Thursday, September 06, 2007

The Garlic Press (and Market Café)

A couple weeks ago I made a long overdue trip to the Garlic Press in downtown Normal. Anything with garlic in the name is bound to be a favorite of mine!
I have probably been there years ago, as the place has been around for 30 years, but I just don't remember for sure.
Located at 108 North Street, the Garlic Press not only carries pottery, gifts, kitchen gadgets, spices, sauces and more, but offers cooking classes and a great little café right next door.
Monday, September 10, the cooking class will be autumn comfort foods, including baked pork chops with Parmesan sage crust. Sounds divine! The class may be full by this time, but there are others upcoming.
Browsing through the store, I could hardly take it all in: stationery, toys, bath products, clothing, coffee, chocolate...I saw a beautiful lamp I would love to have, and some Frank Lloyd Wright styled house numbers, which I am in the market for, too.
I also found jackets, vests and shirts made in the USA, which is a hard thing to find locally.
My only regret on this visit was that I was not hungry, so I didn't visit the Market Café. I did peek in and see a nice selection of soups and sandwiches. Choose from things like sushi rolls, Thai chicken salad, chilled sesame asparagus and soups like sweet potato and ginger, smoky lentil chili, the list goes on and on. I plan to make it back soon for some of these great-sounding dishes!

3 comments:

Fraochán said...

Sounds GREAT! Are you buying?

hehe

Henny Penny said...

The Garlic Press is a really cute store. I love to browse there. There is a lot to love in uptown Normal.

Peoria Peepers said...

You're right, I told my husband that uptown Normal was really impressive to me. They've done a lot to make it appealing.