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Community Corner

A Lunchtime Hidden Gem on Route 22

Gourmet Cafe in Mountainside serves up a made-to-order turkey club wrap faster than you can read this article.

I decided to try the Gourmet Cafe for lunch over Summit's spring break.  I was picking up my son, Jimmy from his lacrosse practice and knowing he'd be famished, I suggested we go there for lunch.  It's just a takeout place, so I knew I could cajole him with a quick bite, not a drawn out production with silverware, servers and conversation with moi. The address, 200 Sheffield Street in Mountainside was foreign to me, so I plugged it into my GPS.  Therin lies the beginning of our journey.

My trusty GPS led me over the river and through the woods seemingly in every corner of Union County until we finally meandered onto Rt 22.   As it turns out, Sheffield Street is just off Rt. 22, west of the Echo Plaza shopping center and across the highway from the AMC Loews movie theater.  It took us 15 minutes from downtown Summit, but in reality only about a five minute drive if I knew where I was going.  Jimmy was looking worried that we'd never find this place and it didn't get any better when we pulled into the large parking lot of the Diamondhead office building where the Gourmet Cafe is located.  We parked at the far end of the lot becasue the closer spots were reserved and made the five minute walk into the office building.  I was crossing my fingers there would be food through those doors.

Sure enough, once inside to the left was the Gourmet Cafe.  It's a little spot, unasuming and certainly the place to go if you worked in the building.  We got in line to order behind a stream of people all of whom knew the owners, Mo and Jolie who were working efficiently behind the counter making wraps, paninis and salads.  The menu is up on the wall with basic fare such as turkey, ham and tuna salad wraps as well as a dozen unique combos which is what piqued our interest.  I asked Mo and Jolie what were popular and they said the turkey club ($5.50) and honey mustard chicken ($5.95) wraps were really good.  

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Just as fast as we ordered, they were made right in front of us.  Beginning with a choice of a white or whole wheat wrap, the turkey club had ranch dressing out of a squeeze bottle, followed by shredded iceberg lettuce, diced tomato, sliced turkey and crisp bacon.  The honey mustard chicken, a similar presentation, with the squeeze bottle containing a mayo studded honey mustard dressing, shredded white meat chicken, Cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce and tomato.  Mo and Jolie assembled our wraps and sent us on our way faster than I could dig my money out of my wallet.  A fast take-out lunch with fresh ingredients is hard to find on Rt. 22 and I suddenly understood why it's worthwile to try this place even if I didn't work in the office building that housed it.  

Not wasting any time, Jimmy ate the honey mustard chicken wrap in the car ride home along with half of my turkey club.  It was good, he said, and it was all gone before we got back to Summit.  I couldn't wait to get home and eat my half the old fashioned way, at the table with a napkin.  But, I did think this was a great option to eat in the car while driving on Rt. 22  bouncing from one chain store to another.  It's also a great spot for anyone working in the area.  You don't have to work in the Diamonhead building to grab a quick wrap and hightail it back to your own office building.

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All-in-all, it was a tasty lunch experience.  Real, honest, fresh food right in the middle of the hubbub of Rt. 22, just as long as you know where your going.

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