Our little cafe GROWS and GROWS....

Fall is truly the best season to visit Midway. The autumn sun glows something special as it reflects off our water tower, the air is cool (and coffee tastes so good!) and the shops are beginning to fill with wonders for the ever approaching holiday season.

Quirk cafe continues her metamorphosis at 131 (and now 129) East Main Street.

First of all, Curtis Hince from Virginia has joined us as restaurant manager. He and his wife, Maria a veterinarian, moved to Woodford County so she can continue her education at the Department of Veterinary Pathology at the University of Kentucky.
Curtis brings us organization, great creative ideas and much needed energy and experience.
He likes to create in the kitchen as much as he likes to meet all of you who visit us, so keep an eye out for a fellow who looks like he knows what he's doing.

Our TAPAS MENU has begun on Friday and Saturday evenings from 5:30 - 9 pm.
Don't know what Tapas is?...you're not alone. Tapas is a Spanish word and here in America, it means a menu with items that are prepared in small sharable portions so that they can be enjoyed with others, if desired. Think large appetizers of beef medallions, southwest spiced chicken with a cool lime aioli, Thai shrimp with peanut sauce, clams and mussels sautéed in garlic butter and more.

Add a bowl of soup, a salad, an order of pasta with white wine Alfredo sauce or one of our usual sides and you have a delicious, varied and very affordable dinner. The menu should soon be posted at our website www.kygallery.com/quirk. Most of our lunch menu items are also available during the evening also.

Unfortunately, Odyssey Books closed this September. We thought long and hard on what to do with the 'very cool' downstairs space.
Then, out of the blue, my good friend (and card playing buddy) Chet asked if he could use some of the space. He has had an internet book site for many years and has always wanted a little bookstore. So, C. Robertson Books will soon be open for business. He will carry new and used books, newspapers, magazines, popular books, paperbacks and is always interested in buying older books. SO, if you think you have some potential stock, email me at irishgrl@windstream.net and I will forward your info to Chet.

Downstairs will have also have comfortable seating, good music playing, our great French Presspot coffee, espresso, scones and muffins along with soda, Godiva Ice Coffees and ice cream!
Thus...QUIRK DOWN UNDER is born! (You know, the only other Quirk cafe I can find is in Sydney and it serves Emu...)

Finally, after much hair pulling, the winter menu is here. We lost a few salads and wraps till the spring but have added hot opened face roast beef or roast chicken sandwiches with mashed potatoes and warm apples with whipped cream and Sherry's Harvest Wrap is back!!

We're a great place for lunch, a place to rest and meet up with friends in the afternoons and also open to holiday get-togethers up to 20. I would love to have some groups in the afternoon weekdays. Come play cards or meet as a knitting, book, garden or scrap booking club!

I hope to see you all soon.

Peace to all, Laura

Limitations.....

So, what have I learned over the last few 'blogless' months?
You can't run a cafe (okay,it's big, a restaurant!), be a mom, have horses, have a partner and a life AND build a house and a forty acre horse boarding facility and not let one...or two...or twenty balls hit the ground.
It's been over the top...is it lack of estrogen, my ever advancing age, lack of sleep or just stress that makes me unable to finish a sentence or just walk in circles???

My biggest thanks to a terrific staff that has hung in there and rallied to essentially run the cafe while I blanked out this summer.
(Is summer really almost over?)

My true apologies to those of you who have dropped by to visit or chat and I have been gone or have been rushing by...I very much miss the connection I have had with many of you. YOU make the cafe business worthwhile...everytime you come in it reminds me we're doing is worth it.

And, if I owe you money, just call. The bills are down to two laundry baskets but I might have missed you...

And finally, my lessons learned...
The old Protestant work ethic ain't what it's cracked up to be...
you really CAN'T do at 48 what you can do at 30...
and life is short and fragile...
sometimes you just have to stop and ask for help...
and when you do, friends and God will always be there.

Hope to see you soon!
Laura

Over the top in Midway, KY

It's been awhile, hasn't it...since my last post. Well, that's in part to all the commotion of April into May in a thoroughbred town. With Keeneland open for racing, the sales and the Derby, Midway rocks.
And, all by herself, Midway is pickin' up steam! The shops are full, more restaurants open all the time and the ones we have get better and better...
There's the Artists Forum working to bring local and even nationally known artists to town to display their craft. This all mingles in with Francisco's Farm...our huge art festival at Midway College on June 10th. It's year three and it is more spectacular each year.
The town merchant's have been busy bringing in live music and these very artists for evening Gallery Hops! The next one will be on Saturday, June 10th.
Local vineyard, Equus Run, will be having a wine tasting here at the Quirk cafe and I am sure The Black Tulip's patio will fill up fast.
Our beautification committee...Grow Midway Beautiful... is beginning to organize to receive donations torwards the landscaping of downtown Midway.
With all of this going on, it is hard to get to the keyboard and jot down a few quick notes.
So, in summation, Midway is the place to be! The nightlife continues to pick up...in fact, Quirk has live music every Tuesday night and will start opening every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening with our full menu! We aim to be the 'cool, comfortble place to hang out' with affordable prices so you can hang out more often.
And, thanks for asking, my horse, Gabriel, is doing well. Almost ready to move on to his new, own farm where he can be the King Gelding! But, he asks you say a little prayer for Barbaro : (....
See you soon at the Quirk!
Laura

My White Angel in the Field....

Sitting here, I was tempted to write a story about our new espressos and lattes, new comfortable sofa area, and upcoming spring menu.
Like always, my mind is on the café…but wait, we’re on vacation!
So, let me tell you about all the joys outside of the café. We both love this little town of Midway so much. Over the last three years we have become good friends with so many of the residents and other shop owners. We find we end up spending a lot of our ‘free time’ just hanging out or dining in town. Now, finally, we will actually live in Midway. Slowly, but surely, our house is being built over by Fishers Mill. And, if there is a house, with Sherry, there is also a barn! We will board about 8 horses and have room for our own. I say OUR own, because I just got my first horse! Call it “girl interrupted”, but I am back to that 15 year old girl I was in 1973 who rode at the local stable every chance possible.
My new baby is a Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse. An Isabellos palomino in color, he looks almost white. He is short, sweet and looks like an angel in the field.
Sherry works with him, but mostly I just hug him and feed him carrots. Slowly, I am learning how to train him and am driving everyone around me crazy about his latest accomplishments.
So now, it is trying to find balance. Balance between a busy but wonderful business and an ‘outside’ life where I can enjoy that elusive state called ‘relaxation’.
I imagine I will find it nestled in the slightly muddy mane of my patient and loyal ‘Gabriel’.
So, as you drive between Lexington and Midway on Leestown Road, just before
The Fayette-Scott county line, look to your left. If you see a white horse patiently waiting in his field, that’s Gabe, my sweetie!

The quiet roar of the New Year...

Well, our little town of Midway made it through the holidays. The shops are a little quieter, the holiday reservations and parties are over and, as always, all of us are taking our collective deep breath. As merchants, we love the holidays...the excitment of new deliveries (we open "presents" all season), the fun of seeing a friends laughing with friends and the financial boost that will hopefully help us through the next few lean months.

Mostly though, I love this time because the town settles into the real Midway. I get to come out of the kitchen (while Lana and Sarah hold down the fort) and visit with folks...both customers and other merchants..., walk the streets, window shop, grab a cookie from the cookie shop and really feel the magic of this place. It's in the way the sunset hits the water tower with this perfect golden red glow, or how I can't walk twenty feet without stopping and talking to someone I know, or just in the calm I feel when I am out on the street knowing everyone is in their shop doing what they really enjoy. This feeling is what drew me back to this place after going to Midway College for nursing 24 years ago.

I hope you will come and visit us this winter. This is the time to see Midway without the "tourist" frenzy. All the shopkeepers have more time to talk and visit with you...on my last outing, I just learned about Mr. Yeager's Bark Jars and his upcoming show at The Headley Whitney Museum!
Come enjoy an espresso or lunch...the cafe is very peaceful in the afternoon. Grab a book from Odyssey Books downstairs and just hang out or shop a little...find a great wine for your evening at Bacchus Fine Wines or have dinner at The Black Tulip, Darlin' Jeans Cafe or Bistro La Belle...
and, of course, a have wonderful New Year!!

Holiday Greetings from Quirk Cafe

Here comes all the holidays...life flits by in tenths of a second...23 more shopping days...find just the perfect present....hurry, hurry, hurry!!!
At the cafe, we are busy with Christmas & Holiday parties, decorating our downtown, and the Midway Open House & Home Tour on December 1oth. Wishing Chair plays this Thursday evening and we host the Hopewell Farm Christmas Party that same Sunday.
There are lots of shoppers wandering about, so many different places to see in Midway...antiques, lamp-fired beads, leather goods, wonderful women's clothing, celtic treasures, a wide variety of gift shops and of course, everything Christmas at Rudolph's Christmas House.
In between, stop by Quirk cafe for a french press pot of coffee or a pot of tea or hot chocolate. Sarah will be baking some fresh scones and there is always great soups, sandwiches and desserts.
We are the best place to hang out on a cold afternoon!
We'll be there each day until 5ish (except Monday when were closed and Sunday when we close at 4))....and when it snows, you will find us sitting in our front window, slowing down, and enjoying our little magic town with our own cup of cocoa

Musings from Quirk cafe & coffee

Onward with technology, though how I long for a nice pen and fresh piece of smooth white paper...

First, I would really like to thank everyone who supports us at Quirk cafe & coffee on Main Street in the very magic town of Midway, KY.
Whether you come in every week or just once a year during the Keeneland Sales or while dropping your daughter off to start at Midway College, it is always an honor that you join us to share a few moments of you busy lives.
We try to create that special place...where the experience is more than a sandwich. An experience that really surprises you at just how good that cup of coffee is, or how the open, bright room seems to welcome you, or where someone says just the right thing or smiles just at the right moment.
Having a restaurant is hard work. Certainly every bit as mentally and physically exhausting as the nursing practice I performed for 22 years before I created Quirk. But, the moment it all makes sense, is when I stop, look over the crowd and hear the murmur of voices and the laughter of connection between people. I was always one of those kids, who during a holiday gathering, went outside into the cold and looked in through the window to watch my family
just enjoy each other and once back inside, would listen to the rumble of their voices and feel warmth and safety and home.
So, please continue to visit and relax with us. And thanks!