Minden cafe in search of monster sunflower

Rounding out her second year of business, Cafe Girasole owner Leslie Dupont admits the economy has been tough.

"We probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for our regular customers," she said last week inside the small Minden Village eatery. "But we're trucking along. People finally know who we are. For a while there, I kept saying we were Minden's best kept secret because no one knew we were here."

Tucked away from the main highway, in a small storefront adjacent to Wasabi's restaurant, Cafe Girasole has garnered a loyal group of customers, a devoted fan-base that routinely partakes in the restaurant's signature dishes: turkey meatloaf, curry chicken, sweet potato soup made with coconut milk, lemongrass and ginger, to name a few.

"Someday, I may want a bigger location, but for now I'm keeping it small and simple and getting to know my customers," Dupont said.

Not that she would mind growing her customer base, though. In an effort to do just that and to entertain her current customers, Dupont has designed an unusual promotion based on the restaurant's ubiquitous logo - the sunflower, or girasole in Italian.

"I wanted to do something fun the community could get involved with," she said.

Thus, the person who brings Dupont the largest sunflower by Sept. 11 will receive a $50 gift certificate to the restaurant.

"That's a lot of free lunches," she said.

As of July 28, Dupont had received five sunflowers. The biggest of those measured 10 inches in diameter and had been picked by a grandchild of one of her customers.

"In this Valley, they grow naturally," Dupont said. "I've heard there is a field off Buckeye where they grow wild."

But whether the sunflowers come from a field or from a garden, size will determine the winner. Dupont is planning to build a 12-foot shelf inside her restaurant which will display the summer's colorful bounty.

"I just know there is a monster out there," she said. "I know it."

Cafe Girasole is located at 1657 Lucerne Street. Business hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Shrimp taco night is 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.

For more information, call 782-3314.