Secolari's and Zoe's Kitchen in Columbia Mall

     This past Wednesday I had a chance to see the new additions to the Columbia Mall that have been opening recently.  The picture above shows the area that has been developed behind what used to be an open area behind the old LL Bean store.  The additions bring some interesting stores and eating establishments to the Mall.

    The "human like" sculptures are an interesting feature of the new area and maybe a little strange for my taste.

   Maggiano's Italian restaurant is open and from the description on their website:
".... specializes in Italian-American cuisine served in a warm & friendly atmosphere. We are open daily for lunch & dinner and offer a convenient carryout service as well as delivery. Maggiano’s menu features both classic & contemporary Italian-American recipes including homemade pastas, signature salads, prime steaks, fresh fish, regular chef specials & specialty desserts, accompanied by a large selection of wines & specialty drinks. The food is made from scratch daily & served in a welcoming environment. Family style service or individual entrees are available."

    The reason for my visit to the new area was to attend the blog party at Secolari's.  This a specialty shop featuring vinegars, honey, olive oils and pastas.  I remember a simpler time when you used just regular olive oil and red wine vinegar on salads.  After a visit to Secolari I realize how limited this was.  The flavored vinegars  and olive oil selections are amazing.  This is especially true for the balsamic vinegar choices.  I have blogged before on good balsamic vinegars and Secolari will make sure you never use the grocery store balsamics again.

   After much tasting of the different balsamics I chose the dark raspberry balsamic shown above.  The dark cherry was a close second.  The best thing about these balsamics is that they go well drizzled over fruit or the hit of the night ----chocolate cake.  The sample the store provided of the raspberry balsamic over a piece of chocolate cake was an amazing taste!  I couldn't have imagined blending the two before but now I can't wait to give my family the new experience.

     As you can see the choices shown above of different flavored honeys gave us something sweet to taste.  My favorite was the lavender honey.  The habanero had a kick the built up slowly.

    The olive oils shown above had a wide variety of blendings with the basil one probably the most popular.

    Although we didn't have a sampling of the pastas at the store I am sure that they would go well in any pasta dish that you wanted to make for a special occasion.
 

     Finally Zoe's Kitchen, also new in this new area of the Mall has some great offerings.  The hummus shown above that they served at the blog party was the best hummus I have ever had.  Zoe's will definitely be a place I will go back to try.  Below is their menu.

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