A close friend recommended that we visit a unique little bakery/art boutique called Blue Hen one Sunday afternoon, so off we went!

The Blue Hen was celebrating its first anniversary in business, and it was positively booming. We arrived to see a lineup that was so long it went out the door and around onto its patio. Inside, clients packed the elegant little double shop, either happily sipping their coffees while munching on tasty pastries or carefully and hungrily eyeing objets d’art for purchase.

Henry: I carefully (so very, very carefully) took our little boy inside the art boutique section of Blue Hen while Mariam stood in line for pastries, and I was taken by the lovely hand-crafted Ethiopian furniture and art pieces. Items adorned the walls to entice art lovers and tasteful decorators, and the central aisle was lined with variously hefty or dainty gorgeous bags. There was no end to Ethiopian chairs (especially the chairs you sit in for coffee) that I wanted to bring home. Our son, meanwhile, had to have his hands restrained frequently because he very nearly went out of his mind with delight at all the smoothed, varnished furniture and decorations that were calling out to his fast little hands and fingers to touch. How I lamented our lack of air luggage space (no photos of the art pieces taken because I didn’t get a chance to ask for permission, but here’s their Facebook page if you’re curious)).

Mariam: Meanwhile, I was looking over all the pastries that were arrayed on the counters and glass display cases. Two things struck me: 1)they all looked elegant and delicious, and 2)they kept selling out while I was in line! Clients in front of me ordered a lot of scrumptious items; a good number of the customers had already purchased a meal, finished it, and was back in line to get more pastries to enjoy at home. When it was my turn I quickly ordered some vanilla cream and chocolate cream puffs and cake for ourselves and our little boy.

While Mariam paid, I luckily found an open spot on the patio outside. When the food arrived, our little boy positively inhaled his puff pastry. Certainly a seal of approval! And even though we’re adults, we had a hard time not wolfing down the delectable pastries either. Everything we tried was wonderfully fresh, and most importantly, sweet but not overly so.

The Blue Hen also partnered up with La Cheeserie for its anniversary. We got ourselves a full platter of different cheeses, of which the standouts were the pesto cheeses (the red and green cheeses in the photo). Despite having gorged ourselves on pastry, we found ourselves finishing off the tray of cheeses in no time as well. It’s safe to say that everything was a hit.

So of course there was takeout :P.

Before parting, we made sure to have a lovely little chat with the owner. It’d been a great morning, and it was only right we conveyed our delight to her. She was nice enough to pose for a quick pic before we left, and here she is!

Thanks for the scrumptious morning, Blue Hen! We’ll be back!