She has lived in the Coventry neighborhood for 32 years, since she arrived from what was then the Soviet Union. She is a friend of Tommy Fello, of Tommy’s, whom she calls the "unofficial mayor of Coventry," and has had her art exhibited at his restaurant. When she goes into Hunan Coventry, waiters greet her warmly and the chef makes a special dish for her, something that is not on the menu. Coventry is her stomping ground.

When I walked into the Heights Youth Club on Lee Road, something in the air was sharply reminiscent. I suddenly recalled the days when my own kids, growing up, spent time at a Boys Club.

Sunday mornings at On the Rise bakery, most people know what they want.  They have it down, they operate in here like some sticky-bun-seeking-device.

“I’ll take a baguette, a brownie and a chocolate chip.”

“I’ll take two scones and a cinnamon swirl loaf.”

You see a lot of this ‘now and later’ phenomenon. The croissant is for now, the organic multigrain, later.

Others less familiar inhale and gaze when they come in, dazed and intoxicated by what they see and smell. It is, after all, to enter an alternate universe, the luscious and magical way these bakers have of combining butter, sugar, flour, leavening and whatever else that fills the air with a seductive aroma.