SoMar Wine Cellars, 211 S. Market St., somarwinecellars.com. A quick glance at the wine bottles lining the floor-to-ceiling glass shelves here reveals such offbeat brands as Hey Mambo, Woop Woop, Mad Fish and Plungerhead. “We like to feature things you wouldn’t find at the grocery store,” says salesperson Cheri Starn. In addition to the retail shop, patrons can enjoy wine by the glass or bottle in a comfortably furnished side room (and a back patio with heating element). Cheese, olive and fruit plates are available; carry-in food also is welcome. Live music is offered two or three times a month, plus wine tastings and wine classes. You’d never guess the place was once a Greyhound bus depot. St. Paul Hotel, 203 S. Market St., stpaulhotelwooster.com. Probably the biggest surprise is downtown Wooster is this tres-chic boutique hotel which would be right at home in Chicago or lower Manhattan. The lobby is filled with sleek mid-century modern furniture. “It’s our attempt to not confuse people that we’re an Amish B&B,” jokes developer Bill Erdos. Each of the 12 stylish contemporary guest rooms, which start at $110 and include continental breakfast, is equipped with a 50-inch flatscreen TV, refrigerator, Wi-Fi, heated bathroom floor and a rainforest shower head. The Grand Suite, $240 for two guests, adds a living room, wet bar and private deck with hot tub. Artfind Tile Company, 143 S. Market St., 330-264-7706. Thinking about adding decorative ceramic tilework to your kitchen backsplash, bathroom or fireplace? Artfind offers a vast and visually rich selection of tiles from 55 different American studios in addition to its own high-gloss, raised-design tiles. There are tiles in the arts and craft and Tuscan styles, authentic Rookwood reproductions, tiles of glass, stone and cast bronze, many all available for order and many customizable. The Henry Station, 244 S. Market St., thehenrystation.com. Located in a former filling station, this casual eatery serves deli sandwiches, burgers, homemade soup and such German and East European specialties as bratwurst, pork and wiener schnitzel, stuffed cabbage, goulash stew, chicken paprikash and pierogies, plus full bar service. Tulipan Hungarian Pastry & Coffee Shop, 122 S. Market St., tulipanhungarianpastry.com. There’s a distinct Old World feel to this bakery on the square, whose display cases are brimming with cookies, tea cakes, strudels, tortes, napoleons and lemon-glazed Hungarian cheesecake. “This case is mostly what grandma used to make,” owner Elizabeth Kakotos says. “And the other case is elegant pastries you would find in Budapest.” In additions to sweets and specialty coffees, Tulipan offers crepes, omelets and open-faced sandwiches. Broken Rocks Cafe & Bakery, 123 E. Liberty St., brokenrockscafe.com. The most bustling of downtown Wooster’s restaurants has a menu of contemporary comfort food served in a spacious, high-ceilinged room with exposed brick walls, weathered hardwood floors, colorful contemporary art, an open kitchen and a lively yet easy vibe. The only thing I didn’t like was having to select just one entree off the wide menu of temptations. The wild mushroom pasta ($11.75), with crimini and shiitake mushrooms, pancetta and roasted red peppers in gorgonzola cream sauce over bowtie pasta, was sublime, and my peasant salad ($4.95), with grilled onion, honey-glazed bacon, croutons, hard-boiled egg and asiago cheese, was packed with flavors. There are sandwiches (featuring the cafe’s own bread), homemade soups, gourmet pizzas, steaks, and daily specials as diverse as roasted beet salad, Asian-glazed salmon, jambalaya and pulled pork. “We’re trying to keep it simple, affordable and as local as we can,” says co-owner Lisa Grumbling. Books in Stock, 140 E. Liberty St., booksinstock.net. The website for this rambling, library-like, two-story emporium boasts an inventory of more than 90,000 books, divided by categories. “They’re all used, whatever someone brings in,” says salesperson Lori Abraham, herself an avid reader. One could get lost in here. The Wooster Book Company, also downtown at 205 W. Liberty St., is an independent new-book retailer definitely worth at visit. The Urban Cottage, 142 E. Liberty St., urbancottageconsigns.com. The selection is eclectic at this spacious store, which sells used furniture and home accessories on consignment, with a frequent turnover. On Tuesday I spotted dining-room sets, a chandelier, African carvings, birdcages, Oriental rugs, original pop-art paintings and many overstuffed chairs and sofas. Just next door at 146 E. Liberty St. is RoomScapes, a vast contemporary-furniture retailer. City Square Steakhouse, 148 S. Market St., citysquaresteakhouse.com. I haven’t tried the steaks but I can vouch for the dark and sleek atmosphere of this upscale eatery, in business since 2008. Repository food writer Jennifer Mastroianni says City Square’s steaks are the best she’s ever eaten in Northeast Ohio. A 12-ounce ribeye steak dinner is $24.95, an 8-ounce filet mignon runs $31.95. My frugal mother waxed rhapsodic over the $8.50 cheeseburger and fries. Directly across the street at 151 S. Market St. is South Market Bistro (southmarketbistro.com), a casually elegant restaurant whose inventive menu runs along the lines of “pan-seared pork medallions with sweet potato pommes frites and pear-date chutney.” The Faithful Little Cupcake, 146 E. Liberty St. (lower level), the faithfullittlecupcake.com. Don’t dare leave downtown Wooster without sampling a fanciful cupcake (or two) from this friendly spot. The selection Tuesday included red velvet, salted caramel, white almond raspberry and a German Sweet Chocolate to die for, all $2.25 apiece. “We don’t believe in plain cupcakes with plain icing,” says owner Rayonna Leiner. “We believe in toppers.” Omahoma Bob’s Barbeque, 128 S. Market St., omahomabobsbbq.com. “Everything we do is traditional Texas dry rub, and that’s the way we serve it, with sauces on the table,” says Omahoma Bob. The menu offers beef brisket, spare ribs, pulled pork, half chickens and smoked sausages, along with such sides as sweet potato casserole, fried okra, hush puppies, mac and cheese, and red beans and rice. Spoon Market, 147 Market St., spoon-market.com. The deli counter here offers gourmet sandwiches named after movies and using Boars Head meat and cheeses. My flavorful (and whopping) choice, “The Nutty Professor” ($6.85), was homemade white-meat chicken salad with walnuts and dried cherries served on cinnamon raisin toast with baked kale chips. There are breakfast sandwiches, homemade soups, breads and pastries, craft beers. In back is a butcher shop, whose homemade chicken-and-apple and buffalo chicken-blue cheese sausages are superb. Townsend Antiques, 140 S. Market St., 330-202-5265. “My goal in opening the store was to have a new person walk in and find something they’d never seen before,” says Townsend Antiques owner Dave Broehl, who travels to auctions in a multi-state area to find unusual merchandise, much of it furniture, from 1750 to 1940. Among the current inventory is Weller, Rosewood and Rookwood Pottery; a felt-topped two-person game table; a circa-1910 pool table made in Toledo; eight full place settings of Coxon-Beleek china, made in Wooster, along with a four-poster bed, quilts, lamps, clocks and advertising items. Gallery in the Vault, 105 E. Liberty St.,galleryinthevault.com. As its name suggests, this well-curated art gallery is housed in a former bank on the Wooster square, its Diebold vault one of the display nooks. Prominent among the paintings, wood pieces, pottery, jewelry, blown glass and other hand-crafted items are a series of exquisite leaded-glass Tiffany-style lamps made by Cliff Lanborn of Canal Fulton; one contains 1,986 pieces of Tiffany-formula glass.
