Had the pleasure of shooting Souk in DC, a bakery and spice market as well as a stand-only cafe right below the Eastern Market in Washington DC. Shop is simple and cozy and gives off that international trading post vibe even with its minimalist decor. Shoot itself was a bit laggy, but the fantastic owner made the plating wait a pleasure, so that was a much better experience than plenty of other places offered over the years.
So, what do they offer besides coffee and fantastic, custom, and clever beverages like honey ginger lavender lemonade? A wide selection of baked goods –
Some of the other ones include Kouign Amann, a French-level of complexity – “is a sweet Breton cake, made with laminated dough. It is a round multi-layered cake, originally made with bread dough, containing layers of butter and incorporated sugar, similar in fashion to puff pastry, albeit with fewer layers. (Wikipedia)” Can’t say I’ve seen these before and as much as I’m not big on desserts, layered and puff pastries are usually my preference with baked goods.
Next up were very pretty tarts and even some gluten-free items for the few, rare folks actually allergic to doughy and bready things –
Next one that caught my eye were their biscuits!
Definitely some proper, artisanal biscuits compared to lesser ones offered in other places or places somehow lacking them in favor of sponge cakes like lots of Korean bakeries.
We can’t forget the cupcakes since they’re the staple of most patisseries as well as absolutely pointless, froufrou gourmet cupcake places with abysmal pricing and average product. It’s cute on TV like on 2 Broke Girls, but even there Max made simple and good ones and that’s how it should be done. Souk has your nicely sized, simple, good cupcakes without extra ribbons and laces how it should be.
Now you will witness the real section of this whole shop – their spice corner.
Just about any and everything is on deck and you can order custom blends as well that trumps most grocery stores with absolute ease, especially since the ladies here know their combinations and you can sample them as well.
In true trading post spirit, Souk works with various local brands to help bring their products to a storefront and that’s becoming a missing concepts in major towns like DC as well as cities.
Overall, this was a great new and unique spot to discover despite having to rot in traffic for over 2 hours for that 2:30pm appointment on a Friday afternoon. I avoid these times like a plague normally, but decided to bite the bullet on this one and it paid off for a change.
Leave a Reply