on Wednesday, October 29, 2003Stow, Hartville bakeries making blast from past
If Akron had an official cake, it would be either the sponge and custard cake sold at Ninni's, Vincent's and other Italian bakeries, or the banana-pineapple cake sold for years at Budd's.
We're short one cake these days. Budd's closed a year ago and may never reopen. As I reported in August (and again here for those who missed the item and have called to inquire), Budd's owner Jim Montgomery is enjoying being a stay-at-home dad. The economy, too, is playing a role in his decision not to reopen the bakery now or maybe ever.
Anyway, to fill the cake gap, I nominate Red Velvet. The 1950s cake, dyed a deep red and slathered with white frosting, disappeared along with Howdy Doody from most areas of the country. But not the Akron area. We still eat it up.
So far, I've found Red Velvet cake at Osman's Pies in Stow (and stores that carry Osman's products) and Nicolino's Baking Emporium in the Hartville Market Place.
If you spot a Red Velvet cake elsewhere, let me know. The area's gastronomic reputation may depend upon it.Coffee and chocolates
Patty Renner may have found the perfect combination: coffee and chocolate. She opened her second espresso and chocolate shop last week, and moved her invitations business from the Wallhaven area of Akron to the new shop at 25 Ghent Road, Fairlawn, in the plaza anchored by the Grapevine Cafe.
Renner's first espresso shop, Coco's Coffee Bar, is a popular spot in Wallhaven (the invitations business was separate). The new shop, Coco's Coffee and Fine Chocolates, is larger, with plenty of room for the wedding and party invitations Renner sells.
"We're trying to give it a more upscale, Soho feel -- very comfortable but a bit more stylized," Renner said.
Renner designed the interior to reflect the mood of a favorite vintage poster -- an outtake of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's, wearing sunglasses and peering in a shop window. The poster hangs in the coffee shop.
The shop sells hot and frozen coffee and tea drinks, muffins, scones, biscotti and a wide selection of luxury chocolates. Hours are 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. The phone is 330-836-2100.
Taste of Medina winners
The Medina Steakhouse and Saloon and the Main Street Cafe, both in Medina, were double winners at the recent Taste of Medina, an annual cooking competition and fund-raiser for the Medina County United Way.
The Steakhouse won engraved dinner plate awards for best entree for its escolar with lobster sauce, and best appetizer for its deep-fried artichokes with lemon sauce.
The Cafe won for its Italian muffuletta sandwich and pumpkin tiramisu dessert.
Other winners were the Galaxy in Wadsworth, best vegetarian dish, Cuban rice; and Rustic Hills Country Club, best side dish, vegetable Napoleon. Eighteen restaurants competed in the event, which raised $19,000.
Jane Snow was the Beacon Journal's food writer. She can be reached at janesnow@akrobiz.com Please put "food" in the subject line. Because of computer viruses, she will not open e-mail with other subject headings.
Original Artical removed by request from ohio.com - Linda M. Lyell, llyell@knightridder.com on 2004-03-08
And I put the original article back on 2007-06-13...
There used to be a nice re-print of an Akron Beacon Journal 'Tidbits' article pointing out some interesting area restaurants and bakeries. But, evidently, Knight Ridder would rather charge the end-user $3.00 to view an archived newspaper article instead of getting free publicity and good will from a subscriber who just wanted a way to keep his newspaper clippings where he could always find them.
Feel free to complain to: Linda M. Lyell, General Manager, Ohio.com
I mean, I understand copyright law. I do want Knight Ridder to make money, I like and use their products. But, there has to be a better way to handle this kind of public use.
They were very nice when they contacted me, they said "Just link to the content on our site instead". The main reason I like hosting the content on my site is that I know it will be there when I go to look for it. Well, I went to look for the original article on the ohio.com web site. It is no longer there. To view a text only version you have to pay the $3.00 fee.
If I put my newspaper clippings on this web site, but password protected them so that only I could get to them they would not care, or even know about it. But, if I use my bandwidth to present the same info publicly they make me shut it down.
I suppose in this day and age of Google and other search engines I could be costing them a few of those $3.00 retrieval fees. Maybe... All I know is I wouldn't pay them $3.00 to retrieve an archived article, I think that service should be free to subscribers, but what do I know about making customers happy...
I do know that it has gotten me 'miffed' and unhappy so that as soon as there is an alternative to the Akron Beacon Journal I will gleefully jump ship & wave goodbye to Knight Ridder. And I'll recommend to everyone else that I know that they do the same!
Restaurant Info:
Coco's Coffee Bar
1530 W Market St, Akron; 330-836-2100
Main Street Cafe
Italian muffuletta sandwich and pumpkin tiramisu dessert
17 Public Sq, Medina; 330-722-2729
Osman's Pies
Red Velvet Cake
Darrow Rd, Stow
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