Berry Tasty.

The other afternoon I stumbled into the kitchen while one of my Mom's girlfriends was visiting. She'd come by to say hello, and when I saw what she had brought along, I nearly jumped out of my skin:


...a jar of 4 Red Fruits preserves from Le Pain Quotidien. Be still my beating heart.


My friend Sarah and I made a regular habit of frequenting Le Pain in New York. We could never pronounce the name. (The website gives the following instructions regarding pronunciation, "Don't be shy- it takes some practice!" Yeah, no kidding. But, for the curious, it's pronounced: luh paN koh-ti-dyaN.) Our favorite location was on 50th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues. We'd meet before a shift at the Crew and chat over steel-cut oatmeal, pumpkin muffins, and fresh orange juice. Or we'd meet at a location on the Upper West Side, to escape the rain, to escape the city for a bit, to enjoy the rarity of sharing a communal table with a group of city strangers.


Le Pain was dear to me from the very beginning. It's located in all of the areas I've called home, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New York (and Connecticut... but really, who cares about Connecticut... I jest, I jest!), and its French name can be loosely translated, our daily bread. I just loved that part. A haven from the city, within the city... with delicious food... and spiritual resonance.


Which would explain the almost jumping out of my skin part in the kitchen. And, a reminder that the adorable chain exists in this area, too. In Georgetown no less. It's not as close to home as that 50th street location was, but as Dorothy once said, "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore." And maybe that doesn't have anything to do with preserves from Le Pain and New York, but this former city dweller is looking for the silver lining even in the suburbs... and hoping for a glimpse of that proverbial rainbow in a D.C. bakery.

[You see, it wasn't a post entirely about jam... technically.]