Cooking With Jilly: February 2014

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Lancaster City Breakfast Tour - Commonwealth on Queen

Today was the third stop of our Lancaster City Breakfast Tour. (Read about stops #1 & #2 first.) We ventured out after 3 days of snow & several days of an awful stomach bug. :-( Because it was still snowing, there were plenty of places available to park in front of this morning's latest breakfast spot: Commonwealth on Queen. It's located on the corner of Queen Street and Walnut Street across from another awesome spot, Fractured Prune Donuts. This used to be where the Shoppes at 301 were located. Commonwealth has not been open that long and you probably don't think of them as a breakfast place because they do so much more: Pop-up Dinners, Pop-up Yoga, Tango Lessons, Tastings, Parties, Workshops, etc. Check out their events page to learn more about what they are up to. It appears they are always up to something.

Banana Nutella Waffle. Lots of Nutella!

What We Ate: A single Banana Nutella Waffle (ask for a double decker if you want two), Health Nut Yogurt Parfait, breakfast sandwich & coffee.

What Brought Me Joy: They have pour-over coffee. Some of my favorite spots in Lancaster (The Baker's Table, Roaring Brook Market & Cafe) have pour-over coffee.

The decor. The place is just really chic & cool. You feel a little underdressed if you stroll in with a hoodie on. The big windows, the fireplace, the open layout, you know it's a great spot to a host an event. If I weren't already married I would consider having a rehearsal dinner here!

Water. I love love love when places serve you water in glass bottles like these. #littlethings

What You Should Order: Their signature is The Barn Burner. Be sure to get it if you like spicy food.

Follow Them On Facebook Here.

Obligatory Pic Of My Son:

Next Stop: TBD. We will be out of town next weekend and moving the weekend after that. So it may be several Saturdays til we venture out again. Where should we go next?

Here is my disclaimer that I will be putting in all of my posts: I want My Lancaster City Breakfast Tour to be an informative & fun experience for those who read about it. My hope is, that based on one of my recommendations, you will be enticed to go to one (or all) of these spots and enjoy them for yourselves. For the record, I will only be focusing on the positive parts of each restaurant/cafe that I go to. So if I had bad service or a meal that I didn't enjoy, I will choose to omit that from my review. Keep that in mind as you're reading. I'm not some 5 star critic or restaurant connoisseur, just a hungry patron, so I'm going to keep my experiences simple and up-beat. I hope you enjoy the tour!

What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? I would love to know that you visited my blog. Please leave me a message letting me know you were here! Did you try out a recipe? Let me know! I would love to hear from you :-)

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Lancaster City Breakfast Tour - On Orange

My Lancaster City Breakfast Tour is off to a great start. I want this to be an informative & fun experience for those who read it. My hope is, that based on one of my recommendations, you will be enticed to go to one (or all) of these spots and enjoy them for yourselves. For the record, I will only be focusing on the positive parts of each restaurant/cafe that I go to. So if I had bad service or a meal that I didn't enjoy, I will choose to omit that from my review. Keep that in mind as you're reading. I'm not some 5 star critic or restaurant connoisseur, just a hungry patron, so I'm going to keep my experiences simple and up-beat. I hope you enjoy the tour! ;-)

First stop on my Lancaster City Breakfast Tour was On Orange, which of course, is located on Orange Street. They did not disappoint. If you've been before you may recognize it as "Wish You Were Here". This was the restaurant located in the same spot about 5 years ago.

What We Ate: "The Old Standby", Swedish Pancakes, Baked Oatmeal, Toast & Coffee.

What Brought Me Joy: They give you a sweet little treat at the end of your meal with the check. Bite-sized cookies made by Wendy Jo's. So cute! This especially warms my heart because Wendy Jo has a stand at Lancaster Central Market like I do. (Insert shameless Buona Tavola Fresh Pasta plug here)

Their bathrooms. I know that's a weird thing to enjoy, but they were so cute! I regret not getting a picture of them. ;-)

Their mug club. Here is a pic of their cool mugs. They hang on the walls with your name next to it. If you frequent On Orange & are a coffee/tea drinker, then it's worth the investment. ;-) These cool mugs are made by Cracked Clay that also make AWESOME beer steins!

What You Should Order: Pancakes. Get the pancakes. They are the same scrumptious Swedish recipe from WYWH. Quote from my husband: "Best pancakes in Lancaster County." They are made with organic oats and they are the size of your head.

Follow Them On Facebook Here.

Obligatory Pic of my Son:

The staff & patrons were good to him. Thanks, On Orange for a delicious morning!

Next Stop: Read about our visit to ForkNSpoon Cafe here!

I would love to know your thoughts & that you visited my blog. Leave a comment below!

Lancaster City Breakfast Tour - ForkNSpoon Cafe

Stop #2 on my Lancaster City Breakfast Tour was ForkNSpoon Cafe. (Stop #1 was On Orange) They are located on Gallery Row of Prince Street on the same block as one of my favorite spots in Lancaster City, Pour. They have been open for a little over 2 years. I like to go here when the weather is warmer and you can eat outside. But I'm not complaining about going in the winter, the food is still fantastic!

What We Ate: Bananas Foster, ForkNSpoon Breakfast Waffle, & Red Eyes

Bananas Foster!!!

What Brought Me Joy: Their hospitality is above par. They were very friendly and appreciative of our patronage. Most restaurants/cafes around Lancaster have nice, friendly staff, but ForkNSpoon, they are better than most.

They have a great sense of humor. This is evident by the signs they have up in their front area.

They run a great Facebook page. They will post changes in their menu, featured items, pictures of their food, something funny, upcoming events, etc. They are an asset to their community. They will post about a missing dog, snow closings, information about other local businesses. Overall, they just do a nice job of running an active, engaging FB page. I appreciate that.

A great menu selection. Plenty of coffee drinks to choose from. Plus on Saturday mornings you can get classic breakfast options like Toad in the Hole or pancakes, but you can also get soup or a sandwich if that's what you're in the mood for. I have trouble deciding what to get because it's all so good.

They do neat things like Sinatra Sundays or a 5 course Valentine's Day dinner. It's not too late to get in for their Valentine's meal, but you have to make reservations.

What You Should Order: Their signature breakfast herb waffle is a must.

Breakfast Waffle in all it's glory.

If you prefer something sweet to savory I've narrowed it down to these 3: Bananas Foster (it's like french toast, only better...the sauce makes it!), Yogurt Parfait (a great summer time treat), & the grilled Nutella, banana & strawberry tortilla (it's hard to go wrong when Nutella is involved).