TEA WITH: Ana + Alaina at Tatte

Location:

318 3rd St, Cambridge, MAI had the pleasure of having tea with these two lovelies recently, after a wonderful afternoon at this place.

Here we are at Tatte Bakery, one of the cutest bakeries in Kendall Square. A bakery that is not new to my Instagram feed!

As part of a new series, here I am having tea withAna and Alaina.

Vermont: Stowe, Black Cap Coffee

Location:

144 Main St

Stowe, VT05672

On Main Street, is the Black Cap Coffee shop, a quaint, picturesque coffee house, exactly how you would imagine there to be in a ski town.

For coffee, teas, hot chocolates, you can't go wrong. I didn't try any of there delectable delights, although the Easter sugar cookies were calling my name...

A tea to go and ready to explore a bit, although everything was closed for Easter...except Shaw's General Store...still, it made it easy to go back to our hotel.

Cambridge: Atomic Bean Cafe

Location:

904 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA

When my bro-in-law, who used to live in Boston, was visiting in the Fall, one of the areas of Cambridge that he wanted us to see was Central Square.  We walked around and checked out his old place and then were in the mood for some hot chocolate and tea. One of the first places we found didn't serve hot chocolate, the Starbucks had no seating and we found a funny organic health food place that served buck wheat and sprouty type drinks, which we were definitely not in the mood for. We finally ended up at Atomic Bean Cafe, which was well worth the wait. 

 

Recipe: Cake Pops

My sister and I (more her) made cake pops recently for a cookie swap we were invited to.  She was telling me about these cake pop machines you can buy, but you really don't have to

if you can do the following.

My sister made the mix, I rolled the balls and stuck the sticks into them, sis dipped and dunked. 

Et Voila!  They were a huge hit at the cookie swap!  (My sis also made Snowball cookies, recipe to come, soon!)

You can coat them however you like, which would make them wonderful little Holiday presents. 

Boston: Thinking Cup

Location:

165 Tremont Street, Boston, MA

Honestly, this place should be called thinking crap.

Hands down, the worst Earl Grey I've ever tasted...and I've tasted plenty.  And besides, the chocolate croissant was nothing to write home about.  Boo.  Very disappointing.  Someone quickly direct me to a good bakery/coffee shop.  I miss Le Gourmand.

Cambridge, MA: Royal Pastry Shop

Location:

738 Cambridge St., East Cambridge, MA

Having just moved to Boston, one of our explorations took us to the Royal Pastry Shop on Cambridge Street.  We chose a very simple chocolate cupcake.



It was divine. 

Open since 1941, there are now two other locations feeding locals delicious American and Italian pastries.  I'm looking forward to being one of these locals.

NEW: L'eat

Location:

410 Adelaide St W

www.leatcatering.com/home.htm

In the cursed location where Zimbel's Cafe and before that,  Mosaic used to be, L'eat Express is the newest addition to the building beside Toronto School of Art.  Herbal Infusions is faring quite well so far, so maybe there is hope for L'eat (such a difficult name to wrap my head around.  Sometimes I think "teat", wrongly, of course).

I hear the brownies are amazing, but I walked by earlier today and the door was locked!  Will try again in a bit and keep you posted.

** So went back with some co-workers but they were still closed.  Someone did inform us that they were open this morning for a training session which included free pastries and plan to open again later this afternoon for another training session.  We were told they'll be open again tomorrow, so fingers crossed!

*** Went back on Friday and they were OPEN!  Found out a few things. 

Most importantly it's pronounced "ELITE", literally pronounce the letter "L" and the word "EAT".  I feel so much better, now. 



Owned by Tony Loschiavo with hand-crafted  goodies and gourmet meals made by Chefs Christopher Palik and Eric Walker, L'eat Express looks promising, especially with their original full service catering business (started 1983) in full swing at their Bathurt location.  I DID try the brownie, and it did not disappoint.  Shared with several co-workers, it was a huge hit! 



The complimentary bran muffin and double chocolate fudge cookie I scored was equally as satisfying, although I have to admit the cookie can't compare to Le Gourmand's chocolate chip walnut cookie which still reigns supreme. 





The teas on hand are from Language of the Leaf, which I love and which Neeta Khanna had sent me a package of teas to review in 2009.  I've also heard great things  about Paese, the sister restaurant to L'eat on King St W.

 

 

I really hope L'eat Express does well in this district, it's such a beautiful space and after speaking to Christopher, Tony and Rahim about their vision for this location, it looks like it's got all the ingredients to being as successful as the original.

Open Monday - Saturday (7:30am - 7pm)

Michel's Baquette

Location:

(Yorkdale Mall) 3401 Dufferin Street, Toronto

www.michelsbaguette.com

One of my favourite "go-to" bakeries in Toronto is Michel's.  It's an European-inspired cafe/bakery and there are several locations in Ontario.  It reminds me of Paul's in Paris.  No nonsense pastries, sandwiches and cafe lattes.



It's the perfect spot for a giggly group of girls women to go without bothering anyone.

The pastries are delicious.



Perhaps not as good as in Paris, but when you're with a group of good friends, who knows where you really are?

Black Forest Pastry Shop

Location:
184 Lakeshore Road East
Oakville, ON L6J

I'm happy to announce that I have found possibly the best apple pie, ever.

It exists at Black Forest Pastry Shop in Oakville and is only $12.99!







After popping it into the oven for a few minutes, it came out flaky yet melted in the mouth. The apples were cooked yet crispy with just the right amount of cinnamon.


The other things on hand at the bakery: Red Velvet Cupcakes amongst other tasty treats.

TRAVEL: Boston: Mike's Pastry

Location:

300 Hanover Street
Boston, MA

www.mikespastry.com

Is it touristy? Yes. 

The woman behind the counter insisted that we take a plastic "Mike's Pastry" bag for our box even though we had a bag we were going to put it into.  Nothing like advertising by carrying their logo, right?



Is it ridiculously crowded, ALL THE TIME?  Yes.

Came here twice in one weekend and the first time, I was able to get to the counter.



The second time, it looked like this:

But are these the best mo-fo cannoli's you'll ever taste?  You bet your a$$ they are!