The route to Snowshoe is getting, shall we say, upscaled and more genteel. Aromas Coffee House opened up early in the year in Moorefield, right on the southern side of the Hester Bridge. Their service and menu have grown to equal those one would expect from a demanding yuppie neighborhood. They roast their own coffee and it is magnificent. MUCH better than Starbucks.

Yesterday, coming back from Snowshoe, I almost had an accident as I transited Wardensville and saw a new coffee house, Coyote's going up. Another hopeful source of good java... Can't open too soon.

I'm ferklempt with the prospect of two coffee houses on the way. Yes, the time I save with the new Corridor H is being spent on coffee houses. Oh well... Time well spent.

Next? A coffee house in Seneca Rocks? One in Greenbank? an Armani store in Petersburg?

Hairy Titter grocery.

lbotta - I was going to mention the Coyote Coffee shop going up in the old Loy's Furniture store here in Wardensville. In fact they plan to sell lots of locally baked pies, cakes, breads, and other such baked goods along side the coffee and wireless internet.

Oh darn! That means I have to make another noshie stop besides the Mennonite bakery in Greenbank. Such a hardship! But ya need all those good creamy calories for energy!

Excellent, Brad, if you know the folks tell them there are people waiting on the lines. Especially if they have crusty breads like baguettes, or specialty breads and pies. Leaving DC is such a hassle that stopping at Whole Foods, Harris Teeter or whatever is all but impossible. If there is a place for good bread, it will garner the transit crowd fersure. Besides the mandatory cappuccino. At least for the next 5-8 years until Corridor H is built to bypass Wardensville.

Brad,
Thanks for the update about Loy's becoming a bakery and coffee place; will try to remember that next winter.
But how did you manage to get scooped with the news...you are our eyes and ears in WV?!
What's the latest on Corridor H?
The Colonel

Technically I didn't get scooped... I knew it in advance. Just working 18hr days I was like "I'll get to it when I can..." lol

I'll start a new CH thread speaking of that...

Brad, is there a bakery anywhere that would have good bread between Wardensville and Snowshoe? Mecs at Cass is very god but their selection is the regular american sandwich bread. Whole grain and other very healthy selections, but I haven't seen crusty Italian or French bread anywhere.

If Coyotes has it when they open, I'll buy several each time I pass by.

As far as I know the coffee shop in town here will *not* have it's own bakery. Rather I do know they approached several local small businesses that do baked goods. They will instead be selling the baked goods of local bakers.

I honestly don't think there is any sort of bakery's that do custom non-american style baked goods between here and snowshoe.

It isn't difficult, but a bit expensive, to get a steam fitting for a bread oven that makes the crusty Italian or Cuban bread, or French baguettes for that matter.

Transporting crust bread is not that difficult. A year ago, I bought about 15 baguettes from Metropolitan Bakery in Philly. Cut them in two, wrapped each piece in aluminum foil, then double wrapped in sealed saran wrap and into the freezer. They kept for almost a year which was when I ate the last one. Take off the saran wrap, put it in the oven for ten minutes, and voilá. As crusty and warm as it came out of the oven.

However, that is no substitute for the real thing, a fresh, aromatic, French baguette. I hope the WV bakers start looking at this as a money maker. Ember restaurant at Snowshoe is baking these for sale at an exorbitant price and they go faster than gold dust in a hurricane.

Found paradise in Wardensville. On the way back from the Shoe this Sunday, stopped by the newly opened Coyote Coffee House that is also the site of Trout Provisions as well as Mountain Craft store. The store is a dream, sort of something out of the Pearl District in Portland OR.

For starters, the coffee is awesome. Third coffee house in WV that beats the pants off Starbucks. Great, thick, reddish crema on the espresso, deep roast but not burned like Starbucks, and they DO have soy on request. Then there's the food store and bakery. The owners said they would have baguettes, fresh, daily. The rest of the store is a compendium of upscale food and snacks. And... then there's the arts and crafts shop.

I normally blew through Wardensville only stopping if someone in the Jeep was about to burst a kidney or something. However, this store makes it worth the while. Especially when taking off from DC in a hurry to miss the traffic, and being able to buy some of the specialty foods along the way. I'd rather have a local store in WV take my money than a conglomerate in DC. Especially if they carry fresh baguettes, which are difficult to keep fresh.

Bottom line: Impressed. Stop by the new coffee house