A new lunch discovery

Food seems to be the only topic on my mind these days. I blame it on the holidays. But today, friend Carol and I went to lunch. I actually thought long and hard about someplace new to go and came up empty handed, so I suggested a familiar place we both like. “We ate dinner there last night,” she said. Back to the drawing board.

We ended up at the Black Rooster Bakery, which is close to my house. I had heard they added café-style seating, and indeed they had improved on the bar stools against a wall which used to be the only seating. There are now maybe seven or eight tables in a clean, bright atmosphere—and quiet. You can hear yourself and the person you’re with. Bonus: the sandwiches were delicious. We both chose the TCU whatever—a BLT with avocado. I wanted mine on a croissant, but Carol chose five-grain bread.

The only problem was that my croissant had no bottom. It looked lovely, but when I tried to pick it up, there was no bottom layer to the croissant to hold it together—would have made for messy eating. The mistake was cheerfully and quickly corrected. Several other choices on the menu intrigued me, but I will definitely go back.

Black Rooster is now a subsidiary or whatever of the beloved Lunch Box in Ridglea, and I wonder if that doesn’t account for the improved lunch opportunities and seating. They still offer an enticing array of cookies and muffins in the display counter, and a barrel in the middle of the eating space held brown paper bags which, it turned out, were specially baked dog treats. I’m pretty fussy about what I give Sophie—that translates into I don’t introduce anything new, and I never give table scraps except what falls on the floor when I’m cooking. So I passed on the doggie treats. And I have a houseful of Christmas goodies—toffee and bourbon balls from kind friends—so I didn’t need the cookies.

Tonight, I fixed a taco salad—nothing unusual about that, except that we (Jordan collaborated on this effort) used the Chuy’s lime/cilantro dip I’d made earlier for salad dressing. It was a great mix with the taco meat—and yes, I made my own taco seasoning from spices on hand rather than buying the pre-made mix.

And in spite of all this, I got some work done. Tomorrow? That gingerbread I’ve been talking about forever and haven’t made. My conscience will be greatly relieved when I bake it.

And then I tell myself, Christmas is not about what we ought to do but about what our heart wants to do.