A Quiet Afternoon at Temptations Cafe

Last week, I made a point to really find some time to relax as I geared up for my new job.  I had some time to kill before the craft beer and dessert tasting at Finale, so I decided to head out to Coolidge Corner a bit early.  I rarely make it out to that area so I wanted to find time to stop by the Meat House and also browse the used books section at Brookline Booksmith.  As I wandered around the neighborhood, I stumbled upon Temptations Cafe. 

I liked that they had a sign on the door with their Twitter handle and it made me curious enough to step inside.

I easily decided to have a chai latte but I wanted to try something sweet as well.  Their pastries were really huge so I settled on their smaller-sized baklava.

The chai latte was nice and foamy and I savored every sip.

The baklava had lovely flaky layers of phyllo dough and was wonderfully sweetened with honey and pistachios.

Temptations Cafe has a bright cheery aesthetic with plenty of tables to sip some coffee, read a book, use their free wi-fi, or just chat.   I came prepared to read the latest issue of Improper Bostonian and to tear our recipes from a few issues of last year's Everyday Food.  It was so relaxing and a perfect way to spend an hour or two.

Temptations Cafe is located at 1350 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA and also has two other Boston-area locations.

A Quiet Moment at Milk Street Café

On Thursday morning, I had an appointment to meet with a colleague at Milk Street Café. We are part of the same professional networking group and had agreed to meet for coffee.

I arrived ten minutes before our 9:30 AM coffee meeting and I was famished. I didn’t have time for breakfast in the morning so I perused what was left of their breakfast pastries after the morning rush. I asked the guy behind the counter what he recommended and he directed me to their pumpkin muffin.

This enormous muffin was delicious as expected – moist but with a crumble top. Since I’m not a big fan of raisins, I was relieved to find just a few raisins in the muffin. This pumpkin muffin went perfectly with my skim chai latte and it gave me a lot of time to reflect. There have been a lot of changes in my life the past few months and I needed this quiet moment of reflection over breakfast.

Tell me, do you hurry through breakfast or do you take the time to quietly reflect over a cup of coffee?

Milk Street Café is located at 50 Milk Street, Boston, MA.