A Walk Around the Block; a walking food tour of one block in Lancaster

It was a cold windy Saturday in December. 

Himself and I decided to head out to a friend's charity market thing. Already on the way, we found out... not only had she left, it closed in an hour! 

Refusing to give up, we decided to go on a walk and try some new places we had heard about in town. We parked near Central Market, which had closed a half hour earlier (Of course... sigh), and began our walk. (Herself fails to mention the near Arctic conditions, with blasting freezy winds and the occasional polar bear stalking us) First stop...

Super Bread Colombian Bakery 47 North Queen Street Lancaster. There we had an empanada each with the house made salsa, split a Coconut bun, and I had a cup of some of the strongest coffee I have ever had. The whole thing cost about $6.00?! It was wholesome,

homemade and delicious. The shop is small and clean. It is set up a little weird, and we caught them towards the end of their day, they closed at 5. The baked good selection was slim, but that coconut bun was outstanding. It was a soft glossy bun, with a creamy coconut filling swirled through. The empanada was piping hot with a crispy shell, the inside was a filling of meat and potatoes. The salsa was very fresh, and a perfect compliment. I was very impressed. We will definitely hit them up again, and maybe try some of the other offering they have.   

A goodly snack, or quick meal.  The place seems authentic, and the food sure tastes like it is.  It's not a fancy place even by small street shop standards, but the food is good and the folks there are nice. It's the kind of place I wouldn't have been shocked to find on anycorner, in PR.

Our next stop was the Tea and Spice Exchange that we blogged about last week. (We actually stopped in there again today.) It's a

great little locally owned shop! When we were in today they were drying orange peels for the citrus salt blend (And it smelled $#@!%#$ fantastic!)

After we warmed up there, we stopped by Cocina Mexicana for a taco or two, and a Mango soda. Another place we have reviewed, and enjoyed. This visit I had one of the daily special tacos (Chicken in a green chili sauce) and the Al Pastur (Pork and Pineapple), hands down my favorite taco here!

Finally we finished up at Sugar on Top, a small coffee and doughnut shop, for our sweet treat.This is a locally owned franchise, with the main office in Strasburg, PA. Here you can have a fully customized cake style doughnut. They have some that you can choose from pre-made, and you can get some from their recommended combination. They are honestly the best cake donuts I have ever had! 

They have vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet; Go for the chocolate! They also sell scrappies, donuts that didn't pass quality control (I like these.  Always willing to munch the underdog...lol). Those are pretty outrageously tasty too. The donuts we had this day were Maple Bacon on a vanilla cake doughnut, and a Chocolate Cannoli doughnut. The Maple Bacon doughnut was tasty. It's a vanilla doughnut they covered with maple icing and then dipped into a crock pot of crunchy bacon bits. The cannoli doughnut was a chocolate cake doughnut with

cannoli filling, a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips and a dusting of powdered sugar. They are rich, sweet, decadent, happiness in your mouth! The coffee here was good, nothing fancy, but a good hot cup of coffee.  We will keep going back!

To be clear on the doughnut thing.... Herself was the driver on that. I was there more for the hot coffee, and the getting out of the freezing wind, and the not being frozen solid on the street.

The doughnuts were nice, though.  

 

The Spice and Tea Exchange....a little spice of life.

Saturday afternoon, and we decided to head into town.  The *plan* was to go visit a craft show at Farm and Home, but half way in we realized it was closing up soon.  

Plan B was going to Market, for a basket of Noms to include Chorizo sausage and some cheeses.   We parked near the Market, and moments later were tugging on the locked door... as Market was closed.... and once again demonstrate our stupidity.   (Deep heartfelt sigh goes here).

That left us standing in an alley by Market, totally at loose ends, and nothing to do but enjoy the howling arctic winds that were so busily sucking the souls out of pedestrians like us.

As it happens, on the drive in Herself had identified several places she wanted to visit .  Mostly by wildly pointing and making OOK OOK sounds as we drove through town.   Given our situation, Herself pointed out it would be a good opportunity to take a walking nom-nom tour of said places.  So be it..... off we tromped, shivering and growling.  Well.... mostly she shivered and I growled.

All that leads to our finding something special as we trekked our trek.  Midway through the walking feast, we came upon The Spice and Tea Exchange at 20 West Orange street.  

Walking in the front door of the building (which used to be my bank), we were hit with a wall of scintillating scents.  Not ten steps into the store, we were also hit with a Very Perky young clerk (her name was Gianna, and she was adorable) who was quite willing to show us every facet of the store while burying us in a flurry of .... 'perkiness'. The attention was nice, yet we just wanted to look around and take it all in on our own, which YoungPerky (Gianna!)was kind enough to allow us to do.   On the other hand, I was left with the impression overwhelming help was just one voiced question away.

First, to the right as one walks in.... the Wall-O-Spice-Blends.  Each aptly named blend includes a big jar of the mix which a customer can open, breath in, and even taste a pinch of I assume.  Alongside each large urn, small jars of the mix, and one ounce bags as well.  The majority of the blends seem to run about $5 an ounce.  To put that into perspective, I think the one ounce bag of English Roast

Rub I bought will likely do two or three large roasts (which I'm deeply looking forward to!)  If I'm paying $20 for a hunk of meat, another $2 to give it outstanding flavor seems fair.

Moving on, there is the Wall-O-Salts, which is crammed with rare, unusual, and interestingly flavored salts.  Salt is such an important seasoning in our food, but so often gets left to only one or two types.  Table salt and kosher salt rule the roost, yet there are SO MANY other choices.  Not just herbed and spiced salts, which Spice and Tea Exchange has plenty of, but the more unusual varieties of natural salts out there.  Each has it's own addition to the plate.

Naming something as 'Salt' seems straightforward, and most folks are only aware of the iconic blue-box table salt, or more often the nameless salt shaker.  But.... it's just not like that.  Salt is a natural mineral, and it's flavor depends on it's source and environment.  Small 'impurities' change the flavor greatly.  It's a bit like calling that big thing in your back yard a 'tree'.  Yes, it's a tree.... but there are thousands of kinds of tree, and they can be wildly different.

Speaking for myself, I think there may be striking value in the idea of 'finishing salt'.  That little sprinkle of an unusual salt or salt mix that lends a final touch to the dish.  Towards that end, I'll be heading back to his shop to build myself a selection of salts to do exactly that.

Past the salt cellar and seller (See what I did there?),  we find exactly what we'd expect.... the Wall-O-Pepper.   There, a multitude of 'peppers' from around the world.  Not just the black pepper we all spent a lifetime buying pre-ground, flavor-reduced, and cheap-cheap.

Happy we were to see an entire row of various Paprika's, including a sweet Hungarian Paprika we were out of, and both of us relish.  I think the variations on that theme alone are worth creating dishes just to explore the spice.

Plain black pepper, or it's brother Tellicherry, are in attendance in abundance.  The difference between the pre-ground crap found in the grocery store, and pepper that's been freshly ground right over the plate..... that difference is like the spread between a busted down Chevy Cobalt and a perfectly maintained Rolls Royce.  Just plain black pepper, and it's variations, can utterly change a dish.  There are pre-loaded pepper grinders on the shelf in every grocery store, and they are not expensive.  One can also choose to buy their whole pepper at a shop like The Spice and Tea Exchange, and use their own grinder.  Whichever.... there is simply no excuse for using that flavorless pre-ground stuff anymore.  

Joining the peppery goodness on the back wall are all the bulk spices.  Un-ground, un-defiled, and whole for the most part.  Displaying maybe ten times more variety of spices than an average home might have on hand, the store has a fair selection of needful things. Not everything, but certainly enough to vastly expand the flavors most people encounter in their lives.

Between the whole spices and the next wall of goodly tastiness, we encountered the owners of the store, Mike and Judy Gitomer.   They graciously talked with us about the store and how they came to own it.  Along the way they shared their enthusiasm for what they are doing.

See..... The Spice and Tea Exchange is something of a rule-breaker for Herself and I, being the first chain store we've ever reviewed here.  It's a franchise operation, with locations around most of the country.  That said, Mike and Judy have made it their place in every way.  Yes, the displays, layout, and even the lighting are all probably part of the franchise specifications, but it's the people who make the shop come alive.  Only open a few months so far (they have been open since July. They both work other jobs, but have really found a passion in this!), these folks are already making their mark.  The store was Busy while we were there.

Lancaster needs a shop like this, where people with an interest can satisfy and expand their palate.   Yes, the last time I looked there is a spice and tea shop in Market.  That said.... Market is open only a couple days a week, for limited times, and gets a might bit crowded for our taste.  To counter that, Spice and Tea exchange is open 7 days a week, with a nice spread of hours that allow real working human type people to get there.

We were in town on *our* schedule.  The Spice and Tea Exchange was open.  Market was closed.  SoSadTooBad Market.... you lose.

Back to the walls of interesting things at the store, we completed the circumnavigation with a short wall of flavored sugars (I will be getting some of those sugars, to make and bake with!), and a Big Wall of Teas.  Lot's of teas. Many, many, lots of teas. All's the teas.   With myself not being a heavy tea drinker, being happy with the occasional pot of Black English Breakfast brewed in my percolator, the selection here was impressive.  Flavored and herbed teas seemed to be the best part of them, but my eyes lighted on some old favorites as well. Another visit, and I'll try a nice Ruby Oolong perhaps.

Rather intelligently, I think, the proprietors sell quite nice small tins for storing spices.  Just the right size for an ounce or two of spice mix, with a clear insert in the lid so one may see what's inside.  The clear plastic insert takes writing from a sharpie well so it can be labeled.  These tins sell for a just few dollars, being a reasonable counterbalance to the premium prices the spices bring.

Also rather intelligent of them, and I suspect the franchise company has a hand in this, they maintain a rack of free recipes cards on hand.  Full color, professionally done, and designed to highlight the spices the store sells.  While we were there, they had several of these recipes done up and available for tasting.  I very pointedly refused to taste the bourbon glazed pecans.... as I know a drug dealers trick when I see it.  "Psstt..... Hey Buddy!   Ya wanna try a free taste of this amazing stuff?" (Ermagherd! They were soo good. They were Bourbon Bacon Glazed Pecans. I could have eaten the whole bowl.)

Take one each of the  free fancy recipe cards, put them in an album, and they'd make a fair cook book.  For free.  Yeah... sure..... free.  All you need are $ome of the $pices to complete each dish.

I'm a fan of flavor.  Sometimes the dish is about the ingredient, like a grilled steak.  Using seasoning on a grilled steak is done to accent the steakiness of the steak.  It all starts with a really good steak.  On the other hand, sometimes the dish is more about the seasoning and spice.  Chili is a good example.  Yes, the ingredients need to be good and handled correctly, but they are there to uphold and display the spices involved.   

See the difference?  An unseasoned steak can still be a great steak with lots of steak flavor.  An un-spiced Chili..... well..... it just ain't Chili.

Life is like that.   Sometimes, it's all about the spice.

Mike & Judy GitomerMik  

Mike & Judy Gitomer

Ciro's Italian Bistro; They aren't afraid of flavor!

So... at the last possible minute, Himself and I changed dinner plans. It was 5pm on Saturday evening. We were supposed to go see a friends band play and grab a late dinner... and review a new restaurant. He decided he didn't want to go to the original place, and instead wanted to try a restaurant his eldest man-child recommended.  

Ciro's Italian Bistro, 605 Richmond Square (Off Fruitville Pike above Lancaster). They advertise as family owned, Authentic Italian food with heart. Everything is made in house, and 'Mama' makes a limited variety of homemade desserts each day. They also make Gelato in house.

We found the restaurant easily. They are located in one of those cute "old-fashioned" style planned communities that have become popular locally, with businesses on the bottom and apartments on the upper floors.

We got to the restaurant at 6pm on the nose and the place was noisy, bustling, and busy. Fortunately, there was no line. There was, however, a small kerfluffle at the greeters station when we first arrived. An older (but not quite elderly) woman was shrieking at the greeters that she "Could not sit where they had seated her because there were wretched children making sounds at the table behind her and she has sat there before and knows how dreadful that spot is and they have to fix her seat, NOW, NOW, NOW."  It was a disturbing and unbecoming scene for sure. I was concerned it would set the tone for our meal, but I'm pleased to report it did not. Frankly I hoped they sat the unpleasant woman outside, so other diners did not have to listen to her shrill voice. It was far worse than a family with kids would have been! 

The slightly embarrassed hostess offered us a seat at the bar or at the bistro table closest to the door. We chose the table by the door instead of the bar and we were seated almost immediately. (Given their wait list for reservations was 3 hours in, I was happy). There were two disadvantages to where we sat. 1) They do not have a waiting area, so as they got busier and the wait list grew, people were basically milling around our table while we were trying to  eat. 2) I HATE high top bistro stools. I max out at 5 foot 3 inches (Maybe ( I might have been being generous!).  Herself is a short bit of cuteness). I sit on those things and my legs dangle. This particular one had no mid-height foot rest, so my legs just dangled the entire meal. By the end of the meal, my feet were asleep and my butt hurt. ( Cute butt that it is).

Himself here.  One thing I really like to see is an open air kitchen,

where diners can see the food being prepared.  I know some folks want that to be out of sight, but I'm fascinated to watch a well run commercial kitchen in operation.  A place that can maintain the cleanliness and professionalism to pull that off is already WAY ahead of the game in my view.   Ciro's not only has the kitchen, but the pizza prep/oven area and bar right out there for the world to see.  My respect for that.

We were almost immediately greeted by our waiter, Robert. He was quite friendly and got our drink and appetizer order and left us with the menus to peruse. For drinks, Himself had the Sam Adam's Winter Lager on tap ($5.00), and I had an unsweetened ice tea ($2.25). For an appetizer we ordered the Antipasto Rustica ($11). It was a delicious blend of prosciutto, sharp provolone, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, and an olive blend (with spicy cornichon pickles). It was pretty amazing. We were also served warm herbed bread with olive oil for dipping. 

On the subject of drinks.... they serve city water, with lemon to hide the chemicals.  Blech.  I asked him to just take mine away.

A good antipasto is an open canvas for a chef.  Wide open for wonderful tastes, or crashing failure.  Ciro's chef managed to put some excellent flavors on the plate, and keep it tightly pulled

Antipasto Rustico

together in a way that made sense.  The flavor range was wide enough to challenge the palate, and incite interest in the meal to come.  Exactly what an Appy should do.

Herself took great pleasure in arranging the treasures in various ways assured to assault her taste buds.  A bit of toasted bread, a sliver of Prosciutto, several bits of artichoke, a bit of red pepper....   pile it on and drool. 

When Robert came back to get our order, we asked for the Grilled Romaine and Prosciutto Salad ($11)  to share, and a dish of Beef Tips Gorgonzola with Penne ($24 We thought, and this is where it got strange, and we are stupid).  See.... here is where our idiocy comes to sit with us at the table. We saw at the top of the menu that you could order meals "family style" So we, as a team, decided to do that and share the dish. So I say to Robert, "We would like the Beef Tips Gorgonzola, family style for 2 with two plates, so we can share it."  I apparently sounded very confident because darling Robert never questioned my sanity. We will get back to this. (The man never even cracked a smirk... dammit....).

Half the salad, as we shared.

We enjoyed our salad. It's essentially a wedge salad with a twist. Grilled romaine with chopped (and sauteed) thick prosciutto chunks slathered on top, with a lemon Gorgonzola vinaigrette. Very tasty! With grilled chicken it could easily have been a meal, but we were smart (ish) and shared the salad sans chicken.  A point.... the salad dishes were chilled.  Nice touch... nice touch indeed.

Robert brought to the table a dish of (Fresh grated... and large) parmigiano-reggiano cheese. I'm excited, because I think thats a very generous gesture. He must have gotten the "Carolyn likes cheese memo." 

Robert brings out our entree, with a straight face. It is an enormous tureen, a trough if you will, of pasta and beef tips in a Gorgonzola demi sauce. It had roasted red peppers, sauteed onions, and mushrooms in it. 

Rich and flavorful, and enough to feed FOUR TO SIX PEOPLE with healthy sized portions. It came in at $72! Apparently in this instance "family-style" doesn't just mean plated so you can share. It means enough to feed a family. We are idiots and brought home two full containers of leftovers. We did ask Robert how much is in a regular sized serving, and he said about half 1/3 of what we got. So the "regular" portion sizes are fair.

When Robert carefully levered this huge pile of tasty steak and pasta onto our little table, I actually asked him how he managed to do that with a straight face.   There was honestly enough food for four people to feast, and six to make a decent meal.  Try as we did, we barely put a dent into it.

The steak was nicely done, to medium.  The pasta was done with a deft hand, and nicely al dente. Red peppers and mushroom rounded out the plate, but the sauce is what made it.  Gorgonzola cheese left it very, very rich.    The kind of sauce one likes to clean up with leftover bread..... if there was belly room left.

After the main, I perused the dessert display case, and chose mint chocolate chip gelato for myself, and Art had a cannoli. The cannoli was delicious (I snagged a bite!). The shell was perfect and fresh. The cream filling creamy and rich. My gelato was very tasty as well, a nice refreshing mint flavour. All of these items are made in house, and that is very impressive to me.

An expensive mistake, ordering 'family style', but all-in-all a fantastic meal at a restaurant that will become a go to for us.

Overall I give Ciro's Italian Bistro:
4.85 out of 5 forks for flavor
4 out of 5 forks for atmosphere
5 out of 5 forks for location (plenty of parking, and easy to get to!)
4.95 out of 5 forks for service 
4.7 forks overall