Keeping it Local

One of the advantages of being a city chick is the proliferation of local establishments.

My son and I have breakfast at The Place to Be,

The lad, pre-facial hair, at our breakfast spot

usually once a week, where we catch up on each other's doin's as we share a bowl of oatmeal (me) and pancakes or an omelet (him).

This weekend, however, the lad is in Paris. And while I fervently wish we could be breaking baguette together in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, this trip is his, not mine. Alas, I pine away in my home town.

What to do for breakfast?

Mr. Ginley graciously suggested we try out a new place within walking distance of our house. Called Hatfield's Goode Grub, it serves country style food and offers various coffee drinks. We had gone there last weekend and enjoyed a late lunch, so we thought, "why not?"

The owner, who chatted us up last weekend, made a lot of the furniture himself, including the many mirrors, whose glass came from a display case left by prior tenants. He disclosed he is descended from the Hatfield clan, thus explaining the theme of the joint. Hatfields and McCoys alike have stopped by, but the meetings have been congenial, with comparisons of genealogy to determine which part of the clan that particular Hatfield or McCoy was from.

The setting is informal. You place and pay for your order at the register. When it's ready, a bell rings, an angel gets its wings, and you fly to the counter to pick it up. I elected to try the Hillbilly Breakfast, which consisted of eggs, bacon, toast and a heaping helping of potato hash, topped with sausage gravy. The gravy was a little too spicy for my tongue, but it was still tasty.

Mr. Ginley dined a la carte, choosing a biscuit and the potatoes sans gravy. We ate well and enjoyed the local atmosphere. A lot of people choose to get carry-out. And there are special barbecue menus for different times of the month, which are very popular. We need to check into that more.

For anyone who does decide to visit, I can't recommend highly enough the brown sugar bacon mac and cheese. We told the owner he needs to offer this as an entree. I'm thinking there will be a day when we order a few sides of just this to go.

I know the whole "Shop Local" thing is in fashion right now. But being chic is not why we choose to support our nearby businesses. We love our local Ace Hardware. The Public House is our date night go-to. The new Cleveland store, where we bought my LA-dwelling brother-in-law a Cleveland Indians' tee shirt, is great fun. And Gene's, with its black and white photos of early movie stars, makes a mean skillet breakfast.

These folks work hard to make a go of it in our neighborhood. I salute their passion, their friendliness, their drive to make our experience the best possible.

Sure, we still go to McDonald's now and then.

But when I want to savor, I look for local flavor.