Last night I attended the birthday celebration of an artist friend, Robert Opel.  It was held at /serj/ - Books and Local Food. Serj is located at 400 North St. Paul Street in the Hartford Building.The Hartford Building is a mid-rise skyscraper located in the City Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA) and adjacent to DART's St. Paul Station. It was developed by Trammel Crow and Eugene Locke.  This building, which cost $5 million to build, opened in 1960.

Those who live in areas nearby to the heart of Dallas can jump on the DART and be delivered to the front door of /serj/ in 40 minutes or less.  The trip will only cost $2.50--no parking, no driving, no gas--and, on the way back home, you can read a book that you purchased at /serj/.  Speaking of the heart of the downtown business area of Dallas, you can think of it also as a small town of approximately 8,000 people because that's about how many people currently call the downtown area "home."

Use a little imagination and introduce your friends to a cool unique urban/small town experience by hosting your next party at /serj/.

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Anita and Robert Opel at /Serg/ - Feb 27, 2015 celebrating Robert's Birthday.

It was a surprise party.  Anita, Margie and I took the DART train down to /Serg/ last night where we met up with other friends of Robert's.  Thus you see Robert in his paint clothes. After work, Robert, an employee of the Dallas Museum of Art, is currently leading the efforts to paint a huge mural of "The School of Athens" on a wall in a large back room at /serj/.  A fellow artist had painted Robert's face in celebration of his birthday just before we arrived.  This room is intended for poetry readings, musical and other artistic presentations as well as parties. You don't have to wait until the mural is finished to party there.  You can come on down there now and watch the artists at work while partaking of some of the wonderful local goodies available from the menu at /serj/.

One small section of the cartoon for the mural, School of Athens at /Serj/; Anne Walsh lighting candles on Robert's cake

The School of Athens, or Scuola di Atene in Italian, is one of the most famous frescoes by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1509 and 1511 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.

Commentators have suggested that nearly every great Greek philosopher can be found in the painting, but determining which are depicted is difficult, since Raphael made no designations outside possible likenesses, and no contemporary documents explain the painting.

John Walsh, owner of /serj/with Robert  and Margie Rodgers, Board Member of Loving Garland Green

John and his wife Anne are New York City transplants.  /serg/ is their unique contribution to building a loving and friendly downtown urban community.  It is indeed a lovely work in progress.  

Like any good locally held company, /Serj/ owners purchase as much of their supplies and goods as possible from local producers.

Their menu features all-natural drinks, food and treats from local companies.

Most items are available for delivery locally, cookies are available for mail-order worldwide.

Their coffee comes from Noble Coyote Coffee- Dallas, hot chocolate & Chai tea from Sterling Tea in Rockwall; Milk used for all their coffee drinks from Mill-King, Waco; Soup from The Dallas Soup Company; and grass-fed beef from Hudspedth Farms in Forestburg, TX;  Ice-Cream from Henry's in Plano. They rotate the entire catalog of Henry's flavors throughout the year, with fun seasonal flavors and exclusive combinations made just for /serj/. Cookies from Cookie Magic in Dallas:  All-natural, hand made, from scratch daily. These AA Texas Sweet Cream Butter cookies are incredible. Try the New York Pretzal Cookie for a whole new spin on things. Water from Aerobic Water in Greenville, TX We use this wonderful water in everything we serve, including the coffee and tea. Available by the glass, in a re-fillable glass jug or in 5 gallon sizes which are available for local delivery.

In addition to their standard menu, John and Anne are masters at locating some of the greatest vegan and vegetarian fares from local caterers and bringing them to the party. For example last night we had wonderful vegan pizza and spring rolls.  Wine and other alcohol was served as well.

As for their books--well that's another whole story.  

John and Anne hand pick every single book they carry. Their goal is to take all of the fun books you might find in a trip to a large store and put them in one place. Their focus is on hardcover books that you'd be proud to own or give as a gift. They especially enjoy books on cooking, art, pop-culture, crafts, children's titles and fiction. They price-match the current Amazon price on all titles. 10% of all books sales go to benefit LIFT, a local organization dedicated to adult literacy. Learn more at www.lift-texas.org.

To learn more about this great local place in the heart of the downtown Dallas business district,  visit their website at serj books, but remember serj is much more than a book store, it is the extension of the living rooms of the people who live in downtown Dallas AND, in case you don't live in the downtown Dallas area, please remember that you are invited to board the DART and be delivered to their front door--day or night.