I’ve always wanted to be a Martha Stewart-type. Too bad I can’t bake anything more complicated than brownies. (I’d have said cupcakes, but I have trouble making the frosting look cute.) Since I don’t have the baking aptitude to be Martha, I’ll let someone do it for me. Enter: The Hospitality Sweet. The adorably decorated mint-and-white restaurant and bakery decked in wainscoting recently opened its second location in the Plaza at Preston Center.
Expect sweets, coffee, beer, wine, and delicious breakfast (served 7-10am) … and less whimsical, but entirely practical, lunch items like sandwiches, soups, and even lasagna. But … bubbly things first. Stop in and grab a glass of champagne or wine–they use an enomatic system so you know that you’re sure to get an unoxidized glass of whatever you choose to sip. ( If you aren’t familiar with the enomatic system, it’s a sort-of Tupperware* for liquids … but quite a bit more high-tech and much more sexy.)
Beyond the drinking (because apparently there has to be more than just booze … whatever), they offer some of the most beautifully simple sweets–jaunty cake balls, brightly colored macarons, crispy croissants and more for the taking. The one item that I couldn’t leave without trying, though, was the brownie. Two separate coworkers told me to try them and I thought, “There’s no way that they could be THAT good.” I was straight wrong. These brownies and so good that I cannot wait to get my face in one of them again. (And I don’t have any words for them past that.) Oh, and if you plan ahead you can order one of their absolutely gorgeous cakes in sizes anywhere between 5” and half sheet for your events or, you know … Tuesday.
While THS does sweets well, they also offer scrumptious savory items. After a delicious sampling of blistered shishito peppers and aioli, mixed greens salad complete with watermelon radishes, and a hearty soup, we were offered a bevy of sandwiches–hot pastrami, club, brisket, and more. Hands down, the brisket sandwich (caramelized onion, cheddar, and BBQ sauce on white bread with a house made pickle) was the winner. (And trust that I tried them all … because someone has to do the research for y’all.) Everyone else seemed to greatly enjoy their house made chips (I had given up fried food for Lent); one guy even requested the other end of the table’s leftover mound of chips … then promptly ask for a takeout container. (Respect.)
Parting notes: you can order online, don’t miss the brownie (can’t stress that one enough, people), they rent their space for private events, and they offer happy hour.
THE HOSPITALITY SWEET
thehospitalitysweet.com
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400 N Ervay (Downtown in the historic post office)
214.999.6704
M – F 7AM – 3PM
6135 Luther Lane (Preston Center across from Men’s Warehouse)
972.807.9253
M – S 7AM – 6PM
*Does anyone else think of the narrator at the beginning of the Disney version of “Aladdin” when they hear “Tupperware”?