Ready to get out? Drive north to a tiny cafe in the woods on a scenic lavender farm
The Lavender Festival was called off, and then a storm plowed through.
But the lavender won’t peak until mid-June at tiny Cafe Lavender in Cooke County, so make the drive some weekend soon.
Cafe Lavender is open for lunch every weekend amid the woods and flowers at Lavender Ridge Farms, about 10 miles off Interstate 35 east of Gainesville.
A windstorm last weekend only added to the misery, after the farm had to shift sales online in March and April.
“The most fascinating turn was how quickly our raw materials and supplies became unavailable” — like bottles, sprayers and bottlecaps for the farm and garden operation, owners Jane Ware Dane and Jerry Ware wrote by email.
They cobbled supplies together and reopened May 6 with flowers blooming, cactus in stock and a full Cafe Lavender menu.
The cafe, on a screened-in patio, became a place to go for lunch on drives between Texas and Oklahoma.
Lunches cost less than $10, with menu choices such as lavender-honey chicken salad, deli sandwiches and wraps, plus salads with lavender vinaigrette.
For dessert, there’s lavender-lemon gooey butter cake, or other choices such as lavender cheesecake, a lavender brownie sundae or French silk chocolate pie (sans lavender).
In 2009, Dane and Ware, siblings from North Richland Hills, converted an old family strawberry and melon farm to grow lavender.
She gathered recipes for the cafe and hosts a regular cooking school, along with selling lotions and soaps in a gift shop.
Cafe Lavender is open for lunch Fridays through Sundays at 2391 County Road 178; 940-665-6938, lavenderridgefarms.com.
This story was originally published May 26, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
