The Guy from the Back Room

Several years ago I wrote a column for the local paper and one of my columns was a celebration of the local hardware store and their small toy room. I wrote that it was reminiscent of my own childhood Gambles store where I remembered going to the back room where the toys were and pulling the light string as a child to look at the shelves full of toys. When my column came out in the paper I was moritified to see a typo in my column and it referenced me going to the back room where the boys were. Thus the title of this blog ... it really is about (well sort of) a guy in a back room in a store. It is (well sort of) about Algona, a little big town not very far from me.

I guess Algona is up-scaling! I've always liked that little town but for some reason I've never gone there much and I'm not sure why. They have a Fareway and a K-Mart and those are pretty good reasons to go if you live in a town where you can't buy an onion on the day you need it.
I discovered a few years ago when my youngest daughter was taking her ACT test that they also have a very cool coffee shop. Very cool ... big city cool, wireless and sandwiches and ambiance. Then in eary July I heard they had a chocolate shop. Within days I was on my way and they do indeed have a chocolatier. And I was, well, I was like a kid in a candy shop, I guess. I had a wonderful piece of a turtley cheesecake and then returned an hour later and bought 6 truffles as a "souvenir". Wish I had a picture of them. They were beautiful. But, alas, I didn't take my camera and I don't have the truffles anymore.
Here is some chocolate to gaze at that I just happen to have in my food photo files.

Anyway ... on with the story of Algona. I walked a short ways just passed the chocolate shop and there was a bread bakery of some sort ... maybe called TheDaily Bread ... I don't remember; but I had to go in and see if they made real bread. It appeared that they were more of an organic food store than a bakery and apparently they were out of bread already. But I caught a guy walking out from a back room carrying some stuff and I asked him what kind of bread they made. And what I found out made my day ...

What they make is NOT sourdough bread with a hard crust and a chewy crumb but it turns out the guy from the back room does make that rustic bread at home. And turns out he has some starter that is linked to the civil war that he will share with me the next time I am in Algona. And it turns out he has a link to a bread baker in San Francisco that is going to send him some starter that dates back to Gold Rush days and the famous San Francisco sourdough bread. AND ... he will share that with me too. I might be in love. (Didn't get his name and he looks to be about 20 years younger so the love part isn't really relevant.)

Anyway, I am a new fan of Algona and plan to go there more often so like my other posts about Cedar Rapids Czech village and Des Moines East Village this is my celebration of Algona. And the guy that came out of the back room.