Monday, February 12, 2007

I Want Candy


This post is strictly for my Marin County readers (or for those who might be traveling through). The rest of you will just have to suffice with the picture.

The old downtown of Grant Street in Novato is undergoing a renaissance of sorts. New restaurants have opened there (though The Kitchen at 868 Grant, which held such promise after our first visit, has tumbled in my estimation after a second trip there) and there are many new retail stores popping up.

But by far my favorite store in this neighborhood is Powell's Sweet Shoppe, notwithstanding the fact that I hate stores that add an extra "pe" at the end of "shop" -- unless of course your "shoppe" happens to be in Surrey or Nottingham or some such. Stepping into Powell's is like going back to the 60s -- all tha candies of my youth are there: Flicks, Pixy Sticks, Chick-O-Stick, Abba Zabba, Clark bars, Big Cherry, Zero bars and more. There are drawers of all the defunct gums of days gone by: BlackJack, Teaberry, Beamans, etc. Every flavor of Jelly Belly is represented, plus dispensers that allow you to fill a bag of M&Ms in a single color, so you can have nothing but green ones if you like -- or teal or silver or... I've been to what is generally considered the world's best candy store -- Dylan's Candy Bar on New York's upper east side, founded by Ralph Lauren's daughter -- but Powell's is better.

Go -- find a gift for your valentine. (They even have attractive vellum/glassine bags for all the treats you buy.)

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