Ever notice the dearth of options for gourmet grocery shopping in Austin? Yeah, um, we haven’t either. But still, we’re super excited about the newest purveyor of gastronomic delights – Cissi’s Urban Market (pronounced See-See’s).

Cissi’s is fixin’ to open this fall in the space at 1400 South Congress (or just “1400” if that's how you roll). Not only will Cissi’s offer the fine and varied selection of meat, fish, wine, cheese and organic produce that we Austinites have grown to love and come to expect, but they'll also have catering services, over 350 recipes of prepared foods available on a rotating basis, fresh flowers, an in-house bakery, a juice bar, and – our favorite – a coffee bar that will serve Peet’s.

What's more, the friendly and imaginative folks at Cissi’s are also creating a great place to hang out even if you don't need groceries. They want you to just stick around, make yourself at home, and enjoy the scene that is SoCo. To entice you to do so, they’ll be hosting frequent wine tastings, cooking demonstrations, and even an occasional book signing.

Victoria Lynden is the owner of Cissi’s. We met her at the Hill Country Ride for AIDS this year where she was handing out the most kick-ass natural energy bars ever. Frankly, we don’t care what else they carry in the store as long as they keep those suckers in stock. Victoria is great, too, and this venture is really a labor of love for her mom, Cissi, who passed away in 2004. Cissi was an avid, talented cook who always dreamed of opening a place like Cissi’s Urban Market. We’re suckers for good food and good peeps and Cissi’s promises to offer both. See you at 1400 in the fall. We'll be the ones with a basket full of energy bars.

* Photo by strawberryblues on flickr