More About the Clock Tower Cafe

Well, as I promised part two of “The Clock Tower Cafe.” As I said in last weeks column it was the Gelato that brought me to the place. Although it is not the only place to find this in Fargo , it was on a Monday night after seven PM downtown. So here are a few more questions I asked of Jennifer.

HPR: Why Gelato / Sorbetto is it a new trend in Cafes now. How did you pick your flavors? And for those that do not know what Gelato is could you tell us?

Jennifer Grieve: When I was planning the menu I knew we had to have something nobody else had downtown. There are so many great places to go in the downtown area we needed something different. So, Gelato and Sorbetto came to mind. Gelato is Italian ice cream. Our Gelato has 20% less butterfat then ice cream and is whipped less so it is more dense. The Sorbetto is purred fruit with just a touch of cream added. So, we tell the customers it is actually good for you. An average scoop of Sorbetto only has 70 calories and .5 grams of fat. Again, we tried many many samples from many many suppliers. I thought about making it ourselves. But, after trying this gelato/sorbetto company and seeing the fresh fruits and nuts in it we all were hooked. When I place an order the company makes it fresh for us. I think the guys in the bike shop were the most excited for us to open to get the gelato going. Choosing the flavors the first time was tricky. We started with 10 flavors. We tried to pick flavors that were well rounded and that everyone would be able to find something they liked. Then we found which were the most popular. It was easy to see right away. White Chocolate Raspberry, Chocolate Cafe Caramel, Straciatella and then the Mango Sorbetto were the customers favorites. We now continue to order those and add different flavors here and there. People come in to see what is new as well as looking for their favorite flavor. It is like a birthday or something when we get a delivery. We are all so excited to try the new flavors.

I see on the menu you have Speciality Latte / Cappuccino. Can you tell our readers what a Depth Charge is?

This is for the hard core coffee drinker. The customer picks which brewed coffee they would like and then we add espresso shots to it. When I explain that one to the staff as they are trained their eyes get big and most of them comment on how that is for the major coffee lover.

Do you do your own baking of the Sweets? It said fresh daily?

Yes, we make scotcheroos also known as Special K bars they are the big hit. We have delicious brownies, lemon bars, scones,

Has having this in the building help bring in new customers?

Yes, we benefit each other well. We bring a new clientele to the bike shop and we are a great addition for their loyal customers. But, not everyone who comes to our shop is interested in bikes they are looking for a new and different place downtown. The bike shop is draw but being downtown is the biggest draw for people. They are also interested to see something do well in the depot. I hear that a lot. and a soft granola bar. We make them fresh in our own little oven. I hope you can tell how excited I am to be a part of the downtown community. To offer another great place for people to be able to come and enjoy a nice lunch or coffee with friends or co-workers. I tell my staff I want us to be the “Cheers Coffee Shop of Downtown Fargo” we want to be a friendly enjoyable place to be. We want people to look forward to spending their time with us.

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It was fun for me to get to know a little more about the Great Northern. There are so many places like this in Fargo and to see them being used instead of being torn down is wonderful to say the least.

I wanted to mention some other fun finds I have discovered this summer. OK , I know we have not had summer, so just let me rephrase it to say, over the last three months. Although I have written about this place before I had no idea what impact one item made by them would have on literally hundreds of people. What is it you say? Well it is Josie’s Corner homemade Banana Bread! Yep it is true I was almost be headed because I ran out of it at the 10klf. Who would have know that the word would get out that fast there. This banana bread is the secret recipe of the chef at Josie’s, Randy, and if he is smart it will stay a secret. I had people coming back over and over buying up to three orders at a time, this would equal a loaf and a half of banana bread! It is just the right amount of sweetness and it is only banana bread. There are no raisins or nuts, I like that . The saddest was the little boy that came up to the window over three times on Saturday asking if we had any more. Mike had driven into Fargo to get the last of what Josie’s had, Man if I had only known, I do for next year though. So I would say if you like this kind of a treat check theirs out.

The other find was when I was shopping at the Lotus Blossom Asian store on main in Fargo. I had no idea they serve PHO soup. I just wrote about this in the last three weeks or so. I noticed that they had three small round tables up with a lot of condiments on them. So I asked “why do you have tables”? well, they are able to make that soup right on the spot for you. All the ingredients are already ready to go, it is simply put together for you. JB and I actually got a lesson on how to use the condiments on the table with for the meat in the soup, Asian meatballs. By the way the bowl they serve this in is HUGH!!! Even by my standards. This is definitely another worth the wait and money item.

Lastly, I’d forgotten about the late night menu, after 10 PM, at Monte’s on Broadway on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It is a nice size selection , of which it has something everyone could pick from very easy. I think the hardest decision for me was to have a burger or the meatloaf, meatloaf it was, Mike had the duck confit quesadilla. Now I know some of you may think that eating heavy after seven or eight is not a good thing. I am here to tell you that I recently, honest, saw on CNN that you can eat anything you want at anytime of the day. The trick is to take in less and work out a lot more. Of course one might have bad dreams from the food not settling . However I say do what feels right to you. I ate all my meatloaf sandwich and slept like a baby!

OK, until next week. I am excited to introduce you to the newest Farmers Market in Fargo. Stay safe and eat well.

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