A WEEKEND IN SOMEWHAT OF A REVIEW

We had plans to go out of town this past weekend for a baby shower, hanging out with friends, meeting my parents in D.C., and other such things, but Sloane had been riddled with a runny nose, congestion and cough all last week and so we made a last minute decision to play it safe and keep it local. It turned out that I wasn’t feeling so hot in the bod, either, so we spent most of the weekend indoors, in bed, and good lord if that wasn’t just what we all needed.  Happy to report that baby seems to be doing much better on all fronts, and not ashamed to admit that after the weekend was over I still felt like I could use a few more days in my pajamas. Complaining about going back to work (on MLK day, no less!) is done and overdone, so let’s move on to talking about bakeries and pictures of my chub-cheeked baby, shall we?

We stepped out of our cave a couple of times. One of the times was to grab some pastries and bread at Sub Rosa, in Church Hill. This is one of three bakery/café places that I know of that opened recently in that area – WPA bakery, Proper Pie, and Sub Rosa (anything else?) – and I am thrilled about it. I would have been over the moon if these places had opened while we lived there, but then maybe I would also have gotten incredibly rotund on all the pastries that I would be eating and then that would be something else to gripe about. (Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Church Hill became an area known for great local bakeries?!) We checked out WPA bakery a few weeks ago, and I expected sort of a similar vibe at Sub Rosa, but found it to be different; WPA bakery feels very much like a Richmond spot and Sub Rosa reminded me of a place in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Richmond has its share of (ever-growing) artists, musicians, young families, etc. - who are all interested in supporting local ingredients, good food, and visually-pleasing spaces, so I’m hopeful that places like these will do well.

Sub Rosa has a great selection of things, including Lamplighter coffee, and attempts to use all local and organic ingredients for their goods. We tried several of their items and I think my favorite was the almond croissant (the chocolate was sold out) because the buttery-flakiness of the croissant was right on. My mom got the apple tart, and it virtually melted in our mouths. I wasn’t as excited about the quiche and the bread items we tried, but I’ll be willing to give it another go. I hear rave reviews about a chard and feta tart, so I’ll go back for that. Another thing of note was that the items were pricey – you are paying for the type of ingredients they use. I think the almond croissant was almost $5, but if you are looking for the perfect croissant, I wouldn’t be surprised if you come here and end up inhaling two of them.

Later on that night, we went out for an early dinner with my parents and the most notable thing is that while Sloane still gets passed around from lap to lap, she does things like sit in a high chair..! All by herself! And nibble on toys and such, and then drop them on the floor, like a big baby! It tickles me to the core a lot of times how she is so wide-eyed with wonder, wherever we go, even if it’s just to a new restaurant, and I have myself a grand ol' time imagining this world through her eyes.

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