In my irregular series on great eateries, a huge hoorah for the revival of a wonderful coffee house in my beloved city of Newton, Mass. Until, say, fifteen years ago, there were delis and coffee shops of the old variety - meaning you could get a good square breakfast and maybe a cherry coke for lunch - but few sit-around-with-a-mug-of-proper-joe locales locally.
Then two enterprising and convivial entrepreneurs opened Caffe Appassianato in Newtonville, one of the city’s thirteen unique villages. Patrick and Ray had the touch and we became regular customers, taking a long moment most mornings where we cooked up more than one book. We spent so much time there that when the first article was written about the place, we were profiled as writers who hung out there. Then, the grand disappointment. Patrick and Ray opened a second location in Marblehead, Mass., and if you’ve ever been there, then you know that it’s hard to compete with the ambiance, never mind the nearby ocean, of Boston’s North Shore.
When they sold the Newton shop to Omar, we were sad to lose our friends but the new owner's ebullient personality, coupled with the excellent falalel that he served, made for a welcoming atmosphere. After a couple of years, he sold to another owner who changed the name to Taste (struck me as a tad precious), the menu (that included a square pattie of hash browns), the coffee, and the atmosphere. Instead of a warm neighborhood place, it became more like a snooty coffee bar in Soho. With bad coffee.
Then the unexpected. About six weeks ago, the place was sold again and the new owner has in a very short time brought back warmth, fine service, and really good coffee, in this case, beans from George Howell, founder of the long-gone but fondly remembered Coffee Connection. Welcome, Nik. So glad to have this great place back again, now named Taste Coffee House.
