In the midst of all the newness coming to town in the form of burrito chains, sports bars and groceries, something interesting is going to sneak in to the Valley Mills Drive shopping center anchored by Fuddruckers and Carino's.
I stopped by the space formerly occupied by Honeybee Ham where I visited with Rebecca Mann and Robin Jeep, who are part of the team opening Cafe Vibrante. This European bistro will also sell olive oil and balsamic vinegar kept in fustis and then poured into Cafe Vibrante's own bottles, specially labeled for each customer.
Mann showed me the variety of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, going so far as to point out that a couple of the balsamic vinegars taste great over ice cream. Looking forward to trying that. Plus, I have this tailgate recipe where I just poor stuff over a block of cream cheese. So, yeah, dark chocolate balsamic vinegar might work great for that.
They could be opening as soon as early September and want to emphasize that they will be a cafe as well as a retail shop. I didn't see their menu on Monday, but I'll give an update when I have one to give.
Two more bites: Okay, Crave Cafe in China Spring is open. I was tracking this restaurant and then let it slip my attention and now it's just been open for a while. So I'll add it to the listings and maybe somebody review it. ... The remodeling of the New Road shopping center space behind Outback Steakhouse looks to be plodding along. This is going to be an Egg and I, whatever that is, but there's still no signage.
