food tour
Field Trip to Boston yesterday. We created a self-guided food tour of bakeries and restaurants with a vegan emphasis.
Fiore’s Bakery, Jamaica Plain
Breakfast. Cozy spot, busy, comfortable. Wooden tables. Strong espresso. Free small coffees with some menu items, and biscotti for 50 cents each. Enjoyed this place very much.
Monumental Cupcakes, Jamaica Plain
Closed until 11:30 – we were too early and we didn’t wait.
Clear Flour Bread, Brookline
First thing to notice – a line out the door! Corner location with only a small space in front for customers to queue. Lovely breads arranged on racks. Lots of choices. The decor had old-style charm, a worn old marble slab, tin nailed onto the counter.
Life Alive, Cambridge
Juice break. Large, roomy, busy place – two floors worth. Busy in decor also. Tasty looking veggie bowls. A smell of mashed carrot and other root vegetables. Large lettered texts on the wall outlining their Organic philosophy (unnecessarily).
Veggie Galaxy Diner, Cambridge
Busy place, large lobby area and diner-like seating toward the back. Turned off by the pastry wrapped in plastic and the rather slick ambience.
Flour Bakery and Cafe
As Blair said, “seems like this place was financed by a venture capitalist.” Overdone restaurateur-ship.
Central Bottle wine & provisions
A honey tasting was going on. The patter was poor, trying to claim that tasting honey was like tasting wine. Lots of bottles, but I was completely unfocused.
Iggy’s Bread (available at Central Bottle)
Blair bought a baguette from Iggy that had the carmelized brownish crust that he was looking for. The Clear Flour loaves looked pale in comparison.
Peace o’pie, Allston/Brighton
By now, we were hungry again, so we had pizza at this place on vegan row in Allston. Two specials were available, one with tomato and one with fried tofu. The pizzas were unusual with some unidentifiable ingredients, but the crusts were traditionally delicious. A giant “E” was tiled into the floor, maybe the insignia of a previous owner. The walls were decorated with slabs of wood painted charcoal gray and drizzled with pink paint. The counterpeople seemed a little confused by our group – maybe only regulars go there? – but were helpful enough. The woman had a fuzzy orange knit cap and black clothes. I found this place sweetly low key and comfortable. I left feeling happy and well-fed.
FoMu Alternative ice cream
Beautiful chalk art on their chalk board menus. Finely drawn rope loops, pulleys, and other hardware holding up “signs” also in chalk. I’m not a huge fan of ice cream, but ended up getting a cone. Coconut based. Tasty. The counterperson was very helpful and offered free tastes.