Last weekend, my husband John and I were out on South Perry Street running down photos of food trucks and their owners.

We met Tom Pinyo at the Thai Lunch Box and had his deliciously tame mussamun curry and chicken satay with peanut sauce for dinner. Then, we were on the prowl for dessert. Our first instinct was to head to South Perry Pizza and sit at the bar with a glass of wine, while we ordered ice cream for the kiddo. But the place was packed. Ditto for Casper Fry.

That's when I remembered seeing the signs at The Shop, 924 S. Perry St., earlier in the week saying beer and wine would be coming soon.

It was perfect. We ordered Brain Freeze ice cream for our son, while we each picked out a glass of red wine. (They also have a small selection of microbrews on tap.) We all sat at a high table and watched the activity in the neighborhood while we savored our wine. John and I also split an espresso affogato (a scoop of vanilla ice cream drowned in a shot of espresso).

The Shop had to build a little corral of sorts outside to appease the Liquor Control Board but there was still a nice warm vibe. It was quiet that night, but that's all about to change, too.  Correspondent Isamu Jordan recently wrote about plans to return live music to the venue.

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