My wife and I got out for a rare date last week. Our first stop was New Health Veg Cafe (see the ad in the middle column over there), since, you know, we’re veg and all that, so we’re actually required by law to check out any new veg restaurants in town.

We found the Cafe to be light and airy, with old school maps hung up on the walls. The service was decent, and the food arrived about 20 minutes after we ordered. My wife had a yummy eggplant parmesan, with homemade cheese, and I had a tasty BBQ tofu thang. Add a fruit smoothie and apple pie for dessert and man, was that a good meal. Joe, the owner, sat down with us for a little while and talked about his vision for the place. He wants it to be a neighborhood gathering place, and is planning on creating a stage where performers can do their thing. (DateLine Rochester has a very complete pictorial blog of New Health.)

After, we headed on over to The Coffee Connection (formerly known as the “Women’s Coffee Connection”). OptimusPrime did a great post on them as part of his Better Know A Wedge series, and indeed they lived up to the hype. We enjoyed our coffee with soy and chocolate as we sat in the comfy couches and read/people watched folks on South Ave. as the sun set.

Both places have such an inviting, refreshing atmosphere, we had to tear ourselves away (and in the case of the Coffee Connection, get kicked out when they closed.) The suburbs seem a little stale comparatively.

Related posts:

1. Better Know a Wedge: A Primer on the South-Wedge Community
2. Better Know a Wedge: Coffee Connection
3. South Wedge farmer’s market
4. Better Know a Wedge: Open Mic Night @ Boulder Coffee Cafe
5. Upcoming exhibit: “Mexico: Color and Contrast”