Foodie Asshole

Espresso Rating: 8/10
Sandwiches: 6/10
Desserts: 9/10
Lesbianism Rating: 10/10

I met an old friend at this delightful and bustling (at least at lunch time) cafe, Darwin's Ltd, in Inman Square, Cambridge, MA for lunch and coffee.

Double Espresso - I believe from One Coffee.

It was good, thick espresso. All it lacked was a complex of subtle flavors.

They have a shit ton of Monin syrups out for ya', gratis.

Plus, a bunch of jams, all the usual coffee shop fixin's, and a water station

This was a daily sandwich once: The Mainline: Roasted Pork Loin, provolone, lettuces, caramelized onion and fennel, plus one or two more things I forget

The Quincy on baguette: Not bad

The Roberts on sourdough (with grass fed beef!): Pretty good, mostly because mayo is awesome.

You can get half sandwiches for $4.

About $3 for this small size - Artichoke, Tomato, Spinach Salad

The food's great, nothing ridiculously whimsical, but not boring. It's all solid: delicious sandwiches, salads, soups (for now I just assume they're good), coffee, and desserts. They have tons of hip packaged drinks and treats too (a large array of seltzers, juices, chocolates (Vosges, Taza etc.), and caramelized cashew bags (Mexican Chocolate, Cayenne Mango, etc.).

$4.95 - Reve du Chocolat (Dream of Chocolate) Flourless Chocolate Cake

I was unable to resist getting at least one of the maybe two dozen desserts that looked amazing. Thank god I had my friend to share it with. I don't care for flour getting in the way of my chocolate, but, really, these things do get to be just too damn rich. After a few bites you will start getting a sugar headache. Hopefully this time I have learned my lesson: Flourless is not the way to go; if I want hyperindulgence, I just need to get the cheesecake (and pound the Lactaid); if I want a reasonable dessert, I need to get some kind of cookie or pastry.

Trip 2: My friend and I did get cookies, like a sane person. The Peanut Butter Judy (top) was amazing.   The dense middle of the cookie made it like a thin brownie cookie, with chocolate and peanut pieces on top oh oh oh. The half dipped chocolate peanut butter Oreo thingy was as good as it sounds and looks.

The best/worst part is that the place made me, as something does every time I come out to Cambridge, half wish I lived in Cambridge. Just during this one visit to Darwin's Ltd, there were two really cute lesbians behind the counter. If I were a regular, they'd get to know me, we'd start flirting...  Sigh. But if I moved to Cambridge I'd be almost as plagued with desire to go everywhere, try everything (coffee shops, restaurants, bars, events, etc.) as I was when I lived in New York, and getting away to a slower paced place was at least half the point of moving to Boston, specifically to my beautiful and quiet JP location. So cute, though...