Tag: coffee

Posted in Events

Get Social and Caffeinated with Me – Come to My Event Coffee with The Socialite on Sept. 19!

Posted on by Amanda

After promoting local events for the last 18 months or so, I’m excited to start an event series of my own! Coffee with The Socialite, will be monthly-ish events aimed at building community while supporting local businesses. The first event is all set and it will be held at Sugar & Spice Book Cafe, which is a new coffee shop, cafe, and book store (!!!) that’s in the former home of Clark Street Cafe in downtown Sullivan. 

The event will be on Saturday, Sept. 19 from 12 – 1:30 p.m. You’re invited to come and stay for the whole thing, or just drop in any time during the 90 minutes and say hello. 

The ‘Why’ behind Coffee with The Socialite

I’ve seen so many people posting on local social networks that they want to make friends, but don’t know where to find their people. I hear you, and guess what? I want to make friends, too! Although the events are called Coffee with The Socialite, they’re not really about me, they’re about building community! I created Small Town Socialite to tell the stories of the people and businesses in the small towns in East Central MO, and as much as I love being able to share information with people online, it’s time to take a break from the screens and meet people. 

The first goal of Coffee with The Socialite is to create community, especially for those who are a little more introverted. If that’s you and you’re worried about how you’ll talk to a group of new people,  just show up and if you’re not good at making conversation, no worries, I can yap with the best of ’em and have no problem facilitating the convos. 

The second goal is to support local businesses. I’m hosting these events at local coffee shops, cafes, and maybe down the road I’ll look at places to get a cocktail or mocktail for some meet-ups. 

And, my third goal is that community means UNITY. I believe hard times shouldn’t keep someone from being able to attend my event. I know what it’s like to have a budget with no room for extras, even a cup of coffee, so I’m setting aside $50 for each event that will be on a first come, first serve basis. If you’re unable to make room in the budget but want to attend the event, you can have a coffee on me!

I hope you can join me at one of the Coffee with The Socialite events. If you can’t make the first one on Saturday, Sept. 19, please follow Small Town Socialite on Facebook and keep an eye out for future event announcements.

Posted in News and Features

Sugar & Whisk Cafe in New Haven is Serving Up Sandwiches, Wraps, and Creative Baked Goods

Posted on by Amanda

When Meg Lang, owner of the long-standing eatery Lang-a-Tang Cafe & Catering in New Haven made a vulnerable post on Facebook at the beginning of summer outlining her plans to close the cafe and pivot to private chef and catering, her community, while sad to see the cafe close, rallied behind her decision. After years of running the business with her mom Myrna, it was time for them to pursue other projects and interests. In her post, Meg shared her hope that someone would purchase the cafe so that it could get a new life and remain a staple for the New Haven community.

And just a few weeks after that fateful social media post, another post outlined how a family had bought the business from Meg and had plans to rebrand it to Sugar & Whisk Cafe. The new owners, Venus and Freddy Mendoza, are a local couple who took over the business at the beginning of this month and are slowly rolling out new menu items, as well as keeping some tried and true customer favorites.

“I had a cottage bakery before this and when I saw at the bottom of Meg’s post that this was a turnkey cafe for sale, I thought this is my chance,” Venus shares.

Since taking over the business, Venus says that everything has moved fast, but that she and her husband are loving the journey so far. The cafe offers catering for Franklin County and parts of Crawford County, and over the next few months customers can expect to see some new menu items available.

“We’re going to be adding some gluten-free options,” Venus explains of some of the planned changes.

The menu

The cafe serves traditional drip coffee and espresso beverages, as well as bubble tea, and smoothies, which are a new drink option. One popular menu item that’s familiar to anyone who visited the cafe under the former ownership is the Butter Beer latte, an espresso made with toffee, caramel, and cinnamon. Another popular menu favorite is the turkey and fig sandwich, which combines turkey, cheese, crisp greens, and a fig spread, giving it a delightful slightly sweet finish.

Other sandwiches include a turkey club, chicken salad, and a wrap available with chicken or turkey, plus bacon and ranch. Each sandwich or wrap comes with a generous side of chips and a pickle spear.

The menu also features a selection of breakfast options, including a sandwich made with choice of bacon or sausage, plus an egg and cheese, as well as a burrito and breakfast bowl, or a parfait for a lighter, vegetarian option.

the peach cobbler cookie features a sugar cookie topped with peach cobbler filling.
The peach cobbler cookie features a sugar cookie topped with peach cobbler filling. Photo credit: Amanda Bretz_The Socialite.

There’s a number of sweet treats available, including muffins and cookies, along with unique and tasty rotating options in the pastry cases that reflect Venus’ creativity as a baker. On my visit I tried three delectable baked goods. One of those was the peach cobbler cookie, which is a soft sugar cookie topped with peach cobbler filling, and despite it being the largest item I tried it was in no way heavy. The pillowy texture of the cookie held the peach chunks in place, providing a soft, yummy base and a flavor profile that’s strikingly similar to a slice of peach cobbler.

a breakfast cupcake combines red velvet cake and maple flavored frosting, topped with a waffle piece and crispy bacon.
The breakfast cupcake combines moist red velvet cake with maple flavored frosting, adorned with a piece of waffle, and crispy bacon. The sweet and savory combo brings several delectable breakfast flavors together in one bite. Photo credit: Amanda Bretz_The Socialite.

I also spied something called a breakfast cupcake that intrigued me before I’d even tried it. This cupcake combines moist red velvet cake with maple flavored frosting, adorned with a piece of waffle, and crispy bacon. The sweet and savory combo brings several delectable breakfast flavors together in one bite.

The chocolate chip cookies at Sugar & Whisk Cafe are $3 and you receive two soft cookies loaded with chocolate chips for that price. Photo credit: Amanda Bretz_The Socialite.

Although I loved the creativity shown with the cobbler cookie and breakfast cupcake, I’m a sucker for a classic that’s done really well, and for me, the chocolate chip cookies at Sugar & Whisk fit that description. They’re made just the way I (try to) bake them at home: soft and loaded with melty chocolate chips, with a slightly gooey center.

Follow Sugar & Whisk Cafe on Facebook to learn more about its menu options and hours of operation.

Posted in News and Features

Spend a Day Series – Ideas for a Cozy Fall Day, Bookish Girlie Edition

Posted on by Amanda

Over the summer I started a new once-a-monthish series called Spend a Day. The thought behind the series was to give people ideas on how to spend a day in their local communities. I try to keep my ideas varied according to seasons, budgets, and interests.

The first Spend a Day Series was on things to do in the town of Rosebud, while my second was on Meramec Caverns, a local business that has opportunities for guests to spend the day, or longer, at its facility since there’s ziplining, caves to explore, a restaurant, and lodging onsite.

For the latest Spend a Day, I focused on how I enjoy spending the cozy days of fall, when the weather is cooler and perhaps there’s a bit of bluster in the wind or some raindrops. On days like that I love curling up with a good book and a cup of coffee.

Generic latte art and fall leaves. Photo credit: The Socialite_Amanda Bretz

For this Spend a Day series, I chose activities to do in Washington, like visiting the local book stores The Novel Nook and Neighborhood Reads, or heading to the library for some quiet reading. Of course, I also suggest getting your fall beverage of choice. While I love all the coffee spots in WashMO, my fave autumn drink is a pumpkin spice latte and I have a couple spots I love to visit when ordering that drink.

I love them hot or iced, and, of course, I have my go-to places for each. When I want a hot PSL, for me, it doesn’t get any better than The Washington Coffee Shop’s recipe (I think they add caramel!) and for the times when I want that pumpkin spice iced, iced baby, it’s Exit 11. Call me bougie, but I love that the iced latte comes all decked out with whipped cream and a little dash of extra pumpkin spice flavoring crowning the top.

Get into the fall vibes with this short Reel I made about spending a cozy bookish day in WashMO.

Have a suggestion for a future Spend a Day series? Send your ideas to smalltownsocialitemo@gmail.com

Posted in News and Features

Try Organic Eats in a Colorful, Eclectic Atmosphere at The Wolf Cafe

Posted on by Amanda

I love supporting local businesses in my immediate community, but every once in a while I do venture outside of the Franklin County area. And, the most recent venturing out looked like celebrating my birthday. When it came time to pick where I wanted to eat, I weighed a lot of options, but decided on The Wolf Cafe in Ballwin, because the establishment offers loads of healthier food options, so that my celebratory meal didn’t set me back on some of my current fitness goals.

The Wolf Cafe serves breakfast, brunch, and lunch, plus a second concept that’s located in the basement that serves New Jersey style pizza and cocktails. We visited on a weekend for lunch and the establishment was pretty busy, a good sign in my book, not a complaint! The menu has a little something for everyone, with grass-fed burgers, vegan options, gluten-free choices, including gluten-free and vegan dessert options.

The Breakfast Club and ‘Stang Chicken with air-baked tots. Photo credit: The Socialite_Amanda Bretz

For our meal, I chose the ‘Stang Chicken, a chicken sandwich that’s breaded and air-baked (there’s no fryers or microwaves at The Wolf Cafe). The sammie is topped with Gouda, bacon, BBQ sauce, chipotle mayo, pickled red onion, and served on a multigrain bun and opted for the air-baked tots as my side. Hubby ordered the Breakfast Club, which has a lot of the same components of a BLT, + two fried eggs and an avocado smear.

The cafe serves a variety of draft and bottled beers, which excited my hubby, and he got a draft Vienna lager. There’s also a selection of coffees, tea, and bottled drinks like lemonade, juice, water, and healthy prebiotic sodas, like Olipop, which is what I chose.

Peanut butter pie. Photo credit: The Socialite_Amanda Bretz

Since we were celebrating my birthday, I wanted a sweet to finish off the meal. The glass bakery case was filled with yummy looking things, like chocolate covered cookie dough balls, carrot cake, and peanut butter pie, to name a few items. I’m a complete chocolate lover, so I chose the peanut butter pie, which has a chocolate rice crispy crust, creamy, sweet peanut butter filling, and a dark chocolate topping. It was delicious, and slightly decadent, so I’m glad we split it.

The Socialite recommends The Wolf Cafe!

The details:
15480 Clayton Road, Ballwin
View the menu online
Find the cafe on Facebook
Follow on Instagram