Patisserie...Again!

A lunchtime treat on a summer afternoon: Chocolate gelato and a lemon tart from the Colville Street Patisserie in downtown Walla Walla. Can you tell I love this place?

Popular Donuts

Want a tasty morning treat at a good price in a convenient location? Popular Donuts is the way to go! (I recommend a maple bar...but I would probably say that about almost every shop that sells donuts. They're my favourite.) Just two blocks from downtown Walla Walla on Hwy 11, this is an easy, nearly necessary stop when in the Walla Walla Valley. Let me know you're in town and I'll even buy you a donut.

Mmmm...

This is handmade pasta with asparagus and spinach and Parmesan cheese. I got it for dinner at The Green Spoon, a new restaurant in downtown Walla Walla. It was delicious...and now I'm hungry.

Espresso, Please!

Your typical after-lunch scene at one of several high-class downtown restaurants. This was taken after an out-of-the-ordinary splurge on an expensive lunch with friends at Brasserie 4 on Main Street, just a week or so ago.

Intricate and Flower-Like

Those are both words I would use to describe this lovely light fixture I espied while eating lunch at a new-to-me restaurant in Walla Walla the other day. It's called "Someone's in the Kitchen," and it's a cooking school and restaurant all rolled into one. It was my first time there, but it will definitely not be my last. The owners are recent graduates of a local university and are interested in tasteful vegetarian cooking. While not everything they make is meat-free, they do specialize in vegetarian and vegan fare, and they do very well at it. I've been told you can buy these light fixtures at Ikea, in case you're interested.

Phoumy's

These are avocado spring rolls fresh from the kitchen at Phoumy's, the newest Thai restaurant in the valley. The location of this restaurant has changed names about half a dozen times in the last few years, including a home-style American place called Homestead Buffet, the Italian Bistro (the only Italian restaurant in town, and now it's gone), and a few others I've forgotten, but I hope this one stays. Their food is delicious and the staff are wonderful. We went for a friend's birthday dinner a couple of weeks ago and we all ate family style (everyone orders something and then we pass the dishes around the table for everyone to sample whatever they like), so I was able to try vegetarian fried rice, pad thai with tofu, and, my personal absolute favourite, mango curry. Mmmmm...now I'm hungry! If you're ever in town and want something more than the patisserie, I'd be happy to met you at Phoumy's!

Down on Colville Street

This is a high-class place for relaxing with a hot cup of deliciousness...as well as a bowl or plate full of perfection. This is the Colville Street Patisserie, located between Main Street and Alder downtown, and if you need evidence of the amazing deliciousness you can get here, check out my first post from this place. One of these days I'll get a picture of the amazing pastries and other yummy things they have in that glass case you see there up near the front of the place. I absolutely love meeting friends here...or taking a journal and enjoying my own company for a while. If any of you come to visit Walla Walla, please let me know; I'd love to meet you here.

Super Pizza

I'm not really sure what to think of the new restaurants that just went in along the main drag in Milton-Freewater. One is "SuperMex," the other is "Super Pizza." I think there might be a third but I forget what it is. There used to be a movie rental place and a Domino's Pizza located here, but both closed within the last year and a half. Within the last 3 months the buildings were fixed up, painted, and filled with these "Super" restaurants. I haven't tried them yet...I haven't had the guts to, to be honest...but at least the buildings look nicer than they did!

Abandoned Footwear

The title of this post is in honour of a friend of mine who has a photo album of this name on his Facebook account. He takes pictures of various shoes he finds lying around cities, parks, roads, or wherever, without an obvious owner, and often without a match. I spotted these boots stuck in the rain outside La Casita, a delicious Mexican restaurant on 9th Street in Walla Walla.

Baked Potato Soup

A warming image for a chilly day. This was my lunch at a local cafe the other day: Baked potato soup with foccacia bread. Mmmm! Perfect for a cold, snowy day.

Try the Pumpkin Pancakes

Welcome to Clarette's, one of the most popular - well, perhaps THE most popular, according to the sign on the wall there - breakfast restaurants in the valley. Granted, we're a small town, so it's not like Clarette's has much competition, but there are a few others. The restaurant is located on the edge of the Whitman College campus in Walla Walla, which means it is often haunted by college students. My favourite meals there: Pumpkin pancakes and butternut squash ravioli with a creamy pesto sauce. Delicious! And the best part: They serve breakfast all day.

Mill Creek Brew Pub

This charming edifice is one side of the Mill Creek Brew Pub in downtown Walla Walla. A down-to-earth, casual dining place, the Brew Pub (as it is commonly called in town) is not only a restaurant but a microbrewery as well. They also serve sweet potato fries year-round. It is called Mill Creek Brew Pub because it is situated on top of one part of Mill Creek, a mostly underground waterway that makes its way throughout the valley and empties into the Columbia River.

Remodel

Close to two years ago I posted a picture of Rogers Bakery & Cafe, one of my favourite places to eat in the valley. Last spring a fire starting in their attic caused them to close due to fire damage. While the roof was repaired relatively quickly, the rest of the building needed some work, and unfortunately they ran into several complications, forcing them to keep their doors locked for seven months. Yesterday morning they opened their doors for the first time since April, and wow, what a difference! They took advantage of the need for fire repairs and completed a much-needed makeover. I am impressed and excited to eat lunch there today. (This picture was taken yesterday morning when I went for coffee and a bagel.) Oh Rogers, how I've missed you!

The Olive 5

As we were leaving the Olive Marketplace & Cafe I just had to get a picture of the window. I like the artwork, which you can't see very well in this poor photo, but it's an olive tree with its branches stretching from the corner of the window out and up. Through the window you can see the nice leather seats, perfect for meeting some friends for a glass of wine (if you do that sort of thing; I actually don't) or perhaps a cup of coffee. This time of year is perfect for outdoor seating, too, which most downtown restaurants offer. It's great for getting some fresh air as well as people watching (both of which I love to do).

The Olive 4

I was sad to have missed a shot of the girls tossing the crusts and running them through the flattener (not sure what it's actually called), so all you're going to get is a picture of them adding toppings to the already flattened and tossed crusts. I must say, the Margharita Pizza we had at the Olive Marketplace & Cafe (we were eating as I shot this) was absolutely delicious; and we got to watch them make it, which added to the fun.

The Olive 3

While eating upstairs at the Olive Marketplace & Cafe, I liked this part of our view the best. I could see people coming in and placing orders, and I could watch the employees mark the orders down and get the kitchen people going on them. The glasses on wire racks made me a little nervous, but none fell while I was there. That big silver thing hanging from the ceiling is the back side of the chalkboard menu hanging above the ordering counter.

The Olive 2

This is one of the display cases near the ordering counter in the Olive Marketplace and Cafe. I really liked the budding branches in a glass jar of water, and the bowl of lemons. This was part of our view while eating in the upstairs section.

The Olive Marketplace & Cafe

What used to be Merchants French Bakery and Cafe in downtown Walla Walla is now known as The Olive Marketplace and Cafe. Purchased by a local restaurateur, the resulting restaurant is actually an improvement over what was, for over 30 years, a Walla Walla icon. My husband and I celebrated his birthday there in March and this is what we got to watch while we ate. (That pizza there on the granite slab is our dinner.)

I'm Back!

After over four months of not posting at all, I've been inspired to pick it up again. I was lucky enough to meet a fellow CDP poster, my friend from Versailles Daily Photo, this morning. We met over coffee as she was in town visiting friends. It was a wonderful experience and I hope to return the favour sometime in the near future and visit her hometown in France. My visit with her inspired me to pick this blog up again, so here we are. This is not what we enjoyed today, but next time she comes to town I think we shall experience the Patisserie...and she can tell me how close their pastries are to true French patisserie goodies. This is gelato (not French, I know) and spiced cider I enjoyed about a month ago at the Colville St. Patisserie in Walla Walla. Thank you, VDP, for getting me back on the bandwagon!

Thai Ploy

Last year a Thai restaurant opened in Walla Walla. Over this summer, it closed for three months for renovations and a change in management. I also heard rumours about mismanagement and the second co-owner coming over from Thailand to take over, but I don't know if they were founded in fact or gossip. At any rate, my husband and I went on a date night at the newly reopened restaurant (which had changed its name from Thai City to Thai Ploy), and found that it was in fact new and improved. This is what it looks like now. It's a beautiful restaurant and they serve fabulous food. My favourite is their curry, but everything I've tried here has been delicious.