Café Style

Size doesn't diminish appealing menu choices

Stacee Sledge

Nov 14, 2002 — What does the word "café" conjure up for you? For me, it brings to mind a small, charming café on a bustling Paris sidewalk, serving café au lait and pain au chocolat.

But my copy of "Food Lover's Companion" defines a café more broadly, calling it a small, unpretentious restaurant.

A handful of cafés in and around downtown Bellingham fit that description in one way or another — and all of them make apt destinations for a business lunch or break from the office.

Café Huehue

I recently discovered a true gem in Café Huehue, a charming coffeehouse and eatery on Ohio Street, and a fitting spot for a business lunch, solo excursion or sandwich to go.

Owner Edwin Martinez opened Café Huehue in April. The name comes from "Huehuetenango," a specific area in Guatemala and "café," which means coffee in Spanish.

The ceilings soar and the cream-colored walls are punctuated with beautiful red touches. Beans behind glass, burlap coffee bags and colorful photographs from Guatemala add to the comfort of this cozy café.

Cafés

Café Huehue  427 Ohio St.  Phone: 714-9100  Serving: A full lunch menu of cold sandwiches and paninis, soup, salad, and baked goods, all served with some of the best coffee in the county.  Menu items sampled:  Ham and cheese panini $6.25  Orange cinnamon chocolate chip shortbread $1   Café La Gente  1327 Cornwall Ave.  Phone: 676-7181  Serving: Sandwiches, soups, salads and dessert items in a charming French-inspired setting.  Menu items sampled: Sonoma sandwich $5.75 Sour cream potato soup $2.25  "Pink" cookie $1.25   Café Akroteri  1219 Cornwall Ave. Phone: 676-5554  Serving: Traditional Greek favorites in a spacious, comfortable setting.  Menu items sampled: Dolmathes $1.25/each Chicken gyros $5.75 Kalamari $7.95

Fine coffee is the main attraction here, but the food deserves equal attention. A recent lunch hour found me dining solo, enjoying a leisurely meal in the bright, open space, and wondering why I hadn't been hearing more about Café Huehue.

All sandwiches at Café Huehue can be ordered cold or grilled as a panini. The selection is well-rounded enough to offer something for everyone. From turkey, tuna and prosciutto/salami sandwiches to a French dip or Mediterranean veggie panini, you'll find something to savor.

Each day of the week offers a different soup, including Guatemalan black bean, split pea and Hungarian mushroom.

I chose Café Huehue's smoked ham sandwich, grilled on a rustic focaccia roll and cut into two tall triangles. Slender slices of Black Forest ham were layered high with sharp Vermont cheddar cheese, ripe roma tomatoes, thin slices of sweet red onion, a light horseradish mayonnaise, honey mustard and leaf lettuce. It was a delight.

All sandwiches at Café Huehue are served with mixed greens or pasta salad. I chose the mixed greens and was surprised by the attention to detail for such a usually simple sidekick. A generous helping of red and green leaf lettuce was tossed with almond slices, roasted sunflower seeds, feta cheese and tomato, then dressed with Café Huehue's own orange vinaigrette, a wonderful mix of sweet and tart that made a fine finish to the salad.

I rounded out my lunch with a free sample of coffee and a small slice of sugar-dusted orange cinnamon chocolate chip shortbread, just one of a handful of fresh-baked goodies on display at the counter to tempt you as you place your order, including brownies, muffins, cookies, biscotti and heart-shaped scones.

Café La Gente

Café La Gente offers an ambience well-suited to a street along the Seine.

Its downtown space on Cornwall Avenue is decidedly diminutive, but the clever use of three window-lined garage doors, which open to the sidewalk on warm days, floods the space with light and makes it feel cozy rather than cramped.

I recently tucked in for a quick lunch and was charmed by the small space with its muted wall colors, vibrant artwork and constant espresso machine hum.

Café La Gente's menu is similar to Café Huehue in that it mostly revolves around sandwiches, with soup, salad and dessert options as well, but offers a wider selection.

Reader tips wanted

If you have recommendations for future roundups of scrumptious soups or awesome appetizers offered in local restaurants, fork 'em over. E-mail suggestions to StaceeSledge@hotmail.com.

You can create your own sandwich or pick from several specialty sandwich choices written on a chalkboard above the counter.

You can opt for sandwich goodies like chicken, turkey, ham, veggies, tuna and egg salad, or branch out and try a BLT turkey club, Southwestern turkey sandwich or grown-up grilled cheese, which adds tomato, Dijon and mayonnaise on your choice of bread.

An abundance of bread choices includes Great Harvest wheat, white, Northcoast baguette, focaccia or a flaky croissant.

All sandwiches come with a side of pasta salad, potato salad, green salad, veggies and dip or potato chips.

The philosophy at Café La Gente is that homemade food is best. All soups, salads and pastries are made on the spot with wholesome, fresh ingredients — local and organic, when possible.

This attention to detail was clear in my choice of Café La Gente's Sonoma sandwich accompanied by a bowl of sour cream potato soup.

The Sonoma — turkey, spinach, tomato, avocado and cream cheese — was served on a crusty yet chewy baguette. All the ingredients resting between the bread were fresh and flavorful, and the cream cheese made a nice change from run-of-the-mill sandwich spreads.

Besides tasting just right, my lunch was served beautifully on a robin's egg-blue Fiestaware-style plate, accompanied by the sublime soup in a small matching bowl.

The sour cream potato soup was a thick, rich, hot puree in which floated scallion slices and fresh dill. The other soup available on the day of my visit was pork and pinto bean chili. I can't wait to go back and try another bowl of pleasing potage — I have the feeling almost any soup created in the kitchen of Café La Gente would be worth going out of my way for.

Café Akroteri

Café Akroteri differs from its fellow cafés in many ways. For one, it's a much more spacious eatery that offers a fuller menu — in this case, Greek. It's a bit more formal — you order from a server — and can accommodate large parties for a business lunch.

But it definitely fits the aforementioned definition of café, in that you'll encounter no pretentiousness, only warm, welcome and friendly service.

I recently met my friend Linda for lunch, knowing that Café Akroteri is one of her favorites. We've made lunch dates there many times over the years and I always come away feeling satisfied with the service, ambience and meal.

The size of the dining room makes conversation comfortable, while the plethora of sprawling plants cozies up the place.

Café Akroteri's lunch menu outlines appetizers, salads, soups, entrees and desserts, all in the traditional Greek vein.

Linda ordered her favorite Café Akroteri lunch of chicken gyros. She rarely deviates from this choice, a light meal that makes her think of eating outside on a patio in the summer, even on a gray Pacific Northwest day.

A light, chewy pita was wrapped around pieces of broiled marinated chicken breast, tomato, onion, feta cheese and zatziki sauce. A generous portion of rice accompanies this Greek-style sandwich, making for a filling yet healthy lunch.

A vegetarian gyros option is also available, which omits the chicken, lamb or beef.

I began with a starter of dolmathes and zesty zatziki sauce, tasty rolls of grape leaves stuffed with rice, beef and spices. Again a vegetarian option is available that substitutes sauteed vegetables, sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts for the beef.

For my entree I had calamari, tender, breaded deep-fried squid that manages to avoid being greasy, served with a heap of Greek salad and a crunchy, buttery slice of garlic bread.

We certainly didn't leave hungry. And if we'd had room, we would have ordered Café Akroteri's baklava, the traditional Greek dessert baked fresh daily with butter, almonds and walnuts rolled in phyllo dough and drizzled with honey.

Any of these charming Bellingham cafés makes a suitable spot for a business lunch. Give one — or all — of them a try and experience the true meaning of an unassuming, pleasant mid-day meal.