Lunch Date

 

    On the days when I get my hair done, I like to go out for lunch afterward. I have a really good stylist and she always makes me look really good. Also I like talking to her so I not only look good, I feel good too. She is an absolute artist when it comes to hair and I enjoy showing off her work. Additonally I enjoy going out to lunch.

      C and I have gone to several places for lunch after a hair appointment. Our favourite place is Café Latte in St. Paul. I highly recommend this place to anyone if you are in St. Paul. It's on Grand Avenue, an eclectic spot in St. Paul with many small shops and restaurants.

   It's a cafeteria. The first thing that you see as you go in is the dessert case. They are known for their German chocolate and turtle cakes. They also have an array of cheesecakes, tortes, cakes and other desserts. The selections change with the  exception of the German chocolate and turtle cakes. I like their cheesecakes best. 

   After the desserts come the food. The first section is the salad section. There are six to eight different salads you can choose from. There are always a few salads that are gluten free and vegetarian. The selections of salads change too so it's always fun to see what they have. The next part is the sandwiches. You can make almost any kind of sandwich you want. They also have different spreads. You can get a spread sampler which is two or three kinds of spreads, a small sliced loaf of bread and some vegetables. This was one of my favourite meals. I liked to get the black bean spread, tuna and another random one.  You can also get a lettuce salad at this spot too. My favourite lettuce salad is the tostada salad. It's essentially a taco salad made with one of the two types of chili they have. 

    The next spot is the soup. They have all kinds of soup and there are always a gluten free and vegetarian options. As with everything else the selections change exception of the chipotle bean chili (my favourite) and the chicken salsa chili. You can get a bowl or a plate of soup. With your soup you also get a bread selection. They have sourdough, focaccia and others. (You also get a roll with your salad.) Their bread is excellent. The sourdough is my favourite. 

   Next to the cash register is the beverages. They have a selection of hot and cold beverages. You can also get coffee drinks and steamers. 

   Once you have your food, then you find a place to sit. This can be a challenge when it is very busy. There is a upstairs eating area. I don't mind sitting there but I have this fear that when I walk up the stairs I'll drop my tray. It hasn't happened yet, but you never know.

   There's always a mix of people there so it's a good place to people watch while you are eating. There are two colleges not far away. There are older couples, mothers with children, friends having a quick bite together and students. There's a hum of constant conversation anytime you walk in.

    The one bad thing about going to Café Latte is parking. The parking lot nearby tends to be full a lot of the time. There's parking garage across the street but you have to pay to use it. If you want to walk, you can park on the street a couple blocks away. 

   When the weather is nicer and we have time, we like to walk on Summit Avenue which is right next to Grand. Summit is a historical street with mansions that date back to the late 1800s to early 1900s. It's a fun place to walk in the summer.  Right now it's too cold so today after we finished lunch, we drove instead. 

   Lunch at Café Latte is good in a very practical way. It's close to where we live so when we are done with lunch, we can get home and get on with the rest of our day.