I love Olive Bean for its charm: The older couple sharing a bowl of homemade soup. The young man in headphones sipping latte. The mother and daughter perusing the one-of-a-kind boutique fare crafted by local artists in the on-site market for homemade wares.
But after my most recent visit, I love the family-owned and operated Signal Mountain eatery for a new reason: its smashed-avocado sandwich.
According to café co-owner April Handy, it’s consistently one of the biggest-sellers. It features avocado, roasted pistachio, sliced cherrtomatoes, crumbled feta and olive oil. It is served on two toasted slices of made-in-house rye batard bread.
It is a traditional Australian recipe, which April picked up while visiting her daughter who lived “down under” for four years. “Everyone there had their own smashed-avocado recipe,” April told me. The secret, she says, is in selecting the perfect avocado.
“It should have a little squish, but not too much squish,” she explained, rolling one of the ripe fruits across the ice cream counter toward me.