JENNIFER JOHNSON: POPPY SEED CAFE CHANGES OWNERSHIP >>>

The Poppy Seed Cafe - a sunny, one room café in Fircrest - feels warm and inviting. Mouthwatering aromas of coffee, hot chocolate, waffles and hash browns permeate the air. Ahhhh.

Visibly, you wouldn't know original owners Darin and Shelly Adams had recently sold the cafe to Nicole Rowsey and Arsenio Harris. Last Saturday at noon, for example, saw the small café at 95 percent capacity - the ownership transition must be going well. 

The breakfast and lunch menu features enticing scrambles, Belgian waffles, biscuits and gravy, homemade salads, soups, panini sandwiches and more. My lovely vanilla hint Belgian waffle was lightly crisp outside but deliciously soft inside. Chicken fried steak is a tour de force. Poppy Seed's uses light, crisp breading that complements the classic dish rather than masking flavorful meat. Thick and chunky sausage gravy was plentiful without being a drowning pool.  Hash browns and cubed potatoes were lightly fried - no soggy grease mess here. Scrambles were full of fresh ingredients - sundried tomatoes, spinach, artichoke, and onions.

Plus: Service was prompt, the food hot and good, and prices were fair. Starting Nov. 8 the Poppy Seed Café will be open seven days a week.

Minus: Coffee was extraordinarily hot, but is that really a minus?

[The Poppy Seed Cafe, 616 Regents Blvd., Fircrest, 253.460.4101]

LINK: Previously on Spew