Barista Cafe And Cape Fear Bakery

   Alright, I know I said recipes.  Those are still on the way, but this past weekend, my husband and I took a little mini-trip to Wilmington, NC (about an hour from our house.)  He has been thrown into my little blog world of making notes and taking pictures of food before eating even though I know he is often anxious to dig into food.  He has been very patient with me; he is amazing.  Most of the trip was spent planning where we were going to eat and noting where we want to eat in the future.  We ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Wilmington, though not in that order.  However, I wanted to give you a slightly more cohesive progression finishing with our fabulous French dinner!

   So, breakfast.  We made the decision to walk to all of the restaurants because we were staying on the waterfront downtown.  At the other end of the boardwalk from the Hilton is the Barista Cafe and Cape Fear Bakery.  It's super casual and laid back.  Think Starbucks meets Cracker Barrel.  It smells like coffee, bacon, and muffins as soon as you walk in.  The menu is very traditional Southern breakfast with eggs, grits and potatoes.  Louis ordered the meaty omelet: bacon, sausage, ham, and American cheese.  (But he had it without the ham, we are not ham fans.)  And hash browns as the side.  Wow, these hash browns.  Nothing resembling the overly salty, hard, shreds of frozen potatoes in most places.  You get a huge pile of red skin potatoes seasoned with some sort of house blend magic and cooked in bacon fat!  Beyond delicious!  Oh, and the eggs in the omelet were light and fluffy; and the ratio of egg to meat to cheese was spot on... everything an omelet should be. 

   I made the decision before we even left the hotel room, that I was going to get a pastry.  It's a bakery.  Just forget the calories and go for it!  The raspberry scone was screaming at me.  It was sooo good.  The dough is light pink and the whole thing tastes like fresh raspberry (even though it was frozen fruit that was used).  Even the little tang of the raspberry was preserved!  The center was light and flaky, the edges were slightly crisp and there were tiny bits of butter dotted throughout.  I don't know how they managed the butter thing, when I make scones the butter always gets mixed in evenly.  

    If you find yourself wandering around Wilmington in the morning, definitely stop into the Barista Cafe and Cape Fear Bakery.  They brew an awesome cup of coffee and I am sure the specialty drinks are just as good.

Barista Cafe and Cape Fear Bakery

225 S. Water St. (at Chandler's Wharf)

Wilmington, NC 28401

910-399-3108