Red Canoe offers muffins and more

Red Canoe Bookstore Cafe in Lauraville provides good food in a pretty setting

Baltimore Sun, June 11, 2009

Before anything else, I want to say right away that this place makes the best sweet and savory muffins I think I've ever had. Really, really great muffins.

When Nicole and Peter Selhorst opened Lauraville's Red Canoe Bookstore five years ago, there were, except for the Chameleon Cafe and good old Koco's, only sporadic and mostly sputtering businesses to serve the neighborhood's growing population of young families and first-time homeowners. It's hard to imagine the wonderful developments all along this Northeast corridor without Lauraville paving the way. The Red Canoe deserves pioneering credit. And have I mentioned their muffins?

According to Nicole Selhorst, Red Canoe was originally intended to be a children-focused bookstore that incidentally sold coffee and maybe some muffins. By all accounts, Red Canoe has succeeded in its core mission, which includes expanding literacy and building community. It turned out, though, that every little thing Peter Selhorst made, the customers loved a lot, and gradually, the cafe operations expanded - it now serves breakfast and lunch seven days a week.

Red Canoe occupies adjoining brightly painted rowhouses, each with its own entrance, one into the bookstore and one into the cafe, which consists of a counter area bracketed by two handsome-old-house dining rooms. Even if there were no cafe, this would still be a family destination. I enjoyed visiting here with a friend and her 20-month-old daughter, who seemed to know she was entering someplace she'd feel comfortable and welcome. We walked around with cups of Zeke's coffee (Zeke's is a Lauraville neighbor) and met some nice people: the wife of a local author whose new book was getting great reviews, a little girl who shared her balloon and the woman who makes scones every Saturday for the cafe.

And then we went to order lunch from the cafe. The menu is small, about a dozen wraps and sandwiches, a few daily soups and pastries. But it feels expansive, and the counter staff is excited to tell you about the food they're selling. Nicole Selhorst is from the Franche-Comté region of eastern France, Peter Selhorst is from Northern California's Bay Area, and their roots are evident. There is not only the emphasis on fresh, homemade and healthy ingredients (Red Canoe grows its own herbs and makes its own jellies and chutneys), but something else: the gently delivered message that eating good food in a pretty place is worth something.

We took our little meal outside on Red Canoe's deck, a little masterpiece of backyard design, with comfortable shaded seating on two levels. Customers can enter through a gate in the back, too. We liked everything. I did go a little crazy over that muffin, but I think it's the best one I've ever had. Topped by poppy seeds, and just on the verge of overbaked, it was moist in every bite. The blueberry muffin, I know, has big admirers, too, as do the savory varieties - a quiche Lorraine or spinach and cheddar. We also loved that day's fresh soups, too: a pleasantly simple cream of asparagus soup and a vegetarian chili, which relied more on protein-filled beans than tomatoes.

Our junior eater took to her hummus plate with dried fruit and pecans, and so did the adults who finished it for her. The Red Canoe's hummus has a stronger sesame flavor than usual, which we liked in a small dose. Sandwiches and wraps are pretty and tasty, assembled from good, dense breads and fresh greens. The cafe also does panini now, along with a few other hot items like macaroni and cheese

I wanted to talk more about the cafe, but in a way, I'm glad I've run out of room. I like how the cafe, wonderful as it is, fits into a bigger picture.

Food: *** 1/2
Service: *** 1/2
Atmosphere: *** 1/2
[Outstanding: **** Good: *** Fair or uneven: ** Poor: *]

Best Muffins

City Paper Best of Baltimore, September 19, 2007

There is a ubiquitous muffin in Baltimore seen at most every coffee shop: The oversized mushroom-shaped cakelike pastry that isn't necessarily bad, but gets a bit repetitive. You won't find that kind of muffin at the Red Canoe, which makes its innovative muffins in-house. With choices like mango poppy, spinach and cheese, bacon and egg, and the most amazing coffeecake muffin you've ever noshed, you'll find yourself justifying buying one to go, just because they're so stuffed with fruit, spinach, or whatever that you figure they have to be good for you on one level or another.

Mom is rocking the boat

Baltimore Sun, April 17, 2006

Alina Watkins can tell that her audience is restless. She pulls out her songbook of Grateful Dead and Beatles standards and strums her guitar. And then, grinning from ear to ear, she sings the songs that they have all come to hear.

"Baby Beluga, Baby Beluga," Watkins trills. "Sing your little song. Sing for all your friends, we like to hear you."

And with that, the toddlers and babies shake their bells, their sippy cups full of Cheerios, their parents' keys and whatever other noisemakers are handy. Their moms - and a couple of dads - tap their feet, or bounce their children in their lap, or sing along in voices usually reserved for the shower.

By the time Watkins tears into Cat Stevens' "Moon Shadow," more than 30 parents and toddlers have packed into the upstairs nook of the Red Canoe, the Lauraville children's bookstore and coffeehouse that began hosting Watkins' Wednesday morning singalongs shortly after it opened last year.

While the toddlers bang and twirl, the moms take over the couch or spread out on the floor. They trade stories about natural births, swap tips about where to find organic cereal and discuss the difficulty of weaning. One multitasking mother breast-feeds her toddler while talking on her cell phone.

Meanwhile, Watkins is trying to focus on her chords as her two daughters, 6-year-old Sunflower and 4-year-old Willow, are hanging on her.

It's hot, crowded and noisy - and it's almost naptime. But the young audience doesn't seem to care. They are focused on the singer with the atomic-pink hair and the multitude of tattoos who looks a little like Ani DiFranco and sounds a lot like Joni Mitchell.

"She's really so fantastic," said Cassandra Lidin-Lamon, who lives in Original Northwood and comes regularly to the weekly singalongs with her 7-month-old son, Bodhi.

Second-time visitor Ursula Suskin of Rodgers Forge agreed. "We used to live in Boston. When I come here, I feel like I'm in Harvard Square again."

The story of how a fledgling children's bookstore in Northeast Baltimore became a hip hangout for parents from all over the region starts with the chance meeting between Watkins and Red Canoe owner Nicole Ufferfilge-Selhorst.

One year ago, Watkins brought Sunflower and Willow to a Wednesday story time at the bookstore. The Mount Washington mom had cut her musical teeth playing clubs with a Grateful Dead cover band and some blues groups before she had children; she was hoping to build a career in children's music so she could bring them along.

Watkins asked whether she could bring in her guitar for the next story time, and Ufferfilge-Selhorst agreed.

Immediately, Watkins was a hit. Her one-woman band, which she calls Light Chaser, has been coming back ever since.

"It's sort of been like twinzies, walking up the hill, hand in hand," Ufferfilge- Selhorst said of the store's and Watkins' growing popularity. "It's such a thrill for me to think somebody with her talent has a bright future, and this is a place for her to nurture it."

Before long, Wednesday became the store's busiest day. After the free music, the moms lingered to buy lattes and muffins - made by Ufferfilge-Selhorst's steelworker husband, Peter Selhorst - while their toddlers played red light, green light in the courtyard.

Karen McGinley heard about the singalong from a friend and first came two months after her daughter was born because she wanted to get out of the house. Now McGinley makes the 40- minute drive from Catonsville every week with 5-month-old Ellie.

"At first, it was definitely mostly for me. But now that she's more alert and engaged, I think she's hearing familiar songs and watching other children react," McGinley said. "I wish there was something on the west side of the city. I have visions of the Blue Canoe - but I need someone else to open it for me, and then I would be a regular customer."

As word got out that the Red Canoe's cafe was the sort of place where no one would look askance if toddlers threw raisins and moms breast-fed, some of the Wednesday regulars started coming other days to eat lunch or buy books.

Watkins' music career took off, too, as offers came in for paying gigs at birthday parties and summer camp singalongs. Recently, she recorded a compact disc of her favorites, called Live at the Red Canoe.

The music is different every week, but there are a few constants: "The Wheels on the Bus," "Bingo" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." For the parents, there's the Beatles' "Octopus's Garden" and the Grateful Dead's "Ripple." And few songs more quickly invoke campfire memories than "Moon Shadow," which also happens to be Sunflower's favorite.

"I try to stick in the folk and children's realm. I don't want to get too psychedelic on them," Watkins said. It's not the same music she played at the clubs in Fells Point and Federal Hill when she was 19, and it's definitely not the same crowd. But to the 27-year-old mother, that's a good thing.

"I feel like the kids are so much more appreciative and so much more fun. To see them smile, it just fills my heart," Watkins said. "I guess it's that innocent spirit."

Destination: Books

Independent Children's Bookstores Offer Much More than Just Bestsellers

by Amy Landsman

Baltimore's Child, February 2006

Any of the big bookstores around town can offer you a good cup of coffee and plenty to read. So why head for Red Canoe?

Here's how co-owner Nicole Ufferfilge-Selhorst starts to explain it: "If you ask our customers why they come here, why they pay full price for their Harry Potter instead of $18 at the Safeway or at Borders..." she begins.

But before Ufferfilge-Selhorst can finish, she is abruptly interrupted by a customer seated at a nearby table.

"It's a local business!" the customer calls out.

There you have it.

"I think people who choose to live in the city take immense pride... why are they coming here instead of driving out to Barnes and Noble? It's true, they'll get a better deal [at a chain], but what they won't get is the joy of coming to a community-centered business," Ufferfilge-Selhorst finishes.

Situated in two adjoining rowhouses and feeling surprisingly spacious despite being only 13-and-a-half feet wide, Red Canoe features a coffee house and cafe as well as a wide selection of children's books. Ufferfilge-Selhorst hand selects every book in the store.

"My top sellers are middle grade fiction. And series and picture books run a close race with baby board books," she says.

Currently, popular series include Harry Potter, Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborn and the Lion Boy trilogy by Zizou Corder.

The staff is glad to help kids select books for their school book projects.

The bookstore features comfy couches that kids and adults can curl up in and read. Cheerful rugs cover wooden floors in the store, while the coffeehouse side features old-fashioned black and white tile floors and sports apple green walls.

Customers are free to wander from one side to another. While the store is completely kid-friendly, an atmosphere shabby-chic than Disney-cute helps it achieve that rare balance of being both toddler friendly and hip enough for pre-teens.

It's Cheers for Families at the Red Canoe

A local children's bookstore and coffee house where everybody knows your name

by Elizabeth Heubeck

Baltimore's Child Review(From the: FAMILY ADVENTURE section)

It was a raw, rainy Saturday in January, the kind that makes you want to hunker down with a hot drink, browse through some bookshelves to find a good read and simply wile away a few hours. And that's what I did.

No, the kids weren't with Grandma for the weekend; they were with me. Not possible, you say? It is--if you go to the Red Canoe.

What Is the Red Canoe?

Located on Harford Road in the Northeast Baltimore neighborhood of Beverly Hills, the Red Canoe is a children's bookstore and coffeehouse--not a wilderness outfitter, as one might assume. The name comes from a painting created by a local poet and artist that both owners found so inspiring that they adopted not only the name for their business but the painting itself as their logo.

An orange awning beckons customers into what was once two rowhouses. Warm tones of blue, green and purple on the walls invite patrons to wander both upstairs and downstairs.

The two-story layout has several advantages. For starters, it affords children plenty of places to curl up with a favorite book find. For instance, there's a deep windowsill in the upstairs section that fits a few siblings or friends perfectly. So does a collecton of cushiony chairs in another upstairs room. Plus, the two stories give older children the freedom to leave Mom and Dad behind on the first floor of the coffee house while they explore a territory all their own on the second floor.

For smaller children who need to stick close to their parents, the main level offers books appropriate for their age and interests. Also on the main level, diversions such as blocks, finger puppets and other toys make it easier for the adults-in-tow to browse.

A Neighborhood Renaissance

When I visited on a recent Saturday morning, the place was bustling. Lots of customers were bumping into neighbors-some by chance and others for a planned get-together over a cup of coffee and a homemade muffin. (Incidentally, co-owner Peter Selhorst makes an assortment of scrumptious muffins onsite, from wild blueberry to pumpkin-apricot-craisin-with honey glaze on top--yes, all that packed into one muffin. For the weight-conscious, there are low-fat banana muffins.)

Anyway, on the day I was there, Pete's wife and co-owner Nicole Ufferfilge-Selhorst greeted just about everybody who walked through the door by name. Needless to say, the place has the feel of a long- esablished neighborhood hang out, rather than a business that has been open just a few months.

The Red Canoe is but one of several signs of revitalization along this strip of Harford Road that intersects several Northeast Baltimore neighborhoods. For instance, the Red Canoe's three year old neighbor, Chameleon Cafe, gets rave reviews for its fine dining options. Other longer-established retailers, such as a hair salon and neighborhood bar/restaurant have recently experienced an upswing in business. Pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and median strips planned for the near future should further encourage foot traffic.

"We're hoping the whole strip [of Harford Road] becomes a destination," Ufferfilge-Selhorst says. While each retailer adds something useful to the community, what the Red Canoe envisions is particularly significant. "We're making children's literacy important to the community," notes Ufferfilge-Selhorst.

So far, it seems to be working out as planned. "Our community has been astonishingly supportive," she adds.

Family-Oriented Events

Ufferfilge-Selhorst humbly attributes community support with the Red Canoe's success. But the place's inviting atmosphere, superb homemade muffins and other treats and eclectic events for children and families deserve much of the credit.

Consider this impressive sampling of activities: a preschool story hour; Harry Potter book club; knitting workshop; Red Canoe newsletter published by neighborhood middle school kids under the tutelage of Ufferfilge-Selhorst (a former middle school teacher); rotating art exhibits; live music on weekends; and more. Some events take place in the coffeehouse, others in the bookstore and still others in the meeting room on the building's second floor. The store's website offers an updated list of events.

"It's not so much what we are doing at the Red Canoe, or what [we] Nicole and Peter have planned. We're providing an environment where other people can come in and do things," Ufferfilge-Selhorst says. And the possibilities, it seems, are endless.

Books...

by Robbie Whelan

Urbanite Review (From the: Books... section)

On a Wednesday morning at Lauraville's new Red Canoe Children's Books & Coffee House, a father in a corner alcove reads to his son, who sits perched on his dad's knee. Walls are painted with a blue sky and a leafy-green forest design, and racks are piled with picture books, nursery rhymes, and classics by the Brothers Grimm and Shel Silverstein. Upstairs, two toddlers chase each other in circles in front of the shelves of young-adult titles by Gary Paulsen, Katherine Patterson, and Lemony Snicket. Downstairs, there is a small café with an old- fashioned checkered floor, where you can order home-baked carrot cake and sip Italian sodas or locally produced ginger pear tea. Nicole Selhorst, a former schoolteacher and one of the Red Canoe's owners, says her book shop is a resource for the community where parents can meet other parents and chat over a cup of coffee while their kids read, learn, and play. Selhorst publishes a Red Canoe newsletter, "for kids, by kids," and the shop hosts writers like Baltimore's own Jonathon Scott Fuqua. Selhorst says, "The idea is to build a community through literacy, critical thinking, tolerance, and invention."

Best Baby Shopping Destination

Baltimore Magazine's Best of Baltimore 2008

We'd like to announce the arrival of Baltimore's newest baby destination: Lauraville. Isn't she precious? The northeast Baltimore neighborhood has quietly become a Mecca for tot friendly shops. Just follow the chalk drawings to Harford Road: Red Canoe, 410-444-4440, delivers a sweet selection of baby books; Bediboo, 410-444-6060, just might be the best baby boutique to hit Charm City; candy store Rock Candy, 443-919-4527, is a hot pink sugar rush; and Spinster Yarns & Fibers, 410-444-9276, sells that ultimate baby gift: the hand-knit sweater.