Biscotto and coffee at Flour Parlor / COOPER LEVEY-BAKER
Flour Parlor
128 N. Orange Ave., Sarasota
993-8649 or flourparlor.com
Open 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat.
This is the umpteenth entry in a weekly column dedicated to eats that are cheap. If you have an idea for a place to feature in Cheap Eats, comment below, email me at cheapeatssrq@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter:@LeveyBaker.
I think I'm going to regret writing about Flour Parlor. It's so quiet here, you see, and I'm getting so much work done.
Flour Parlor's peanut and chocolate granola bar / COOPER LEVEY-BAKER
I've been coming to the newish downtown Sarasota bakery and coffee shop on the regular, stopping in six or so times over the last couple weeks, plopping down at one of the store's basic white tables and taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi. Customers wander in to pick up custom-crafted cakes they've ordered or to snag their signature cake pops, or even just to say hey and check out the new kid on the block. An Italian couple asks for directions to the beach. Two GFs in flower-print dresses catch up over coffee.
But not that many people linger, and there are certainly no jagoffs shouting into cell phones. The shop also isn't cranking any music, giving the space an impossibly chilled-out atmosphere bolstered by the friendly, welcoming staff. As a result, I'm polishing off a ton of assignments, all while slurping down mug after mug of black coffee and eating my way around the brightly lit display case like Pac-Man.
Let's start with the coffee ($2.40). Flour Parlor doesn't have an espresso machine, so it only serves up a classic drip that comes from silver and black coffee pump, as well as a cold brew. Both are excellent, with a full-spectrum flavor that makes sugar or cream superfluous.
Flour Parlor / COOPER LEVEY-BAKER
The brew is also an excellent counterpoint to Flour Parlor's sweet and savory options. A bagel bun ($2.50) doesn't have the crackly exterior or the braided chew of the best bagels, but it's got the yeasty flavor down pat. Take a bite and the thing deflates, it's so airy inside. Today's version is stuffed with cream cheese and ham. Honestly, I can't locate the ham, but this bun hardly needs it. The little stones of salt and the wash of poppy seeds combine with the dough and cream cheese to provide plenty of flavor.
A cinnamon and sugar biscotto (do not dare to call it a "biscotti"!) ($1.50) is crunchy through and through, almost too tough unless you've got a cup of coffee to dunk it in. Which is the point, after all.
A peanut and chocolate granola bar ($2.75) is dense, too, with a thick layer of chocolate laid down over a rectangular mass of peanuts and other goodies. A blast of chocolate hits your taste buds first, and then the bar sticks the landing with an almost-salty wash of nuttiness. I'm not as impressed by Flour Parlor's scone ($2), but everything in a boxful of items my wife brings to the park one Saturday—a shortbread cookie bar, a mock candy bar, an artisanal pseudo-Pop-Tart—tastes right on.
Flour Parlor's bagel bun / COOPER LEVEY-BAKER
Needless to say, my blood sugar's running a little high lately, and I've probably put on a pound. The first person who told me about Flour Parlor was in fact cursing the shop for that very reason. Flour Parlor sits right across Orange Avenue from City Hall, and while I was there one day picking up public records, the helpful civil servant passing me my stack of paper told me she was happy Flour Parlor had moved into the neighborhood, but that she had to stop herself from going every afternoon for a treat. Me, too.
So come on over. But, if you do, please, try to keep it down. Some of us are trying to get some work done.
