In the continued search for inspired creativity and good eats, R & I ventured to Larchmere on Friday. We took a staycation day from work and I planned out most of the day. Google maps was not too much help in getting down there. Most of it relied on my memory of knowing Shaker Heights. Once there, though, the first order of business was to find a place to eat. I read about the Vine & Bean Cafe online and knew that they specialized in 'local' eats ('local' being getting food locally and using local growers and the like). It was pleasantly surprising. It was a restaurant out of a house, more or less, so R & I seated ourselves in the 'kitchen' to wait for lunch.
The food was surprising. R got a sandwich that he created himself and I got the Ratatouille with cheddar grits. I capitalize Ratatouille as I have respect for it. I tried to make it myself once and it really turned out this sloppy, undercooked, under-seasoned mess which R promptly told me was delicious. This Ratatouille, however, was divine. Not typical in the way that there were green and red peppers, which I don't think are traditional in Ratatouille. And grits I haven't had since I was a child. My first experience was eating them at a Waffle House in Mobile, Alabama and I've had none since. I can tell you that these cheddar grits were the perfect base to the vegetable stew-like Ratatouille. The Vine & Bean is a little gem that is a must for anyone traveling about in Larchmere or the greater Shaker Square area.
I like to imagine myself as someone who goes 'antiquing'. There are two problems with that. Number one: I have no money for antiques; number two: I have no use for anything else being crammed into my apartment that I'll eventually have to take with me when I move. So when I told R the plan for the day was to go antiquing in Larchmere, that was more or less the idea I had for the day. In truth, we went into one antique store. I feel bad going into stores that I have no intent of being a patron. I feel like I get them excited about a potential sale when I just end up walking out. I always say "have a good day" to make myself feel better about leaving empty-handed. There was one place in Larchmere that I could have spent hours and countless dollars. That place was Loganberry Books.
I don't even know where to start about this bookstore to end all bookstores. It's not necessarily filled with all the most current volumes of literature but there are things in there that just await being discovered. First, this place is HUGE which is a total contradiction in size to the tiny little storefront it occupies. You just have to see it to know what I mean. From the entrance you can't even see the fiction section. Second, if you love books (as I do) then you're going to love the volumes upon volumes of circa 1940s-looking books. We're talking before they started printing photos on bookcovers. Those lovely, old, gold-leafed, leather-bound volumes that beckon to be treated gently; the pages turned ever so slowly and with just the thumb and forefinger. I could have easily spent hours in there discovering non-fiction, art, history, poetry had we all day to be there.
Though the remainder of our time in the Larchmere/Shaker area was spent walking around and really going nowhere, I would have no trouble going back for the Vine & Bean and Loganberry Books. I am always looking for new, inspired places to dine and I think we might have found one in Grotto Wine Bar, which R & I added to our list of places we've yet to try. I'm sure I'll at least get a second blog out of that. :)
