Up Coffee ... A Weekday Favorite Delivers!!

Up Coffee: Our Lunch Reward

We've been working really hard lately.  John has worked on the barn, dug sumps as the climate crisis dumps more and more rain per rain event, and generally tried to get things ready for the first snowfall.   I've had canning, baking, catering, and packaging (endless, endless packaging), products for all the various retail outlets that want goodies every week or so.

So after today's 'early' deliveries...we finished by 1:30 or so...it was time to stop, breathe, have some lunch.

UP Coffee is one of John's favorite places...so we headed from Annona Gourmet over the hill and down to UP.

This was an excellent plan.

What a wonderful lunch....including a really creative sandwich and two excellent salads.

Up Coffee:  Our Food

I went for the Fall Sammie....roasted squash, greens, tomatoes, creamy sauce (sorry, I was so busy enjoying it that I forgot to read the description) on nicely toasted bread.   I opted for the 'side' of salad...oh my, my...that could have been a whole meal.  Beautiful greens with the fruit and nut mix (cranberries, golden raisins, currants, walnuts....just so yummy) with red onion and

delicately sliced tomatoes...with just the right amount of balsamic.   I made my way through 1/2 of

the sandwich (with John's help) and 1/2 of the salad before filling a to-go box with another meal the same size.

John had the fantastic, Spicy Thai Peanut Salad.   Fresh greens, cabbage, orzo, crispy noodles dressed with spicy dressing...it was so big we both thought it would overflow the bowl.  I had a few bites to 'help' him clean his plate.

Of course John saved room for a cookie (I frankly had a little trouble looking at one more cookie today....and the rest of the holiday season looms in front of me).  He selected the Reese's peanut butter chip cookie.  I took a little piece 'just to taste'    It was thick, with a nice soft middle and crispy edge...that cookie could have been a meal, too.

We had an UP and down history with UP.  Our first visit...years ago...was disappointing.   But we always try to make multiple visits because everyone has a bad day now and then.   Today was the best day ever, but we've had delicious quiche, sage pesto sandwiches, things with onion jam, great baked goods with interesting streusels or loaded with fruit or moist and satisfying with a cup of their great coffee. 

But my sandwich and our salads hit a new peak.   A veggie sandwich outside the box--enthusiastically welcomed by my taste buds.   Two salads that each had their own character, but were also equally interesting, fresh, and delish.

We like UP because they don't have extensive equipment (like Marianne's) so are doing a lot more than you'd think possible with the available equipment.  That's why we like the CoffeeShop NE, too.....using their bare bones equipment to make really tasty items....that are creative and stretch the possibilities of what you can make without a grease hood and deep fryer.  That was always our goal at Marianne's.....use our measly

equipment to go way outside the bounds of what a franchised place would do with the same equipment.

UP Coffee excelled today at creating a lunch that was outstanding.   Kudos!

Details:

Website:    https://www.upcafe.com/
Twitter:     @UPCoffeeRoaster

Location:   Google Maps