Friday past was a nasty looking day. Not the kind of day you'd want to go out and have a little fun on. But you have to take your "sun shine" where you find it. My dear friend Patty has Friday's off from work and she wanted to book this day for a "girlz day out".
We started with lunch at an old stand-by restaurant on our favorite Rochester street - Park Avenue. We lunched at Hogan's Hideaway. It really is hidden away. You can see the storefront from Park Avenue but it goes way back into the lot. And there's almost no parking. The restaurant is squeezed into the tiniest parcel of land with very little room left to accommodate a parking lot.
Even though we arrived before noon, the tiny parking lot was already filled. The parking attendant directed me into a spot along a wall made by the building next door. I was actually parking in the driveway which was two way and hopefully no cars would be wanting to enter while one was trying to leave. That would be a catastrophe - but that's why they have a parking attendant.
The inside of Hogans Hideaway is cozy, with lots of little rooms. We sat in a booth. You can see the outside edge of one at the bottom left on this picture. Both of us had the exact same lunch. Not on purpose. We just happen to both like the same things. We had a crabcake sandwich with remoulade and sweet potato fries and ice tea to drink. This was the best iced tea ever. (I drink ice tea all year long)
After lunch, we went next door (not the building my car was squashed up against - but on the other side of Hogan's) to the Parkleigh. It is our favorite haunt. Again, the Parkleigh is in an old building and was once a pharmacy. It, too, has lots of rooms. Each room at the Parkleigh has a specific ambience. I'm going to let you discover it yourselves by clicking on the dots on the store map at the bottom right on this link.
http://www.parkleigh.com/store/store_tour.php
The Parkleigh is like an idea factory for me. In my etsy shop, you'll probably soon see items inspired by this visit.
I did purchase a pair of earrings and a cello bag of mixed nuts at the candy counter.
When Patty and I parted, she handed me a bag with a "this is for you" and a wave. I didn't look inside until after I arrived home. Inside, I found several books I had loaned her. All by the same author who is now my favorite author. (In my next post, I'll tell you how I discovered her). Her name is Adriana Trigiani. Besides the books she returned, there was a gift book in there for me............................a cookbook by Adriana Trigiani ! I have given it a place of honor in my kitchen. I have a plexiglass cookbook stand and Adriana is ensconced right behind that plexiglass she she doesn't get splashed.
