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This Week at The Bookworm: Get to know the new cafe manager

Special to the Daily
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Nadia Vasquez
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The Bookworm of Edwards is a truly special independent bookstore. In addition to selling books, they also sell unique gifts, host events, and have a cafe that serves book-themed coffee, smoothies, salads and crepes.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the opening of the Bookworm cafe, and Nadia Vasquez, has been working in the cafe for three of those years. Recently, she took the lead as the new cafe manager.

Vasquez grew up in the Eagle Valley and graduated from Battle Mountain High School where she took several cooking classes, and was even a part of the school’s pro-start cooking team. “That was where my passion for cooking came from, and were some of the best years of my life,” Vasquez recalled. “In Prostart I took my food education further than the introductory classes and competed in regional and national competitions.”



Luckily for the patrons of the Bookworm cafe, Vasquez gets to express her passion for food as she dreams up seasonal specials. “I definitely like making new specials. It takes a while to piece everything together into what I want to make because I consider people who are gluten-free or lactose free, or anything like that,” Vasquez said. “I really like bringing in new ideas and having new things to try to see what sells and what doesn’t.”

Jamberry Parfait
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One such summer special, guaranteed to cool you down during these hot summer months, is the Jamberry Parfait. Named after the classic children’s book written in 1982 by Bruce Degen, the Jamberry Parfait layers honey graham crackers, vanilla yogurt, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.

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Or if an iced drink sounds more like your style, Vasquez recommends the house-made, fresh-squeezed lemonade. “It takes a while for us to make the lemonade, but it’s worth it because it’s so much better than concentrate. We can also add any syrup to our lemonade; our favorites are the lavender lemonade and the peach lemonade,” Vasquez stated. “Our black mango iced tea with the house-made lemonade is also very refreshing.”

However, even with these refreshing summer specials on the menu, Vasquez says her go-to favorite menu item year-round is the Don Quixote crepe, named after the 407-year-old classic epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. “Once you have the house-made pico de gallo, the sour cream, the chorizo, the red peppers and avocado, it just ties everything together. It’s a chef’s kiss,” Vasquez said.

Even if you’re just making a quick stop at The Bookworm to grab that new book you’ve been waiting on, or a present for a friend, make sure you swing by the cafe and get a smoothie to go. Vasquez recommends the Treasure Island smoothie this summer, named after the adventurous classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. “It’s the best, refreshing smoothie, for sure. It has pineapple, mango, passion fruit and banana,” Vasquez said. “Another popular one is the Skinny B. It has ginger, spinach, pineapple, banana, apple; everyone loves it. People really love green smoothies!”

Another menu item that everyone loves, and one that The Bookworm cafe has been serving for years, is cold brew coffee. The process for making cold brew coffee is much different than regular drip coffee and requires patience since it takes a full day to make each batch. “We have cold brew coffee year-round, and we use our espresso beans rather than our regular coffee beans, to make it a bit stronger,” Vasquez said. “If we’re ever out, I suggest an iced americano, which is a shot of espresso and water.”

The managerial position might be new to Vasquez, but it’s clear that she has a wealth of knowledge about the Bookworm cafe menu, and food in general, from her time on the cooking team at Battle Mountain and her three years of experience working at The Bookworm. “Being the Cafe Manager is definitely nerve-wracking, but at the same time it’s also a very fun and exciting opportunity,” she said.

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