Simon's Coffee House
736 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge
Squeezed right next to the best video store I've seen in a long time, Simon's was a very pleasant surprise for me. Googling around the internet hadn't revealed too much about it, so I wasn't sure what to expect.
They have a surprising amount of seating packed into a long, narrow bar. Beans hail from both George Howell & barismo, so I'm already a little impressed: cafes using more than one roaster are, I think, very definitely a step in the right direction, and not as flash as other developments in third wave but pretty crucial, I think, towards getting coffee bars in the specialty wine/beer direction. (Imagine if bars only served beer from one brewery, and only admitted of "dark" vs. "light" brews, no more complexity at all.) At some point I do want to talk to a multi-roaster cafe (Spro in Baltimore being the best example I've seen) and ask how that works out financially, if they're taking a big cut in their mark-up by not having the larger orders and hence larger leverage with one provider.
Baked goods looked excellent, and I had a maple-oat scone that did not disappoint: just the right mix of density, moisture, and sweetness. When I do opt for scones, they tend to go too far in one direction or another along all three of those axes, but this scone was pretty much perfect by my standards. Simon's also has a really nice tea selection (didn't catch the company), and the loose-leaf pot is a nice option you don't always see.
I saw Nick Cho's "50 ways to improve espresso" posted on the front of the bar, which I took for a good sign. My cap was excellent, perfectly textured, and the espresso interesting enough to send me back for a ristretto (which they have on the menu, at the same price as espresso, just to get people to order it as a viable option: score another point). Turns out my barista was Simon himself, so we chatted for a little bit about the espresso (barismo's "7", heavy on a washed Guatemalan, very tasty).
Simon's has a 4-top pour-over bar with v60s, but they don't use it before 2pm, which I thought was a little backward. I didn't ask about the rationale, which I assume has something to do with staffing and wait times--still, it seems a shame to have an awesome set-up and not use it for the core coffee crowd, which is to say, in the morning. I'm particularly interested in this since I'm trying to figure out the logistics of implementing brew-to-order in a high-volume setting. At any rate, I got a chance to swing back after 2pm and get a cup of a Costa Rica, very tasty. Overall, very impressed with the café, and I hope they can get the pour-over working all day.
The space is pretty cool though, with a ton of seating, tables, cushioned booths, pool tables, all kinds of stuff. It's actually very bar-like, just taken over by lots of people studying and working on laptops. I didn't try the food, but it looked pretty good, your basic upscale light fare.
257 Elm St, Somerville
Diesel seems to have one of the biggest reputations of the Boston area's cafés, so I was pretty intrigued to check it out. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take any pictures inside.
It's definitely a neat café, but I think the rep has a lot more to do with the space than the coffee. They are using Intelligentsia beans, and my cap was well-made, but they only offer batch-brewed coffee and the menu features a lot of sweet, syrupy drinks. Nothing wrong with that, just not the progressive, coffee-focused scene I was hoping for.
The space is pretty cool though, with a ton of seating, tables, cushioned booths, pool tables, all kinds of stuff. It's actually very bar-like, just taken over by lots of people studying and working on laptops. I didn't try the food, but it looked pretty good, your basic upscale light fare.
Canto 6 Bakery & Café
3346 Washington St, Jamaica Plain
Jessica had heard this place was pretty good, and we were kicking around going down to see the Arnold Arboretum, so we stopped in. Glad we did! This is definitely a bakery first, café second, but the food was totally worth it.
Seating is pretty minimal, but the service was quick, and the food was excellent. I didn't try any espresso drinks, and while the coffee was just batch-brewed, it was brewed appropriately and pretty fresh, which is rare in my experience (they're using Equal Exchange coffee; I had an El Salvador Las Collinas).
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| Spiced Apple Cider Soda, Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie, Apple & Blue Cheese Brioche |
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| Sidestep: smoky tempeh, roasted squash, tomato, cheddar, chipotle-honey vinaigrette & black-pepper mayo on fresh ciabatta. The best veg I've had in Boston so far. |
284 Armory St, Jamaica Plains
Ula is set in the corner of the very impressive-looking Brewery Complex in Jamaica Plains, and I failed to get a good picture of the whole building (which also houses the home offices of Bikes Not Bombs, which is pretty sweet).
It's a pretty neat cafe, inside, with an interesting contrast of brick, industrial-looking piping, and tons and tons of blond woodgrain. They have a great logo featuring the brewery in red, and lots and lots of good merch. Including a sippy cup!
We tried an apricot bar and their house granola: both excellent. I got an espresso, and although it took a while to get it I could tell that the barista was really being a perfectionist with every aspect of his technique. The shot was really good, well balanced, from a blend made especially for Ula by New Harvest Roasters.
Ula & Canto 6 are both a stone's-throw from the train stops in Jamaica Plains. I was hoping to find another café worth my dime in "JP", but no luck this trip. I was intrigued by the fact that JP Licks, the ice cream joint, roasts their own coffee, but I had the good fortune of seeing one of their baristas make a latte before I ordered--causing me to not give that one a try. I'm sure their ice cream is fantastic, and maybe I'll try the coffee at a different location. Anyway, a pretty successful coffee day, and I have more coming up before we head back to Buffalo.
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