Cappadocia Cafe: Part 2 —A Luncheon Feast
With my first bite of lahmacun (photo, above), I envisioned myself writing something like this: “Ain’t no way you are going to be in White River Junction without stopping in at the new Cappadocia Cafe.” By the end of my brunch-that-morphed-into-lunch, I had revised my opinion to “Don’t dare wait until you happen to be in downtown White River. Get in your car on any day but Wednesday (it’s closed) and drive there.” Cappadocia Cafe is a destination cafe and bakery unto itself.
Yesterday was the cafe’s grand opening, the employees and owners Vural and Jackie Oktay bustling from the special tiled oven to the pastry case to the register to the colorful tiled tables full of patrons. We ordered the lahmacun (it’s a flatbread with topping), a potato pogaça for sit-down service and a simit (circular bread, covered in sesame seeds) to go. But in grand opening fashion, little nibbles of other savory Turkish pastries started showing up on diners’ tables (mine included): bites of pide (pronounced “pee-day”), lamb and white bean soup, homemade bread, and samples of açma. And a very special kahvurma bafra, a pastry stuffed with beef confit, rich and dense with flavor.
The pastries arrive warm from the traditional tiled oven, are light yet sturdy enough to support a variety of toppings and stuffings of meat, potato, mushrooms, spinach and/or cheese. I think I was yeoman-like in the depth and breadth of my sampling, with plenty more on the menu for future exploration.
Espresso drinks are yet to come but there is a variety of coffees; the döner equipment is still gleaming new and installed in a front corner of the cafe awaiting future instruction. Try the housemade lemonade. Delight those you live with, even is that is just yourself, by bringing home a dessert.
And be not afraid of the menu. You’ll find full descriptions in English of each item along with guides on how to pronounce the names.
(Cappadocia Cafe and Bakery, 5 South Main Street, White River Junction, VT, open 7:00 am to 5:00 pm. Closed on Wednesdays. Next door to Tuckerbox in the space formerly occupied by Piecemeal Pies.)
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.