PELLA TULIP TIME

Last year about this time, I was traveling in Iowa and Illinois visiting family.  One great excursion was a visit to Pella, Iowa, for the Pella Tulip Festival.  It was a beautiful day with gorgeous flowers.

Actually, we visited about a week after the tulip festival was over.  The flowers were still in bloom and the town was just as quaint as ever.  The only thing missing was the crowds.  I was fine with that—and the goodies from the great Dutch Bakery (Jaarsma Bakery) were exquisite.  If you are in the area for this year’s festival—or right after—plan a visit.  Along with the tulips, there are parades and dancing and shopping and evening entertainment.  You will love it!  This year’s Pella Tulip Time runs 7-9 May 2015.

Here are a few of the sights you will enjoy if you visit:

A great way to end the day would be to drive to Sully, Iowa, to eat at the Coffee Cup Café.  You will be able to enjoy the best Iowa Tenderloin ever!  The pies are great too.

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 “I love tulips better than any other spring flower; they are the embodiment of alert cheerfulness and tidy grace, and next to a hyacinth look like a wholesome, freshly scrubbed young girl beside a stout lady whose every movement weighs down the air with patchouli. Their faint, delicate scent is refinement itself; and is there anything in the world more charming than the sprightly way they hold up their little faces to the sun. I have heard them called bold and flaunting, but to me they seem modest grace itself, only always on the alert to enjoy life as much as they can and not be afraid of looking the sun or anything else above them in the face.”   Elizabeth von Arnim, Elizabeth & Her German Garden

THE BEST TENDERLOIN IN IOWA!

Coffee Cup Cafe: The Best Tenderloin in Iowa

I have been on my road trip now for two weeks and have visited good friends and great places in five states:  Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Iowa & Illinois.  Most of the time I eat on the run or with friends and family, enjoying the conversation.  Sometimes those meals are in great restaurants worthy of praise.

On a day trip with family to Pella to see the tulips in bloom and visit a delightful Dutch bakery, we stopped for dinner at an unassuming little place in Sully, Iowa.  This restaurant is called Coffee Cup Café, and it exudes a friendly, welcoming atmosphere, appropriate to its name.  It feels like you are sitting down to share a cup of coffee with an old friend.  And if you are lucky, you will be there when a young man dressed as Thor helps protect the place!  [He was very cute and heroic, but a photograph would have zapped his powers!]

 

One of the specialties offered at Coffee Cup Cafe is a breaded tenderloin.  This sandwich, I am told, is a matter of pride throughout Iowa with many places boasting to have the best tenderloin in the state.  The most typical version is pounded very, very thin and thus covers nearly the entire plate.  The Coffee Cup Cafe’s version is not quite that big, but the breaded tenderloin generously overlaps the bun and covers about half the plate.  And oh my, what a taste sensation!  The spices are just right in the breading, and the tenderloin is perfectly cooked, tender and juicy.  It is served on a homemade bun with options such as onions, mustard, and pickles.  I ordered my sandwich with onion rings that were also to-die-for.  But the homemade potato salad was amazing as well.

I just cannot imagine a better Iowa Tenderloin.  This was fabulous.  In fact, I ordered a second one, ostensibly so I could take a picture, but then just had to take it home to have for breakfast the next morning.  What a great way to start the day!  It was just as good as leftovers—which is a great sign for me of good cooking.

The Coffee Cup Cafe is owned by a couple who share the work load.  I met Robin, the baker responsible for the wondrous made from scratch breads and baked goods.  I had a chocolate cream pie that was sinfully delicious.  My cousins enjoyed their cherry berry slices!  The pies are so popular that to make sure pie is available for you at dinner, you need to call in earlier in the day and reserve a slice!  I’m so glad we remembered to do that!  Robin’s husband runs the grill and fryer.

 

Coffee Cup Café offers a wide selection on its menu.  The tenderloin, potato salad, sliced beef sandwich, and—of course—the pies are standard fare.  But the restaurant also offers special daily items.  Tuesday is Jumbo Taco Day with homemade tortillas.  Wednesday offers Hot Wings, Friday is Italian Pizza & Pasta Night, and Saturday is all you can eat chicken and pork!  This incredible little place has won numerous local and national awards for its delicious pies and specials.  A logistical problem is all that has kept it from being showcased on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  Apparently, any place the show visits must have other places that are showcase worthy within a 40-mile radius.  Coffer Cup Café always seems to be just outside that mileage requirement.  The show even called Robin the other day when they were in Des Moines, but this great little place was just a bit too far away!

If you are ever in Iowa, Coffee Cup Café in Sully is the place to go for an Iowa Tenderloin and the best pie you have ever had!  You will love the experience!  The menu offers thanks to its customers:  “Dans je wel voor de bezock” (Thank you very much for your visit.)  But you will be thanking Robin and her husband for the best meal ever!