FOODIES

I’ve been slipping lately and eating out more than I should. It was worth it though, as Brian and I had a very nice lunch with Jarrica and Mark at Caffe Moderne. I love, love, love that place. It used to be one of our favorite lunch spots. Here are some of our food photos from lunch yesterday. Enjoy!

We hadn’t been to Caffe Moderne in a long time so I was glad when Brian decided to take me there for lunch. I was actually relieved that we still got to go to lunch together because Brian said he was conducting training that would last until noon. At 15 after I still hadn’t heard from him, but I figured that the training was just running long. At 12:30 pm, he still hadn’t called me so I was beginning to think that he had forgotten about me.

As it turns out, the training session ran 30 minutes longer than expected, but lucky for us Caffe Moderne wasn’t packed. When the place first opened, you had to be there before 11:30 am or you wouldn’t have a place to sit. I guess the novelty has worn off a little, but the food is still great. Caffe Moderne is still my favorite sandwich place. Their panini sandwiches are unlike any others I’ve ever had anywhere else. They serve the best sandwiches in Old Town, for sure.

My favorite sandwich there is the Garbo: grilled chicken breast, marinated artichokes, parmesan and arugula with a lemon mayo on multi grain bread. It is delicious. Brian doesn’t like it, though. So whenever we split a sandwich, we’ll usually order one of the turkey or ham sandwiches.

Brian ordered the Havana, minus the dill pickles and add mayo. That’s his favorite sandwich there.

Instead of ordering the Garbo (my usual), I was feeling somewhat adventurous and decided to try something new. The Moderne Waldorf to be exact. The description (grilled chicken with celery, apples, and walnuts on spring greens with honey vinaigrette) just sounded really good.

I’m not much of a salad eater, so I was really surprised at how much I liked this one. I like it even better than my favorite panini sandwich. I came to the realization that I’d been missing out, all the time that we’d been going to Caffe Moderne. LOL. The honey vinaigrette dressing is fantastic! I have discovered a new favorite dressing. I’m really glad I ventured outside of my comfort zone.

Brian and I had the opportunity to try Caffe Posto, one of the newest eateries in town, the Friday before he left for New Hampshire. We both got knocked out of the poker tournament early, as in before the nine o’clock break. It was early enough that we decided we wanted ice cream on the way home. Rather than having our usual “love it” in a chocolate and peanut dipped waffle cone at Cold Stone Creamery, I talked Brian into trying Caffe Posto. I had read about the place in one of the local papers a few weeks ago and was anxious to check it out. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do so.

On the way there, Brian kept telling me that the place would be closed. I told him that we should drive by and check it out, anyway. If the store was closed, we could always go to Cold Stone Creamery.

As it turns out, Caffe Posto is open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Fantastic! They happened be having a buy one get one sale on gelato that night so Brian and I got to try two flavors. Brian and I thoroughly enjoyed both of ours.

Things picked up some shortly after we arrived, but it was a slow night for the most part. The other customers had their gelatos to go. Since there weren’t really any other patrons at the time, Brian and I had the opportunity to chat with the “closing adult” Brandon. I think that is his name. He is a cordial fellow who was pretty fun to talk with. He even gave us a slice of super delicious chocolate cake for free.

He told us all about Caffe Posto, how it had been open only since March, the complex freezing and storage requirements of the gelatos, that the cake comes in on Friday and is usually gone before the weekend is over, how their gelato is much better than all the other gelatos in town, and so on. I actually asked him about what the difference is between their gelato and that of Caffe Moderne, which is my other favorite gelato place. He said that Caffe Posto gelato is made from scratch whereas Caffe Moderne gelato is made using a gelato base and then they just add different flavors to it. That would explain the extra smooth consistency of Caffe Moderne gelato versus the somewhat textured consistency of Caffe Posto gelato. As far as gelato goes, I don’t really know which I like best. There are some flavors available at Moderne that are not available at Posto and vice versa.

However, as far as food goes, Caffe Moderne wins hands down. Moderne has the tastiest sandwiches! Caffe Posto’s menu is pretty limited by comparison. It’s pretty much just soup, salad, quiche, and panini (and various combinations thereof) offered at Posto. Although, the dressing they use is the delicious raspberry vinaigrette from Upper Crust. (I really miss that place.) Posto also offers a “chicken salad salad,” which consists of Margery’s (Upper Crust proprietor) chicken salad. That’s what Jan had on Tuesday when we ate there for lunch. Her main complaint was that the amount of chicken salad they give you is minimal relative to the cost of the meal.

Caffe Posto prides itself in offering local fare like Corsair coffee, Cocoa Dolce truffles (which I love), and Upper Crust pastries. The free WiFi is another nice perk. The food is okay, but coffee and gelato are their specialties. I probably won’t be a lunch time regular, but right now I’m thinking that Caffee Posto is my favorite place to chill and have gelato.

More pictures from Caffe Posto: