So it was Monday afternoon. I had some time off, so I called up Katie and we decided to check out Penzey's Spices in Arlington. We also decided to get some lunch. It seemed a bit to hot for bbq from Blue Ribbon, so I did some digging and found an interesting Russian cafe for us to check out instead.
We drove up to the place, and as usual, with address in hand, we walked up to the restaurant... and found that it no longer existed. How this has happened to me twice in one week I don't understand. But suffice it to say, when looking up info on Chowhound, call to verify that the place still exists. If only I had taken my own advice. However, it was a serendipitous mistake because in place of the former Russian cafe was a cute little bakery/coffeeshop called Sweet Sue's. So we went in, hoping to find a nice, light lunch, which we succeeded in doing.
Here's an interior shot of the place.
It's got big windows, so is very light and has a comfy seating area. There was a fairly large case up front that contained some very yummy looking pastries, especially muffins. But we were here for lunch. The options, written on large chalkboards scattered throughout the place, were pretty limited, but still looked very decent. I ordered a chicken club (minus the bacon) while Katie got a lovely Oriental chicken salad. (do they only call is Oriental cause it has mandarin orange slices and almonds?)At any rate, here's my sandwich. It was quite tasty. A bit too much mayo, but i really like the baguette it was served on. Plus the potatoes.
Here's Katie's salad, which also looks great and she enjoyed a lot. In retrospect, I might have ordered this, but there's always next time.
At the table next to us, there was a family having lunch together. And towards the end of their meal, they had ordered these mini pies which were so cute! Katie and I both wanted one. But when we went back up to the counter to order, they were already sold out! So note to self, order early next time. I also like the fact that this place was very reasonably priced, so I will certainly be back for that mini pie.After lunch, we headed up the street to Penzey's Spices. I'd heard about this place from my older sister who enjoyed going while she lived in Pittsburgh. And I knew that they'd opened a store in Arlington, but I hadn't made my way up there.
So Penzey's really does just sell spices and herbs. Dried ones that is. They're well known for these spice kits that you can get people as gifts. I had a small list of stuff that I needed: vanilla, bay leaves and cinnamon. Here's a pic of how a shelf is layed out.
They have different size bottles of stuff and next to each one, they have a covered glass jar that you can open and smell what's inside. That's how i ended buying more than I'd originally planned. Plus, buying spices at Penzey's is much much cheaper than buying them at your regular grocery store. And they quality's much better. I ended getting the 3 seasonsings i needed, plus a jar of European peppercorns, a smoked paprika and 2 types of red pepper flakes. Here's a pic of all my goodies when I got home.
Katie also got something cool- vanilla sugar. And a few other ingredients. All in all, it was a great way to spend a sunny summer afternoon with a friend.
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