short and Sweet Cafe
January 21, 2008 · No Comments
Every day, I travel the same road to work. I return home to the same crazy dogs. I shower behind the same curtain. Without even realizing it, I become lulled into the monotonous hum of “normal life”. This I expect, even though my mind often feels a little numb.
But then, while waiting for the same old Vietnamese Vermicelli from Pho Saigon (delicious but normal) at the new Chinatown Center at Kramer and North Lamar, I stroll past a few store fronts. I past the boring insurance agency, the curious but not compelling Vietnamese Sandwhich shop, and then I stop in my tracks.
Through the next store window, I see rows of large glass jars lined up against a polka-dotted wall. The jars circle a center island that’s in front of–an ice cream bar? What? Is this candy, what is this place?
I enter the cool bright sweet shop and feel drawn immediately to the wall of tee shirts above all the “candy”. There are modern shirts with cute logos that would be at home on the Drag or even South Congress–the shirts let you know that this is a hip place, aware of it’s aesthetic–a little manga/asian animation/hello kitty inspired.
Perusing the jars, I realize that these aren’t candies, they’re dried Asian fruit specialties–plums, kumquats, grapefruit. Some that look salty, some that seem gooier than others. But it’s this surprise of weird fruits not candy that make me feel a sense of excitement and anticipation.
On a smaller scale of course, it’s that same feeling I got when I saw the Alps for the first time this year. First, I say to myself: What, what, what??? This amazing thing exists? And if this beautiful and amazing thing exists, then what else? What else does this world have to offer that I’ve never seen? There maybe nothing new under the sun, but what new thing does this day have to offer to me?!
I walked down to the cash register past the ice cream offerings. Blue Bell Chocolate, fine, that makes sense. Avocado Ice Cream, what what what? The guy behind the register asked if he could help me with the treats in the jars, and would I like to try them first? Yes! I tried the dried Kumquat and without a thought, asked for a half pound. I sampled the dried candied grapefruit as well–which was intensely delicious.
As he was weighing the fruits, I asked if I could sample the avocado ice cream. We’ve grown very fond of Curra’s Avocado Margaritas and I wondered how the ice cream would be. Creamy, not too sweet, a slightly ‘green’ taste, a bit less pungent than green tea ice cream, mild and smooth with a soft starchy aftertaste that later Steve aptly recognized as similar to cookie dough.
I tried the green bean ice cream as well, and to my great surprise, it was delicious, almost buttery. It reminded me of going to Dolores Hidalgo in Mexico last summer and trying 7 kinds of ice cream I’d never dreamt were possible. All the surprising flavors of ice cream at the Short and Sweet Cafe were homemade, so I hope that they change them regularly to keep customers waiting in anticipation.
As I turned to leave I saw 2 more rows of jars, but these had savory snacks like meat jerkies and spicy nuts. I’m going to visit my family in a week or two and I immediately thought that my brother would love to try the different dried meats. I felt so excited, and I can’t wait to go back.
I guess this feeling of discovery is what keeps me in North Austin. It’s a proprietary feeling, that I get when I go to a little hole in the wall shop and experience something delightful. We have a lot of that up here. I feel like North Austin is the undiscovered country–lots of people know what cool new thing is happening on South Congress, but I feel like it’s only a handful of us that sift through all the nonsense of North Lamar and find these jewels.
As I was leaving Chinatown, en route to my husband’s office for a late night pep rally for his office move, I had 2 orders of Bun that were to be unexpected, but also a pint of avocado ice cream, dried kumquats and grapefruit that he didn’t suspect. And as a cherry on the sundae, there’s a new Korean place going in to Chinatown Center, I think: man I love this place.
There’s the boom boom cars you’d expect in North Austin, and the hookers walking at 8am on Rundberg. You’ll look to North Lamar if you want to find some lost young men who play dangerous games as wanna be gangsters. And there are the working poor who’ve lived in the same houses for 30 years. These things I’ve come to expect–and the pit bulls running loose, and the dark streets….
But there’s also the Short and Sweet Cafe, one of the new businesses that’s giving a surprising flavor to our neighborhood. A new flavor that’s distinctly international, friendly, with a hint of welcome trendiness. Maybe this is beginning of something new for North Austin, culturally inclusive places where many different kinds of people can feel comfortable and delighted. Surprisingly great finds had seemed to be few and far between–Rainbow for incredible deals on fresh clothes, SWAD for massive vegan dosas….but I think things are changing. We can start to expect the unexpected.
