favorite things about this restaurant.

Food: Craig DeMarco, owner of Postinos, opened Windsor earlier this year. So you know right off the bat that the service and the food are top notch. I’m always impressed with the servers at both Postinos and Windsor (and that’s saying a lot). They are friendly and efficient without ever making you feel rushed. The menu includes a variety of foods from burgers, salads and chicken sandwiches to a halibut sandwich and the porkwich  (Ahhhh….mouthwatering!).

The Halibut Sandwich

The Halibut Sandwich. My friend ate this the other night. My pregnant taste buds weren’t in the mood for fish but she loved it!

My favorite dish at Windsor is the grain salad, which sports a panoply of cooked grains like quinoa, pearled barley and kamut as well as veggies like carrots, beets and squash, topped with ricotta and an orange dressing. I fantasize about this salad when I haven’t been in a while.

The grain salad. This is a half portion. My friend and I split it. Never liked beets till I tasted this!

If you’re into spirits, they have a full bar and offer happy hour daily from 11-5. Cocktails or pitchers of beer are only $5.

My friend ordered the No. 11 – gin, blackberry and lemon. It looked very refreshing. Isn’t that fresh blackberry beautiful?

Local sources: As much as possible, Windsor sources their ingredients from locally owned businesses. Suppliers include Willie Itule, MJ Bread & Avalon gourmet, Mount Hope (spices) and Tenderbelly. Tenderbelly recently moved their processing operation from AZ to Iowa due to supply needs but they still get a thumbs up from me because they only use hogs that have been raised on good food and no antibiotics.

Kid friendly: When the weather is cool enough to sit on the patio, I’d say this restaurant is “older” children friendly (no booster seats or high chairs). The menu includes small hamburgers and little corn dog poppers. We actually took Destructo Girl (2yo) when they first opened this spring and while they were super sweet about accommodating her, they aren’t actually set up for small people. Thankfully, we were outside and she spent her spare moments dancing out of the way. Kids who can sit quietly in their own chairs (5 & up) are fine. That’s ok with us. We like going there for dates anyway. Still, the staff gets five stars from me for being so cool about it.

Elegant bar seating

Ambience: Windsor relies on the combination of exposed brick, retro style lights and dark wood to create a cool, upscale winebar.

Have some fun picking out some old favorites.

I know it might be hard to imagine right now (if the heat has fried your brain like it has mine) but most of the year, sitting on the patio is a lovely experience. The greenery and strings of white lights give Windor’s enclosed patio a comfortable, relaxed feel. And, they have misters! I love the touches of wood surrounding the seating area.

Cool patio seating            

Parking: Windsor is on Central and has limited parking so, like Postinos, they offer valet. It’s really the easiest option so bring a few extra bucks and save yourself a ticket. There’s no parking in the neighborhood.

Bonus: If you have room for dessert, stroll next door to Churn, the attached ice cream shop. They have delicious homemade style ice cream and even offer ice cream sandwiches. More on them in another post.

That’s it for today. Windsor is located on the southeast corner of Oregon and Central just a bit north of Camelback. If you’re going out this weekend, try some great local food and meet a few of your neighbors.

                  Phoenix, AZ 85013

http://windsoraz.com 
Windsor on Urbanspoon