Exciting and New . . .

It seems like the current trend for businesses in the n-hood over the past year or so has been high propensity for change. Pearl Street has seen some pretty dramatic changes, not just the Seems Like Olde Times/Deli Den/Ototo space. The list of casualties included The Crushery, Ototo, India's Pearl, and Pearl St. Grill. India's Pearl is really the only loss that made me sad as the other spots never really did it for me. This week, in a semi-constant state of riding induced hunger, I made the rounds and hit up some of the newcomers to the block(s).

I don't remember where I read about Cinque Soldi, but deli sandwiches, cured meats, cheeses . . . yes, yes, and yes! Curtis and I stopped in Thursday for lunch after letting Dempsey and Avery (the german shepherd) play tennis and tire themselves out in general. I let the counter staff take the wheel since they know what's what on the menu. They did not steer me wrong with the Chicago Beef sandwich on a baguette. At $7 for the sandwich and chips, it was definitely good value. Thursday evening after some general trouble making, we headed over to Sexy Pizza which took over the Crushery spot. It is quite possibly one of the dumbest names I have ever heard for a pizza place and there is absolutely nothing sexy about it. They chef up some pretty solid slices and it is nice to have a pizza joint in the neighborhood that sells pizza by the slice and doesn't have the world's most blown out, tired slice pie sitting around . . . true story, another pizza restaurant in my general area got so bad that I started ordering the kids' pizza because I knew it was at least a little fresher . . . you know who you are! Good thing I am riding a fair amount again, because I rounded out the weekend with a stop at Buffalo Doughboy Bakery. I knew I was going for a long ride Saturday so two pastries seemed appropriate and some how not excessive. I had the Crocodile which was croissant stuffed with apple, cinnamon, brown sugar and walnuts as well as a dark chocolate croissant. I did not eat until 2/3 of the way through the ride when we paused on Peak to Peak Highway for some snacks. Even then, the small bag of M&Ms was sufficient for making it home without being completely cratered. It is nice to have the motivation to resume with the blog updates, thanks source of inspiration . . . who was that masked person?