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2 people, 1 restaurant, 25 bucks
Meals for people with big appetites and small wallets
Meals for people with big appetites and small wallets
Leaf & Bean Coffee Co., a warm and inviting café in a rather plain strip mall, was a welcome surprise for someone who's been on a coffeehouse kick lately. My friend Jamie works around the corner from the Chili establishment, so we caught up there over lunch.
The mood
Totally comfortable, especially if you can nab a table with mismatched, stuffed chairs — which we did. Colorful in muted tones (green, brown, purple, gold), the café caters to all sorts of customers — from the professionals who file in for lunch on weekdays, to motorcycle enthusiasts (Thursday night is Bike Night), to music lovers (Leaf & Bean hosts live performances on Saturday nights.)
The food
Jamie, who comes here about once a month, has her favorites, and one of them is the Loredo panini ($5.75) — chicken breast, asiago cheese, basil pesto spread and red onions on herbed focaccia bread. She likes the juicy chunks of chicken and the generous amount of basil spread, and claims that nowhere else has she had a better variety of herbs on a slice of focaccia.
A few weeks earlier I'd had my annual turkey and cranberry sandwich to celebrate the season, but after seeing the Haymarket ($5.50) on the menu — turkey breast, Cheddar cheese, leafy greens and cranberry marmalade served on white bread and grilled on a panini press — I remembered that some celebrations last longer than others. Though I wished the sandwich had more heft, the harmonious contrast of the sharp Cheddar and the sweet spread won me over.
Both sandwiches came with a side of yummy mustard vinaigrette sauce for dipping, and we split a huge, soft chocolate chip cookie ($1.50) for dessert.
Also on the menu: wraps (which, along with panini, can be ordered by the half), salads (which can be ordered as a whole portion or a side) and soups (served with grilled flatbread).
The drinks
As part of its Whole Bean Coffee and Loose Tea Emporium (a display coffees and teas you can buy), Leaf & Bean offers fair-trade coffees and brews its own brand from made from Arabica beans (which are used to produce gourmet coffee). Fifty flavors are brewed fresh daily; prices range from $5.38 for a half pound to $12.50 for a pound. Twenty varieties of loose teas imported from around the globe all come in a medium size for $1.85. Jamie drank a bottled Lipton Iced Tea, and I had a Snapple Apple Juice ($1.39 each).
The damage: $15.53
Next time ...
I'd try one of Jamie's other favorites, the Fenton Panini ($5.25) — fresh mozzarella, Cheddar and provolone cheeses on herbed focaccia.
