I'm beginning to notice there are a lot of cafes named "Crema." This West Side coffee shop, Cafe Crema, in Charleston is my third.


Though, I do appreciate this one's story. It was opened by a mother-daughter duo, wherein the daughter struggled with the decision to stay or leave the state -- ultimately deciding to stay to help her father who isn't in the best of health.

The cafe serves espresso drinks, pour-over coffee, teas, fruit smoothies, shakes, as well as waffles, grits, oatmeal, sandwiches, soups, salads and some desserts.

Cafe Crema, named after the brownish foam on top of a well-made, freshly pulled espresso, features a high-tech Nuova Simonelli Italian espresso machine. But the cafe also offers low-tech, high-taste coffee options not found in many coffeeshops. 

These include “pour-over coffee,” which makes use of the Chemex coffeemaker invented in 1941 by Peter Schlumbohm. Made from borosilicate glass and fastened with a wood collar and tie, the hourglass shaped device — whose design elegance earned it a place in New York’s Corning Museum of Glass — brews coffee through a filter without imparting any flavors of its own but for the coffee. 

“It has a very smooth taste and texture,” said Abdalla, who serves pour-over coffee in two caffeinated versions, Ethiopian Jimma Agaro and Wayfarer Blend, and a Tired Goat decaf blend. “It’s used in a lot of the more independent coffee shops.” (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

The one drink that stood out to me the most was the frappuccino because most coffee shops stick to more traditional drinks - americano, latte, etc. Frappuccino is actually a trademarked Starbucks drink, but many have taken the coffee+milkshake concept and made it their own. It is essentially a coffee base, blended with ice, this one added salted caramel syrup and was topped with whipped cream.

Frappuccino is a trademarked brand of the Starbucks Corporation for a line of blended coffee beverages that are served cold. It consists of coffee or other base ingredient (e.g. strawberries, bananas, cream), blended with ice and other various ingredients, usually topped with whipped cream and sauces. Frappuccinos are also sold as bottled coffee beverages in stores and from vending machines.

Frappuccino is a portmanteau of "frappe", the New England name for a milkshake with ice cream, and cappuccino, an espresso coffee with frothed milk. The word was coined and trademarked in Boston, Massachusetts. In the Boston area, a "frappe" (pronounced "frap" and spelled without the accent) is a thick milkshake with ice cream,[2] derived from the French word frappé. 

The recipe is a fusion of various cold beverages, including the coffee frap (similar to iced coffee) and the frappe (blended ice cream, syrup, and milk), with the Italian cappuccino. 

In response to the success of the Frappuccino, several of Starbucks' competitors have developed similar drinks with similar-sounding names: Cinnabon's Mochalatta and Caramelatta (1998); Coffee Break; Gloria Jean's Chillers.

So, it's a pretty basic white girl drink, so of course I ordered it. The woman behind the counter seemed a bit overwhelmed with how busy the cafe was, but after a few minutes, she had my order ready. One - this is very tasty. Two - that's because it's very sweet. I wasn't expecting a coffee drink to be so sweet, or maybe I've gotten used to not drinking super sweet coffee -- but it's tasty! I think I could've eased up on some of the sugar and replaced with some espresso, but I'm sure this would be well-received by many non-coffee-drinkers.

Overall, though, it's good. I didn't see anything on the breakfast menu that I was overly excited about, so I opted for just the coffee this time. Not bad, not bad.













Grade: B

There's a new bakery rocking Charleston. Rock City Cake Company, located along Capitol Street, is putting out some of the tastiest cakes, cupcakes, cookies and other treats in town.

Rock City has a cool, alternative vibe going on, which I can appreciate. Think tattoos, black T-shirts and rock & roll posters. The bakery actually first started in Logan but because of its sluggish economy, they decided to move to Charleston to try their luck.

The space is pretty cool with brick interior, musical decorations and a few tables and chairs for customers to enjoy their tasty, tasty treats.

Large glass cases display gorgeous cupcakes, cake balls, "long john" donuts, fudge and more. The offerings change daily, so there is always something new. While there, a woman was placing an order for a custom cake - their specialty.

So, I browed the case, intending to get one item to sample and ended up getting five. FIVE. Ugh. The first: a lovely chocolate-covered peanut butter buckeye. The peanut butter - mixed with a ton of sugar I'm sure - is so much better than regular peanut butter. Delicious.

And,  also got one of their "long johns," which is the Spring Hill Pastry version of a "hot dog" or Quality Bake Shoppe's version of a "Mad Dog." This is basically a long donut split down the middle with cream added to the center. The one available this day was a Bavarian cream. Tasty? Oh yes. But, wait, there's more.

Do you see that upside down ice cream cone? That is a giant cake pop with a cone filled with more cake pop. Good god, this was amazing, huge and overly indulgent. And I enjoyed every minute of eating it. Ridiculously good.

That caramel cookie had a marshmallow filling. It had sticky caramel all over it. Definitely on the messier side, but so sweet and perfectly salty, sweet chewiness. Delicious.

The fruity pebbly cupcake was also quite good. Though, I think my favorite was that cake pop ice cream. It was just so over the top and beautiful and sweet. Just good.

Rock City Cake Company is located at 241 Capitol St. It's open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.

For more information, visit Rock City Cake Company on Facebook or Instagram.

Grade: A

West Virginia's newest brewery is up and running; Bad Shepherd Brewing in Charleston is churning out its own brews and, soon, its own branded growlers.

Bad Shepherd Brewing replaced what used to be Charleston Brewing Company. Charleston Brewing Company opened in 2013 as both a brewery and pub. A year later, the pub portion was bought out by Black Sheep Burritos, and then just a few months ago, Black Sheep's brewery, Bad Shepherd, took the place of the brewery portion.

So, I made a trip back to check out the new brewery and new brews. The interior is still pretty standard; we went to the back to sit at the bar and look over the options.

I got a sampler of the Sheep's Bane, the Guard Llama, Bad Shepherd and EZ Tiger. Every single one of these was really good! The Guard Llama, their hefeweizen, was my favorite. But I could've guessed as much. But, I actually really liked the milk stout AND the IPA. These beers are done very well. Very good flavor, and very well balanced. Can't wait to see what else they churn out!

Photo by Sher Yip

My trip to Philadelphia gave me a newfound appreciation for the philly cheesesteak. Before, I was like... eh, it's a steak sandwich with cheese. So? But, there's a fine art to the sandwich. When all those high-quality ingredients are combined together, it creates a beautiful, tasty offering that takes on a life of its own. The thinly shaved meat, the slightly caramelized peppers and onions, and the cheese that coats it all - it's a thing of beauty.

So, when I saw that a local pop-up called "Heather's Original Philly Cheesesteaks" claimed to bring a little Philly to Morgantown, I kept close tabs. Heather hosts her pop-up tent outside Mundy's in First Ward from time to time, and I recently was finally able to catch her.

There's a nice little parking lot right across from Mundy's, so it's super easy to swing right in. We got here a little late in the evening and just so happened to snag the last cheesesteaks. She sold out! More than 100 that evening! But, after I thankfully was told they had enough for me, I paid my $9 (they do take card!) and went inside Mundy's to wait for my order.

After a few minutes, one of the women brought my order to me - which includes my sandwich with onions and peppers, a side of chips and a pickle for $9. The only thing that would be nice is if there was an option to add a water. Though, I gather the idea is to go into Mundy's and get a beer.

But, these are actually pretty good! Stuffed full of meat, plenty of peppers and onions, I could always go for more cheese - but that's just me. I was impressed! These are the real deal. Good bread - not too much, like other places. Good proportions, which made for the perfect bite. Already excited to see when she's back.


Grade: A

This restaurant was an unplanned one - but our tummies were rumbling, and New Year's Day makes it a bit more difficult to find places open. Luckily, Côtes-à-Côtes Resto Grill came through for us.

They actually sent a hostess outside with menus to catch passers-by and let them know they are open. It was so cold, so I felt bad for her - but the strategy worked. We rushed in from out of the cold and were seated at the bar until a table opened up. Once it did, we transitioned.


The menu had some interesting options, but the one that caught my eye was bison carpaccio with parmesan chips and garlic aioli. Bison carpaccio is not something you see on the menu every day, so I was all about it.

Little bites of olives and pretzel thins to start.

And, look how beautiful that display is? There was this nice salad on top, which was perfect for the garlic aioli and slivers of parmesan. There was a balsamic on top, and it all went together quite well. The nice leafy greens, the creamy sauces, fresh veggies and that thin bison was delish.

The only problem is that as I was chomping away, I crunched down on a piece of hard, black plastic. It looked like a piece of plastic cutlery broke off and made its way onto my meal somehow. Not too appetizing, considering I don't know what that came from. But, before that unsettling moment, I was pleased.

Grade: B