I like to frequent a couple of fantastic local businesses in Elmhurst, Illinois. The first local business is perfect for my fondness for tea and coffee; this lovely, cosmopolitan place is called Brewpoint Coffee. A wonderful, open-minded couple own Brewpoint, and they have various items such as decorative coasters with maps of different places in the world around the coffee house to encourage diversity. There is also a news feed on the overhead screen with updates on world news. On Saturday mornings, sometimes they will play a children's movie for the younger customers, but honestly, we older customers appreciate the movie too. I usually take papers to grade and get a great deal of work done while I am at Brewpoint. It is wonderful though to meet and engage in fulfilling conversations with neat people. The owners and the customers are fun to talk to, and I appreciate the diversity in perspectives. I always feel content at Brewpoint, and I simply feel like this is a small local business that deserves a few compliments right here on my blog.
I promised from the outset I would talk about at least one more local business in Elmhurst, so here we go. This second gem is called Courageous Bakery. You may have heard about Cupcakes for Courage, but the sign for the bakery says Courageous Bakery. Actually, I was there Friday, May 1, and Channel 2 news interviewed the owner's sister. The interview was for a program Courageous Bakery supports called Ride Janie Ride. The bakery and the program are both geared to helping folks with cancer. This blog is heavily focused on food, so what does this bakery do that is so special in terms of food and sweets? First of all, everything is homemade. The only thing I can think of that is not homemade is the granola used in the yogurt parfait, but even that is so delicious that you would not really notice. The bakery has homemade scones, donuts, muffins, croissants, cupcakes, cookies, and a few other pastries. Kids are so drawn to the colorful cookies and cupcakes; I love their enthusiasm because I like to approach life most of the time with a bundle of enthusiasm. I have seen kids get so excited to purchase the last couple of sugar cookies with colorful sprinkles. I think they must experience sensory overload when they see the array of rainbow colors sprinkled over the cookie, and they know how marvelous cookies taste. I can understand that sprinkled cookies are a major priority for little customers. I have tasted the pistachio cupcake, the pistachio croissant, the chocolate frosted donut, and the sugar-covered donut holes. If you have not noticed already, I love pistachios; I eat them in the car sometimes. Thus, when I saw my dream come true of homemade pistachio cupcakes and pistachio croissants at Courageous Bakery, I thought "My oh my!" When I go for brunch I like to start with a fresh cup of coffee and a couple of sugar-covered donut holes. I have a pretty ambitious appetite, so I then proceed to order a main dish as I like to think of it, because the donut holes were simply an appetizer. The brunch main dishes I have tried include vegetable quiche, vegetable omelette, Belgian waffle with fresh strawberries and blueberries and homemade whipped cream on top, as well as a lunch burrito. I would like to point out that the lunch burrito is quite healthy. It includes spinach, tomato, avocado, black beans, chicken, and cheddar cheese, and comes with a side of homemade salsa verde. I am lactose intolerant, so I order it without the cheddar cheese. The ambience is wonderful too. The bakery is colorful, very family friendly, and customers are usually quite pleasant and content to be there. The owner and staff are friendly folks, which always makes the whole eating out experience so much more nice.
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