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Real Books. Real Food

I love books. I love food. And now I have two more great reasons to head up to Middletown. Madison’s R.J. Julia Booksellers, with Wesleyan University, is opening a new bookstore at 413 Main Street, Middletown later this spring. And Grown, owned and operated by Middletown native Shannon Allen and her husband Ray Allen, will run the café. Yes. That Ray Allen. UConn Husky, U.S. Olympic gold medalist, and NBA champion Ray Allen, who has a home in Old Saybrook. “As a Middletown native, and Connecticut residents, we are thrilled to partner with Wesleyan University as the new café in the Wesleyan R.J. Julia Bookstore,” says Shannon Allen, in a statement on the Wesleyan website. She says Grown is committed to sustainability, permaculture, allergen awareness, and will serve USDA organic certified meals. “We are grateful for the opportunity and ecstatic to bring grown home.” The company’s motto is “Real food, cooked slow, for fast people.”

—Pem McNerney