The Coolest Starbucks On Earth

The Starbucks made entirely from recycled shipping containers is super-cool, but this is even cooler.

Starbucks recently opened a location in Japan that needed to blend in with the surrounding milieu while simultaneously being "Starbucky." The solution is as elegant as it is attractive.

It's still not as cool as my favorite cafe (as regards design) in the world, Tinderbox in the UK, which has a seemingly endless number of little nooks into which you can tuck yourself as you get buzzed.

Go go gadget, caffeine.

QUICKVIEW: Fairlawn Cafe - +++/$$

I'm a huge fan of breakfast. Breakfast is the only meal of the day where you can eat almost anything and call it fair. Just think about. French toast loaded with sweet cream cheese. That's not a freaking meal, that's a dessert that you're masquerading as a meal. But at the same time, it's equally reasonable to eat a 12oz porterhouse, which is also not a meal; it's three meals.

So, yeah. I go out to breakfast a lot and love making it. It is in this breakfast-loving mindset that I happily present to you the Fairlawn Cafe. It's a small, nondescript shop in a proto-stripmall in suburban Lincoln. The outside is easy to miss, but you can easily spot it on weekends by the huge crowd of cars vying for the small number of parking spaces.


The inside is dense and quirkily... quir... quirkishly... uniquely appointed. It reminds me of Julian's on Broadway, just without the tattoos, Cloves, and pretentiousness. There are very few spaces to sit and the tables are small, but they make use of what sidewalk they have to wedge in a few more tables during the summer.

Service was a bit slow but very friendly and attentive. They have a large number of aesthetic flourishes that combine to form a sense of distinction, for example, you receive chilled water in a capped bottle, and orange juice is brought out in a wine glass with an orange twist. Very simple stuff, but it's nice to see a cafe adding a little flare to otherwise pedestrian tasks.


The menu is enormous. The kitchen is apparently dedicated to the proposition that all ingredients are created equal, and can be combined in any way imaginable... and put on the menu somewhere. A whole page for various french toasts. A whole page for eggs Benedict. A whole page for omelettes. And multiple pages for sandwiches and other breakfast foodstuffs. The menu alone would have been impressive, but they also have multiple signs both inside and out displaying specials and more menu. Smoothies, salads, sandwiches, you get the picture. If you even remotely like brunch food, you'll find something here that you like.

And about that food, it's delightful. High-quality ingredients combined with inventive breakfast ideas like the tiramisu french toast. It had coffee-flavored sweet cream cheese. Very good and sporting an excellent price. My friends followed my french toast lead, because, duh, french toast is, like, totally the best food ever. For example, french toast is good, french toast with pan-seared apples, cranberries, brie, and walnuts is even better. Their standard breakfast offerings are exactly as you would expect, but prepared well. Eggs, toast, and very soft but spicy home fries. I like my home fries super-crispy; these were more like broiled potatoes, but the tasty seasonings made them enjoyably different. They serve dinner and lunch-type stuff, which I have yet to sample, but I have no reason to espect anything other than good to very good.

So after a single trip, Cafe @ Fairlawn (or Fairlawn Cafe, I'm not sure which, really) is one of my favorite breakfast places. It's right up there with T's. And if you live nearby, they deliver! That eliminates any reason whatsoever to not give them a shot. A great selection of excellent food and good prices, including a few recipes that I've seen nowhere else, really makes this a winner.

For those interested, Fairlawn Cafe has very little presence on the web, so I've uploaded a number of their menu pages to my Picasa gallery.

UPDATE: Here are some more photos of their available french toasts and crepes.



Fairlawn Cafe: +++
Price range: Entrees- $5-$10

893 Smithfield Avenue
Lincoln, RI 02865-3534
(401) 365-1385


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Hours
Monday & Saturday 7:00am to 2:00pm
Tuesday through Thursday 7:00am to 4:00pm
Friday 7:00 am to 7:00pm (serving dinner)
Sunday 7:00am to 1:00pm

Panera Bread Borks Their WiFi Even More.

Panera Bread has apparently starting blocking link-shortening services such as Bit.ly.

They say it's to maintain a "family-friendly" atmosphere, since they actually filter all the traffic delivered on their connection, and as such they need to know where the links go.

I'd say it was horseshit, but it's not like it matters. P-Bread's WiFi is already terrible. They've just made it more terrible. I don't know about you, but all this just makes me yearn for Panera's pseudo-urban, synthajazz interior, shitty espresso, and bad fruit salad.

Seriously, the major guys are the last places I would go for my internet fix, and this just confirms that. Hit up a local shop, instead. They'll actually have a good, unfiltered connection.

Panera Bread Blocks Bit.ly Links (TechCrunch.com)

Please Welcome Borders to 2003.

Borders Books has announced a deal with Verizon, of all companies, to provide free wifi in their bookstores and cafes. The CEO of Borders said this is all part of "Re-engaging with customers as a serious bookseller" and "is one of our strategic priorities."

This of course has nothing to do with the fact that most local cafes and bookstores have been offering free wifi for the better part of a decade and, shockingly, Barnes & Noble just started offering free wifi. Oh yes. This has nothing to do with B&N.

This is the exact reason why Borders is an also-ran retailer that's been on the verge of insolvency for years. They don't lead. They don't think. They follow, and do a damn poor job of that.

Welcome to 2003, Borders. You're only six years behind the curve. Better than you've been in a long time.

UPDATE: Well, this is fun. You know how I complain about Barnes & Noble, Panera, and basically every other major corporation offering free wifi? Unlike Coffee Exchange, or Updike's Newtowne, or Bagelz, there is a portal page through which you must agree to terms, and then sign in.

Why are there terms? Because if there weren't, the company lawyers would have nothing to do. It's shitty, plain and simple. Well, Borders does them all one better. Instead of signing in and then assigning your computer an IP number based on your MAC address (if you didn't understand that, it's ok. All it meant was that the wifi recognizes your computer and lets it in.), Borders and Verizon actually have an application that runs in the background keeping your connection active. It actually hijacks the connection from the operating system and acts like some kind of wifi cop.

I didn't have my laptop with me, so I can't confirm if it's as deathly slow as Panera, Starbucks, or B&N, but chances are it is. These big companies don't fucking get it. It's not a business model. It's not something you can skimp on. Either do it right, or forget it. For my part, you know where I'll be? I'll be at Updike's Newtown, enjoying better espresso and better wifi.

Borders to offer free Wi-Fi (Crunchgear.com)

Adventures in Connecticut.

I had a family "function" to go to in Connecticut, so I figured on my way home, which was still early-afternoon, I'd make a stop by some local cafes. Connecticut is much bigger than Rhode Island, and they have some pretty large cities. I felt for sure that I'd find some good coffee.

I traveled down Rt.95 in Google Earth and looked at the various cafes that popped up. Ninety percent of which were Dunkin' Donuts locations. Ugh. And I landed on two, Cafe Lulu and Cafe Atlantique. Both seemed nice. Atlantique was like Atlantic, but better, and Lulu had a nicer website. I tossed a coin. Atlantique it is!

Damn. I had high hopes. The outside and inside were all nice. Lots of seating. Free WiFi (along with an older-than-shit computer on which they were trying to sell internet access). Good menu with good sandwiches. But holy crap the espresso was bad. I had grounds in my espresso. Grounds! Where did they come from? It was burtn beyond words. The delicate taste of liquid charcoal bathed my taste buds. I'm sure that if I had just drank poison, I'd have been fine. The menu and location were good, but with espresso that bad, it kind of defeats the purpose of a cafe. Still, a menu of crepes, panini, and other light foods means that this would be a damn fine place for a bite.

But my visit was not a waste! Right across the street was a place called the Ice Shack... or Ice House. Something. I can't remember. It doesn't matter. They had frozen. Soft serve. Ice. CUSTARD! Ohhhhh it was good. It's hard to find ice custard but it's so, so worth it. Rich and creamy. Powerfully flavorful in ways ice cream just can't be. Decadent is a good word. Unbelievably unhealthy, I'm sure, but I could not possibly care less. It's good and this was very good custard. It's unfortunate. The last place I knew of in Rhode Island serving good ice custard was Rita's Ice Custard Happiness, on Mineral Spring Avenue in Johnston. Apparently, the Japanese-sounding name did little to help their business and they went under some time ago.

So yeah. I'll have to try Lulu soon. They apparently roast their own coffee.

Ice Shack/Ice House/Ice Hut/Ice Temple/Ice Ziggurat: +++
Cafe Atlantique: ++


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REVIEW: Village Hearth Bakery- **** / $

The Village Hearth has been baking away for years, and as they've grown, they've upped the ambiance, the size, the menu, and, importantly, the hours. I lived for over a year on the island and never found time to make it there during their very restricted schedule. Now with summer upon us, their hours have seriously opened up; they're closed only Monday and Tuesday. It's unfortunate that they close at 4:00pm on weekdays, since my work doesn't end until then, because I would like to make this charming bakery a more frequent destination.

They have a single bake of the day, starting at about 3:00am. Of course this means that when they run out, they run out. You will get no more until the next day. So unless you want an either non-existent selection or simply a poor one, you better show up early. One of the employees advised me that the pastries are usually extinct by 10:00am, but I've been there on weekdays and even a Sunday when there was a still decent selection. One Sunday, I was able to get a mixed fruit rustic tart and two slices of quiche, but that was pretty much the extent of the selection. Basically, if you want a croissant or sticky bun, be prepared to wake up early.

The Village Hearth has come a long way from its plain, spartan beginnings. They now have a fabulous garden area, with flowers and bushes, a spacious deck and dining area, and large windows, doors, and skylights letting in buckets of natural light. Someone here is a big fan of Seven Stars, because the layout, ambiance, and architectural touches are all very similar. Honestly, though, they nail it here better than Seven Stars. The chairs have a distinctly nautical look to them with wooden slates and brushed metal. The smooth copper tabletops look and feel fantastic. And when the doors are open wide, you can smell the ocean pretty strongly.

The outside dining area is especially nice, and very much needed, since the interior is a bit small. Jamestown can get bustling, but it never gets genuinely busy. Traffic sounds are of the quaint, pleasant variety, and the chatter of passing island-dwellers permeates the building. The roadway is situated north-south, so the windows gets excellent sun from morning to close. Combined with the sounds and smells of such a small island, Village Hearth gels into the nicest al fresco cafe in Rhode Island.

The Hearth hits a home run with its bread. It's easily as good as its most direct comparison, Seven Stars, and a bit cheaper to boot. Their selection is diverse and inventive, with many of their breads bordering on meals unto themselves. I'm generally unimpressed with bread covered in stuff, though. I prefer my bread to be bread and like it when the toppings and ingredients can be used as a sandwich. If the bread already is covered in roasted tomato, cheese, and a thousands herbs, it seriously limits the potential of the bread. Still, I can't directly hold this against a bakery. They're being inventive and I must applaud that. Moreover, I am a bit biased and the variety of breads available means that criticism can't hold up against tea breads or dessert breads like stollen, which are basically meant to be eaten alone. Notably, the bakers here are more inventive than those of Seven Stars. Considering their limited size, they produce an inventive assortment of breads that changes each day. This is what having a great bakery nearby is all about, an adventure cast in dough.

The breads run the gamut from crispy boules to chewy batards. Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Flakey and dense. The bakers certainly know how to make bread. A personal favorite was the sunflower seed multi-grain loaf. And on my most recent trip, they had a delectable fougasse. Now that is not a bread you're going to find at the supermarket. It's nice that we have a world-class bakery so far from an urban area.

The pastries, much like the breads, rarely hit a sour note. Again, their selection appears limited by their size and they sell out early. This is the one area where Seven Stars takes the trophy with a longer availability of more items. Still, when what they have is available, it's very much worth a purchase. Two fruit tarts were packed with explosively flavorful fresh fruit, but they tasted more like small pies than tarts, especially the second type, which actually looked like a small pie. Delicious, nonetheless. Simply mis-named, perhaps.

The pecan sticky bun was a knockout success. It was one of the least sweet sticky buns I've ever had, which for me is a big plus. Some pastries have evolved to become so cloying that they are no longer appetizing. A good breakfast pastry should have a fine balance of sweet and savory, ever so delicately falling over the fence into the land of sweet. This what makes a croissant with just a bit of jam on it taste so sinful. Obviously, you'd expect a sticky bun to be sweeter than that, and it is, but it's not dripping with syrupy-sweet goo. This is one of the best pecan sticky buns I've ever had.

One of my only real complaints was the muffin. It was surprisingly bland and a bit small. It was neither very bran-y nor cakey. It was a sort of middle ground that, while good, wasn't something I'd really desire like I would so many of their other creations.

The sandwiches were good. The turkey sandwich I ordered came on their sunflower seed multigrain, which just made the meal. Unlike Seven Stars, who use a bread so dense and chewy that eating it is a freaking endeavor, this bread is much easier on the mouth muscles. And as I mentioned above, this bread is my current favorite, so I like it as much as I expect I'd like any sandwich on it. Otherwise, the sandwich was a sandwich, with good quality deli meat on it for a fair price, it's hard to complain. The quiche was a similar story. Very well prepared, with a variety of veggies like mushrooms and green onions, I liked it even cold. If you're willing to wait a while, you can have them heat up your slice in their oven. It takes a good ten minutes to get it up to temp, but I think it's worth it. I don't come to a bakery to get quiche, but the fact that they have it, and that it's good, continues to elevate the Village Hearth to a legitimate option for a full-on breakfast.

Continuing on with breakfast, we need a drink! And what drink goes best with everything breakfast related? Anyone? What, you don't actually know? Or is no one out there? Out there, in the cold, vastness of cyberspace. Sigh. COFFEE! If you don't like coffee, they have a good selection of teas, and San Pellegrino's Aranciata and Limonata sodas, which are crisp and refreshing... unlike San P's god-awful and confusing website (I just had to mention that). But I, unlike you, you pinko commie, do like coffee, and I especially like espresso. I was encouraged by the visible placement of a La Marzocco Linea espresso machine right next to the register.

I was not let down. My first latte had some pretty poorly steamed milk, and the shot was under-extracted, but that was the exception. Without fail since then, the milk has been well-steamed and the espresso has been dark, but mellow and not over-done. After asking, my suspicions were confirmed as New Harvest Coffee. They provided the machine (I got it wrong. The bakery didn't buy the machine from New Harvest, they simple got a recommendation from them), the coffee, and the training and they did an excellent job. No matter who makes the drink, the espresso is well-pulled and the milk is dense, silky, and sweet. I am so frequently let down by the texture of milk in espresso drinks, but not here. This alone would be enough to recommend them. Add to that the fact that they are the only true cafe on all of Jamestown, the best cafe in any direction for about twenty minutes, AND a bakery, well gaw-lee sarge, this place is the bee's knees.

(The photo references the second latte I received, which was well-pulled, but the milk still had some big bubbles in it. Again, this was the exception so just imagine the drink with better milk.)

I've been racking my brain to try and figure out how to rate this place. What it has is certainly as good as Seven Stars, which despite its name I gave four stars, but its selection is very limited. And the small kitchen, combined with a single daily bake, means pretty much everything is gone well before noon. I'd be less reticent if they had the selection to equal SS, or goods were available later into the day, but even considering that, I think I will err on the side of praise. They certainly deserve it. Perhaps if the drinks hadn't been so damned good, or everything I managed to actually get hadn't been basically perfect; but they were, and for that, The Village Hearth is the equal of Seven Stars, and truly worthy of your time and dime.

They serve wood-fired pizzas on Sunday nights from 4:30pm to 7:30pm. I've tried to make it twice, and both times I've failed because of crushingly long waits. I'm going to try again with a telephone order and simply pick it up. I will update this space after succeeding.

The Village Hearth: ****
Price: Pastries range from $2 to $7. Breads are similar.

http://www.villagehearthbakerycafe.com/


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2 Watson Ave
Jamestown, RI 02835-1418
401-423-9282

Hours
Summer
Wednesday & Thursday 7:00am to 2:00pm
Friday & Saturday 7:00am to 4:00pm
Sunday 7:30am to 2:00pm with pizza served 4:30pm to 7:30pm
Winter
Friday & Saturday 7:00am to 4:00pm
Sunday 7:30am to 2:30pm with pizza served 4:30pm to 7:30pm

Latte Art Watch

Well what do you know...


I just got latte art at CofEx. I also discovered that a medium latte is really freaking huge. It's about 10:30pm and I'm wired beyond belief.

It wasn't the best latte I've had at CofEx. It was somewhat bitter with a brightness I don't usually find in their espresso roast. I like CofEx's roast because it's a very deep, mellow flavor, and this was under-par. I don't blame the barista, though. Her form was good. I suspect the beans were roasted more than usual in the batch they were using. The barista didn't free-pour and there were some noticeably large bubbles in the foam, as you can tell from the photo.

Still, it's touches like this that confirm why I go to CofEx whenever I can. This was a bad drink for them and it's still better than the bar, Starbucks, and better than or as good as other, well-respected cafes. Bravo.

WiFi Locations

I recently received a comment on my Mainstreet Coffee review about free WiFi and it prompted me to do something I've been meaning to do for some time, namely, start listing WiFi locations for cafes.

This is a pretty big concern since all of the big players, like Starbucks or Barnes & Noble, are still trying to charge for WiFi. And the only big players offering free WiFi, like Panera Bread, suck. They're slow, with connection errors, and only get worse when the place gets crowded with laptops.

And the last one has fallen. Everyone can welcome Starbucks into 2005, since they've finally started offering free WiFi. As near as I can tell, ALL major companies are now offering free WiFi.

Barnes & Noble is now offering completely free WiFi. It's still quite inferior to the local cafes, though. It's slow as shit, just like Panera, and it has a "portal" page, through which you must sign in, just like Panera. This sucks if you have a cell phone, or want to connect to the internet through something other than a browser (Like Yahoo! Go). Cell phone browsers, at least the ones based on WebKit that I use, usually won't even connect. Contrast this with Coffee Exchange, which has an open connection to which you simply connect.

Barnes & Noble even does one better by using the free connection as an opportunity to advertise AT&T "premium" access, whatever the hell that is. So while it initially seemed that B&N had figured out that WiFi as a business plan was as stupid as a pet rock, they actually haven't. It might explain why, during a recent visit, even with a massive FREE WI-FI sign and a filled-to-capacity cafe, not a single person was on a laptop or cellphone.

Borders Books has just followed in the footsteps of Barnes & Noble and started offering free wifi. If you think the sign-in pages at the others is bad, they take it a step further by actually having a small application run in the background that keeps your connection open. It hijacks your computers network connection ability. That's some bad mojo, in my book. UPDATE I just ran Borders on a laptop. The application is apparently only opened on cell phones. It DOES NOT open on my laptop. Not like it matters. The connection is just as bad as Panera, which means just barely usable. The connection is far too slow to do anything but check e-mail. No YouTube, no music, no nothing. Hell, it took 30+ seconds for my Yahoo! page to load. Pathetic.

Panera Bread has done Borders one better by filtering their WiFi to include totally legitimate services, such as Bit.ly. This means that you will not be able to click links received via Twitter. Combined with a connection that borders on dead, Panera's WiFi is pretty much useless. I'd recommend buying food there and going to Starbucks or Barnes & Noble. Or better yet, go to a local shop that has gen-yoo-ine decent WiFi.

I'll concentrate on cafes and restaurants, since it seems kinda' weird to list places like clinics that offer waiting room internet.

I would appreciate additions from readers.

I'm adding star reviews to the cafe's and places I've been to. Some of the reviews are to places I haven't formally written about, so I'm just throwing in the stars I would have given had I written a full entry.

All Locations

• Barnes & Noble


• Panera Bread


• Starbucks


• Au Bon Pain


• Barnes & Noble


• Borders Books


• Smokey Bones

Cranston

• Caffe Bon Ami (***1/2)

Providence

• Coffee Exchange (****)


• Blue State Coffee (***1/2)


• Seven Stars Bakery (****)


• Olga's Cup & Saucer (***)


• Three Sisters (***)


• Tazza Cafe (***)


• Cuban Revolution (***)


• White Electric Coffee

Middletown

• Panini Grill (***1/2)

North Kingstown

• Updike's Newtowne (****)


• Bagelz (**)


• The Sonoma Grille

Newport

• Panini Grill (***1/2)

Wakefield

• Bagelz (**)


• Java Madness (**1/2)


• Brick Mill Cafe


• Brewed Awakenings (***)

South Kingstown

• Bagelz (**)


• Sedra Cafe (***)


• Papa's Bistro

Johnston

• Brewed Awakenings (***)

Westerly

• Watch Hill Coffee Company


• Perks and Corks

A Quickview Triple Play

Oot and aboot in Providence, my soul needed some chicken soup of the caffeinated kind. I've been dying to try Tazza cafe on Westminster for a long time, and I threw in a couple of others into the adventure.

Brooklyn Coffee & Tea House

Situated on one of the loveliest stretches of Douglas Avenue in Providence, BC&T would be a good place to hide from that mugger. The exterior is a an absolutely (I'm being serious on this one) gorgeous turn-'o-the-century building. It was built in 1873 to serve as a grocery store for the local Irish population. I know this because it has a plaque on the side of the building explaining as such.

The aging wooden and brick front, red door, and aged yellow wood trim around the windows is old-world charm embodied. It's a really beautiful building because it's that kind of charm that architects, today, so desperately try to capture and only end up appearing either modern and retro-chic or just plain kitschy. The area around the back is equally gorgeous, with old trees, overgrown plants, and a loose-stone walkway.

Sadly, the cafe is not a standard cafe that you can visit at any time. It's become, as the owner describes it, a destination cafe. They have movie and music nights and show local productions and bands. If you are interested, stop by or call and ask for information. It's something I'll be making a trip to. I can't officially give this place a rating since I didn't get a chance to try any food.

Brooklyn Coffee & Tea House- N/A

http://www.brooklyncoffeeteahouse.com/


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209 Douglas Ave
Providence, RI 02908
401-575-2284

Tazza Cafe

On the Tazza website, they have a picture of latte art. I was both hopeful and cautious because they have a photo of latte art on the wall at Blue State Coffee which no one at the actual cafe can do. I was disappointed.

Not specifically with the gestalt of the cafe, but just the latte. I got no latte art and the milk was only adequately foamed. The espresso was of good quality. It was very dark, on par with Starbucks in the darkness department, which was initially a disappointment. As I proceeded through the drink, though, some complexity came out. A faint nuttiness combined with a bit of an acidic snap. So, in the end, the drink became acceptable. Nothing special, though. I think I was especially disappointed because my barista oozed style. He looked like a porn star from the 1970's. That's a compliment.

The interior of the cafe is very chic. The exterior is beautifully lit, and the inside is dominated by the large windows that make up the street-side walls. A large stage dominates one corner and the overall layout seems like it would make a pleasant place to listen to a band. The menu is extensive with a wide selection of dinner items, which are competitively priced, desserts are good-sounding if standard fare, and the breakfast/brunch selection sounds tasty.

I like the surroundings, the walkability of the neighboring shops, and Westminster in general. But therein lies one of the biggest problems. If you don't live nearby or take the bus, you're at the mercy of street parking or the expensive lots. Parking makes Tazza a restauranta non grata, for me. If the coffee was better or the food was more inventive, it might overcome what I see as a significant knock, but it's not, so it doesn't.

I'm giving it two marks, even though it probably deserves something in-between two and three. I think it's a worthy destination if and only if you have easy transport to and from, or you treat it as a night-time bar/club and go for dinner, drinks and music (for which Tazza is very good). Otherwise, there are many more easily accessible locations with similar food and coffee that are better options.

Tazza: ++

http://www.tazzacaffe.com/


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250 Westminster St
Providence, RI 02903
401-421-3300

Johannson's Cafe

As a cafe that exists more for the convenience of shoppers at the Cardi's/Rhode Island Design Center than for its own sake, I wasn't expecting much from Johannson's. They more than lived up to none of my expectations.

First off, it's very nice inside. The cafe counter is situated right as you enter the building, bathed in natural light from the large windows, with a giant fountain trickling away next to the attractive wrought-iron tables and chairs. They certainly give a good first impression. Once you get to the counter, it's not bad, either. They have a wide variety of cookies and baked goods, and a decent selection of drinks. It's when you order that things get dicey.

They don't have whole milk. Only skim. They use a fully automatic machine that burps up a bubbly stream of espresso and milk into a cup. They do use a local roaster, which is nice. Specifically, they use Ocean Coffee Roasters, based in Newport. Sadly, though, that does nothing to help the coffee. The latte I got is in the running for the worst steamed milk I've gotten. Again, it looked like someone steamed it by blowing through a straw. Definitely on par with the disaster that was Felicia's Coffee. I took a sip and was pleasantly surprised. It didn't seem half-bad. It was very dark, but had some complexity to it. At least the brewing mechanism is alright, I thought.

Sadly, though, that impression didn't last. As the drink cooled down, the burnt, overly-dark aspects of the coffee came out. It became watery, bitter, with burnt notes denoting a grinder that's worn. I dumped the rest out in the parking lot. The baked goods were a similar story. The brownie tasted like it was made at Stop & Shop, which I suspect it was. The cannoli was adequate, and the puff pastry was filled with what tasted like Cool Whip. If you're feening for espresso in the area, trust me, make the 10-minute trip to the Emerald Square and go to Starbucks or Border's Books. You can also get a good bottomless cup of coffee down a bit into Pawtucket at Lumana's Cafe & Gourmet. Just do anything to avoid Johannson's.

Johannson's Cafe: +


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999 Newport Ave
South Attleboro, MA. 02703
508-915-5600

REVIEW: Mainstreet Coffee- ***1/2 / $

Not too long ago, East Greenwich's main drag was littered with empty store fronts, a few bars, and that was about it. Now it's littered with over-priced shops, cafes, restaurants, and thirty-something yuppies out to get laid as they cruise the street in their financed BMW's, Aston Martins, and Bentleys.

Depending on your perspective, that could be a downgrade. Regardless, route 1 through EG is now one of the nicer walks to be had in Rhode Island. Not as cramped and busy as Warren, not as subtly disgusting as Westerly, and not as smelly and pretentious as Thayer Street.

But what is one to do if one doesn't want to get busy drinking at 2:30 in the afternoon, while being hit on by old, weird men who never seem to leave? Thankfully, for you, there are a few cafes. For those who prefer a finely tuned mini-bohemia, Starbucks is available, which is acceptable as always, but why would you go and do something weird like that when one of RI's best cafes is right down the street in the form of Main Street Coffee.

On your way in, MainCoff is eminently welcoming. With a string of attractive tables, sidewalk art, and comfortable chairs all before you ever get in the door, you can tell this place was founded, and is run, with a degree of passion. The inside is 100% cafe. Wood, floral art, and lots of browns, reds, and blacks do not break any ground in the cafe aesthetic. This isn't a criticism, but more an observation because the interior is very nice. It's a bit cramped, but they make good use of what they have. The large windows running along the front of the building allow copious amounts of sunlight to wash over the room, and when opened during the summer it opens up the entire cafe. It all conspires to create an atmosphere that feels wide open even while being rather small.

An array of tables and chairs are wedged into the street-view area, near the door. The sitting area in the back, with some cushy couches, chairs, and (non-cushy)skylights, that provide the comfiest seats in the house. Still, especially during mid-summer, it's the street chairs I prefer. If you go through the small arches, you'll pass through to the second part of the cafe, which is a bar called the Toscana Lounge, replete with those aforementioned weird, old men. This area also sports lots of dark tones and projects a similarly upscale tone as the cafe area. Don't bother talking to the bartender. She's too busy deflecting come-ons from the weird, old men.

Their food selection is very good. I like their cakes, cookies, pastries, and muffins. Their selection of cakes borders on suicidal. I found too many of their varieties overly sweet. Good, old, chocolate cake is still good. I liked their muffins, very flavorful, moist, and crumbly. Some of their creamy desserts, like mousse, underwhelmed. They had that spongy texture and firmness that comes from pre-packaged mousses. A lemon pastry also tasted like a cleaning agent. These complaints aren't deal-breaking in the grand scheme of their menu, which is solid and supports their drinks well.

Oh, the drinks, but before we get to the coffee, I'll discuss the smoothies. As with a number of places that shall remain nameless... oh hell, I'll name them, as with places like Coffee Exchange, the smoothies, here, are made with juice, syrups, and ice. They do a decent job blending the ice till it's smooth, but that's not really a smoothie. That's a slushie. A smoothie usually has no ice in it. Just look at the Wikipedia entry for smoothie, FRESH FRUIT. I won't knock off any points for this because so many other places are guilty, but if you fancy yourself a smoothie gourmet, take a trip up the road a bit into Warwick and get a real, good, healthy smoothie from Fresh City.

With only a small amount of support food, MainCof doesn't deviate from the cafe model as does places like Brewed Awakenings or Three Sisters. The purpose of your trip is a drink. This puts a lot of focus on the drink because, if it sucks, there is nothing drawing you back. So often am I let down by the quality of the coffee, but here, thankfully, I am not. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I received the best latte I've ever gotten outside of Providence's cafes, here. The espresso was well-pulled, the milk was perfectly texturized and free-poured like a real barista should.

Then, sometime after that, I received an even better latte. So good, in fact, that it's one of the best I've ever gotten. It was made by the owner and was a milky masterpiece. First off, it's not the best latte I've ever had. That honor still goes to CofEx. The espresso wasn't the best roast, in my opinion. I prefer darker, more powerful roasts because they stand out better in a milky drink like a latte. It was a bit astringent on the tongue and was short on body. Flavor was good, some subtle nutty notes, but was otherwise not well-suited to a latte. I wonder if it was an African blend. For lattes, good, ol' fashioned Colombian is my favorite.

Still, like dust and memories, these criticisms are washed away when the espresso is capped with that clarion badge of a master barista, latte art. Not only is this the only latte art I've ever received in Rhode Island, it's some of the most defined, attractive art I've ever received. It may seem like a weird obsession, as the pour has nothing to do with how the drink tastes, but for me the time and care taken to make latte art is what tells me that I'm dealing with a real master of their craft. It says, in no uncertain terms, that the barista gives a crap. Before this, I would have said that CofEx and Blue State Coffee were RI's best, but CofEx and Main Street Coffee are now in a league all their own.

So why not four stars? On a more general level, I always receive quality drinks. The very worst I have ever received is as good as any Starbucks. Cappuccinos are topped with dense, silky foam. And mochas sport attractive swirls of chocolate syrup on top. Unfortunately, CofEx has every one of their baristi perfectly trained, and MainCof doesn't. Being only as good as Starbucks doesn't compete with a place where the espresso is always better. Granted, this criticism also applies to Pastiche, Blue State, and Caffe Bon Ami, so Main Street Coffee is in some good company.

Sooooo, yes. Excellent atmosphere and decor, combined with a solid menu and very good coffee and espresso, allows Mainstreet Coffee to overcome its few mistakes. And while I was impressed with my earlier latte, the caffeinated masterpiece that followed really pushed them over the top. It's East Greenwich's best cafe, and one of the best cafes in the state. In this writer's humble opinion, if you are in the area and don't stop by for a drink, you're just plain dumb.

Mainstreet Coffee: ***1/2

http://www.mscoffee.net (The web address is on their business cards, but the link is dead. I'm not sure what's going on, there.


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137 Main Street
East Greenwich, RI. 02818
401-885-8787

Hours
Monday through Thursday 6:00am to 10:00pm
Friday & Saturday 6:00am to 12:00am
Sunday 7:30am to 10:00pm

REVIEW: Blue State Coffee- ***1/2 / $$$

Liberal? Conservative? Anarchist? Sexually frustrated? Who cares? Blue State Coffee may have a political agenda, but the superb coffee, atmosphere, and baristi deliver a winning experience that certainly gets my vote.

Open for less than a year, Blue State Coffee charges headlong into an ever increasing crowd of cafes eager to provide Rhode Islanders with their daily caffeine. While quantity is quickly entering the stratosphere, quality... not so much. The number of cafes was going up, and thus you'd expect competition to increase quality. Sadly, it seemed that that tenet of capitalism wasn't taking hold. Owners persisted in thinking that to operate a cafe, one required nothing more than an espresso machine, cups, and some tables.

I'm sorry, but if that's all you've got, don't bother. Go home and come up with something else, because the cafe business is definitely not for you. So many a time do I go into a cafe only to be served a latte that wouldn't pass for acceptable at a Starbucks, and that's exactly the point. Starbucks IS the bar. It is average. It's never bad, but it never truly excels. If you cannot be better than average, than you have no reason to exist. There are Starbuckses...es...'s... Stars-buck everywhere. You have to provide something that they don't.

That's what I get at CofEx, what I don't get at Felicia's, and what Blue State gives in spades.

Blue State's owners have obviously gone whole-hog. The interior is well-finished, large, airy, and plenty of seating and free wi-fi. I liked the edgier, more modern look to the design, as opposed to the wooden, earthy feel of CofEx and many other traditionally designed cafes. Some parts of interior are a bit bare, and the hard interior results in harsh acoustics. Escaping outside is always an option, with the nice, but unshielded from the skies, al fresco area raised from the street. If I was to pick a favorite design, it's still Coffee Exchange or Caffe Bon Ami, but this is certainly pleasant. Blue State has an ace up its sleeves, though: a different personality. Whereas other cafes are content with being just that, Blue State wants to be a vehicle of righteous change/indignation.

Their whole shtick is that they represent the blue (democratic) states as opposed to the red (republican) states. The inside is packed with political books, CD's, shirts, and those tireless warriors of the political battlefield, bumper stickers. They push a variety of liberal points, but thankfully they don't let this intrude on the business of making great coffee. They let it supplement the atmosphere and provide a sense of interaction with the customer. You can vote with small wooden chips as to which charity you want donations to go. You can monitor the progress on an update board situated just above the sugars and creams and look at the vote containers fill with chips. Blue State also advertises, more strongly than any cafe I can think of, their use of fair trade, organic, shade-grown coffee. You certainly can't accuse them of not practicing what they preach. As opposed to the comically hypocritical Cuban Revolution. But as I said, this never intrudes on the business. If you disagree, it doesn't matter, because Blue State is still first and foremost a cafe.

And I liked it because of that. I liked BS... hehe... because it's very much a cafe. It doesn't try to be some restaurant-lite. It's primary purpose is the coffee and some drinks and goodies to go along with the coffee. The selection of goodies is sourced from a variety of local producers, including Seven Stars, but the selection remains pretty thin. They also have an assortment of hand-made waist-enhancers hand-made by locals. These can get pricey, though, with some small cakes hitting $7. These are what push BS from a two-$ to a three-$. Good, for sure, but still expensive, and way too lean for the morning routine. A panoply of juices, waters, and bottled drinks round out the small display and are the exact same drinks and juices you find at every other cafe.

Still, they're just the supporting cast. The real star is a coffee. Unlike so many cafes, BS flies high instead of falling on its face. Given to me was one of the best lattes I've ever had. Again, New Harvest takes some credit -it seems that everyone is using them at this point- but the pull was perfect, the texture of the milk was perfect, and the temperature was also the closest to perfect I've encountered in a cafe, 157 degrees. It didn't have latte art per se, but it was an attractive swirl pattern that made the drink especially attractive. In the world of espresso, the stuff I had was a dead-match for the drinks I regularly get at CofEx. Simply excellent.

So why not four stars, like CofEx? Because CofEx is more than just a cafe. It's a roaster, a supply house, an experience, and let's the belt buckles fly with a wider selection of bagels, cakes, and cookies. Still, even though Blue State is just a cafe, it's a cafe that produces some of the best espresso in the state, and is also more within walking distance of the area of Providence where shit actually happens. For all this, Blue State is well above average, touches brilliance with its drinks, and is one of your best bets for the morning buzz.

Blue State Cafe: ***1/2
Price range for two: $6-$10

http://www.bluestatecoffee.com/


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300 Thayer St
Providence, RI 02906
1-877-626-BLUE (cute)

Hours
Monday through Friday 7:00am to 11:00pm
Saturday & Sunday 8:00am 11:00pm

REVIEW: Felicia's Coffee- ** / $$

Felicia's Coffee calls itself "Rhode Island's ultimate coffee house." They've won awards for their coffee roasts. The inside is fabulously appointed and inviting. They have a wide selection of foods, baked goods, and reading material. And most importantly, it's not very good.

I had been meaning to visit Felicia's for some time. They've been around for well over a decade, and can be considered one of Rhode Island's "super cafes." The inside is huge and, combined with the spacious outside sitting area, is probably Rhode Island's largest cafe. The main room is filled to the brim with fliers for local events, magazines, cereal racks, coffee supplies, and drinks. Out of every cafe in Southern New England that has had the honor of hosting my ass for a time, I can't think of one that had more cool stuff crammed into it than Felicia's. The inside is one of my favorites.

The large display and preparation area takes up a full quarter of the interior. This is not wasted space. They have an enormous selection of available roasts, bested only by Coffee Exchanges, more gourmet, offerings. Those very roasts have also won a number of awards, so if you're on the hunt for locally roasted beans, you must come here. Felicia's makes no mistakes in their support foods, with a wide variety of pastries, baked goods, muffins, bagels, and breakfast stuffs. Everything from brownies to bagels is on full display and looking good.

And good they are. The brownies are dense and fudgy, the danishes were moist, flakey, and buttery, and the pies are very flavorful. I especially liked the danish. More buttery, less flaky, and not as much cheese as some of the others I've had. The scones are good, but low on flavor. I still liked them well enough and would get one again if I felt the need for a scone. The muffins were decent, but the blueberries used were weak, the cake was dry and spongy, and it was in general a below-average muffin. Not bad, but not good either. The bagels are good and the selection is excellent. In fact, the baked goods selection is generally excellent. Cakes, pies, cookies; if you've got a sweet tooth, you will love this place.

It was the quiche where things fell apart.

The quiche was a small, egg cake mixed with spinach. I'm not sure if they were supposed to offer it to me warmed, because they didn't and really should have. It was pretty nasty. Cold and dry, it was like eating an egg-flavored piece of soft rubber. Maybe I should have arrived earlier in the morning to get one fresh, but if they're only good fresh, take the unsold ones and throw them out when they get cold, because this was unacceptable.

And with a place called Felicia's Coffee, so what if the quiche is bad, it's all about the coffee, right? Well, they fell on their face, here, too. Two lattes, two days, both bad. Espresso was decent, with a well-chosen roast, but it was on the weak side with very little body. The lattes on the whole were watery, and the milk was steamed very, very poorly. Just look at the photo. Giant bubbles, a complete lack of texture and sweetness, and, I saw, warm milk as a base. You never, EVER, steam warm milk. It must always be cold. Fat in milk, the stuff that actually makes the boundary between the liquid and air, thus forming the bubbles, is most stable and best at taking on air at low temperatures. If you use warm milk, you will have progressively larger, fewer bubbles that quickly dissolve in the liquid.

The coffee and cappuccino weren't much better. Coffee was watery and bitter. We tried to put band-aids on the cups with milk, cream, and sugar, but to no avail. It just wasn't a very good cup of coffee. The cappuccino was way too milky, and the espresso suffered from the same weakness found in the latte. I was, I'm not kidding, shocked. I was expecting, if nothing else, a good cup of coffee at such a famous place. I was expecting highly-trained baristi capable of whipping up an excellent cappuccino. I really was! Instead, I got drinks that were seemingly made by a rank amateur. Not the worst I've had, that would be exceptionally bad, but nowhere near good.

The selection of things to add to your coffee is pretty well in the crapper, as well, so you can't even cover up how disappointing the actual drink is. Sugar? Check. Milk/cream/H&H? Uhh, nope. They add it for you. Honey, cocoa, cinnamon, turbinado sugar? Nowhere in sight. You'd probably get blank stares if you asked for something exotic, like nutmeg. If you want to take control away from the customer, make sure your drinks are flawless and the recipes interesting. If you are simply providing coffee, let me decide the details.

The poor coffee is a transgression nearly beyond forgiveness. Felicia's is a place that advertises itself heavily on its awards and its coffee. As such, it damn well better be good. You can't say you're the ultimate coffee house and then only have decent baked goods. Get the basics right, first. I like to use Starbucks as an example, here. It is doubly important for any cafe in East Greenwich, since there's a Starbucks right on Main Street. Starbucks is the baseline, the bar, the requirement. They have a decent selection with decent quality. In general, a solid three-star place. If Starbucks offers it, you should. And importantly, your quality better be on par or better, for if not, you have no reason to exist. Here, Starbucks is better in the most important way: drink quality. If Felicia's had given me better coffee, I'd add a full star, but a coffee house with bad coffee just doesn't fly.

UPDATE- 8/23/2008: I am revoking a half-star. I realized after going over some of my other reviews that the rating of Felicia's did not fall in line with other cafes I have reviewed. I feel the downgrade to "edible" is more accurate and fully represents my disappointment.

Felicia's Coffee: **
Price range for two: $6-$10

http://www.feliciascoffee.com/


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5757 Post Rd
East Greenwich, RI 02818
401-886-4141

Hours
Monday through Thursday 6:00am to 8:00pm
Friday & Saturday 6:00am to 11:00pm
Sunday 7:00am to 5:00pm