There is a little grassy area where people were kicking around a soccer ball, a playground for the little kiddos, and a fancy restaurant with tables outside. Most of the business spaces remain empty as the plaza is a new development, but I have a feeling this is going to be a popular place when it fills up.
We found a seat near this fountain. As the evening came to a close, the fountain transformed into a fire pit. We are big fans of fire pits and haven't yet found a used one that's inexpensive for our backyard.
We found the cupcake place, Gigi's, but with 1 hour until closing, the selection was minimal. Thankfully, they had my favorite - chocolate/chocolate - and it was divine! We also split the vanilla/vanilla and gave the chocolate/vanilla to a friend.
Imagine my delight when our friend returned the favor and brought us a lemon cupcake and chocolate velvet cupcake two weeks later, and just as I was getting ready to post about them on the blog! It was a nice reminder about how good they are so I could blog about them with a more recent memory.
Gigi's cupcakes, at $3 each are fairly large and are delicious. Apparently, they are a chain, and my favorite part about the start up story is when the owner shares,
"Then, in September 2007, my brother Steve went to New York City and stood in line for two hours at one of New York's famous cupcake shops. He called me while eating the Red Velvet Cupcakes. “These aren’t as good as yours and mom’s. You should open a cupcake shop in Nashville!” Steve told me.
I'm guessing that famous cupcake shop was Magnolia - one of our favorites. I actually prefer a soft, moist cupcake with a soft, creamy frosting. With that said, I prefer Gigi's to Magnolia. But, Colin insists that Magnolia is better. Personally, I think it's just his bias that everything in NYC is better than in NC.
In the Triangle, Gigi's is certainly better than the cupcakes I've had at two other cupcake shops - The Cupcake Shoppe Bakery in Raleigh and Sugarland in Chapel Hill. Colin and I can both agree on that one! And now that I've found the "urban park" oasis where I can enjoy the cupcake, grocery trips to Whole Foods are much more appealing! The only problem I have with Gigi's, is that it closes at 8pm. The early closing makes it hard to get there on a weeknight and if you can get there before it closes but after dinner there is not much to choose from.
And, I really want to enjoy my delicious cupcake sitting by the fire pit....a fire pit is more appealing when it's dark...and it gets dark after 8pm. Gigi's - are you listening?!??
Where is the best place you've ever had a cupcake? What flavor did you get?
