A Two-Day Break in the Rain

Finally, a break from the rain! I was starting to think I needed to invest in an umbrella company or something. Scott and I took advantage of the sunny weekend skies by going to the movies, which yes, kind of defeats the whole get-out-in-the-sun purpose, doesn’t it?

We saw Superbad, which unless you are still into the kind of humor endorsed by boys in a 7th grade gym class, was indeed super bad. A much better use of our rain-free time, in my opinion, was dining on the patio at Barclay Gallery and Café where tables are filled with a delightful mix of young families, people my grandmother’s age (Whatever that is, she still won’t tell us.), and twenty-somethings club kids rehashing drama from the previous night out.

Nestled in a flower laden corner in the Historic Third Ward, this colorful café was the perfect place to get an early lunch and indulge in some much needed outdoor time. Actually, I’d planned on getting brunch, but didn’t realize that unlike Sunday, where brunch is served until 3:00, on Saturday brunch ends a little earlier. Having arrived about half an hour too late, we settled into a table shielded from the street by a lush row of flowers, and scoured the lunch menu instead.

                        

Packed with a wide varied of salads, soups, sandwiches, and more substantial fare such as tenderloin tips, vegetable lasagna, or chicken pot pie, the Barclay offers an interesting mix of affordable choices.

                        

I ended up getting a bowl of soba noodles. I used to eat these, rice balls, and ramen noodles all the time in Japan. Which reminds me, I’ve been craving Japanese rice balls and I’m much too lazy to make them myself, so if anyone knows of a place I can buy them, please let me know. Now back to the soba.

Made of buckwheat and often served cold, soba noodles are a perfect choice for summer. Mine came tossed with carrots, mushrooms, pea pods, chopped green onion, and a dash of sesame-ginger soy sauce. Usually they mix in some sprouts, which provide a little more texture, but you can also add chicken or shrimp to pump it up even more. Meanwhile, Scott’s menu selection went in a completely different direction.

                        

He had the Cuban Ciabatta. Made with slices of turkey, ham, and Swiss cheese, as well as some spicy mustard, diced pickles and caramelized onions, the sandwich is similar to a typical Cuban sandwich. But unlike a traditional Cuban sandwich, which is usually made with roasted pork and ham, then pressed to about one-third of its original size between slices of crusty Cuban bread, the Barclay Café sandwich is served up on some humongous slices of grilled Ciabatta bread alongside a portion of their very own, homemade potato chips.

                         

While the chips were pretty awesome in their own right, I felt even more excited about dessert. As you may have noticed, I’m usually not that into dessert unless it involves something chocolate, but I happened to notice that the Barclay was featuring a special selection of Red Velvet Cake. For some reason, I’m inexplicably drawn to red velvet cake. Maybe it’s because it does indeed contain hints of chocolate, or because I grew up in the South, where it’s a lot more common than here in the northern reaches of the Midwest. In fact, my husband, who hails from Minneapolis, had never even heard of it until he met me. But I introduced him to this crazy colored cake soon after we met, and thus he understood why I absolutely couldn’t leave without sampling a slice.

Being ready to move on, we requested the cake to go. We thought this would save time. Wrong. While our service had been incredibly prompt and attentive up to that point, all of a sudden it was like we were invisible! Our server kept dashing past us to check on other tables, but didn’t drop off the cake and our check for another ten minutes. I don’t know. Maybe she was hanging out with the club kids the night before? Anyway, I’m glad to tell you the cake was worth the wait. Coated with layers of cream cheese icing sprinkled with chopped pecans, the red velvet cake made my day.

Now if I can just find some of those rice balls, I’ll be a very happy girl.

Comments

[lynn]

I have been to their brunch. I highly recommend it.

[Brooke]

I can't believe you didn't like Superbad! I haven't laughed that hard in ages.

[Audra]

Nope. Not into raunchiness, vulgarity, and an overabundant use of profanity. Call me modest or whatever. I like my movies with a little more style and wit. FYI: I also loathed every second of Borat. ;-)