Hidden Gem

I find that Yelp is a helpful resource when it comes to finding tasty food. Thanks to Yelpers, we discovered a hidden treasure in Watertown called the Danish Pastry House. They have a bona fide cafe in Medford (that I have never visited), but the Watertown location, which is where they actually make all the pastries sold both there and at Medford and at various locations around town (like Cafe Andala in Central Square), is tucked into a warehouse in an industrial area of Watertown between Mt. Auburn and Memorial Drive, across a little alleyish street from a building supply place. The Watertown location isn't a cafe; you go in, buy your pastries, and leave.

We have been there many times now, and have tried a lot of different baked goods. We haven't been disappointed yet. My favorite treats are the Kaj frogs, which are marzipan frogs filled with buttercream icing (I like the pistachio ones best), and the cinnamon brioche. They also have great croissants, bread, and cakes. We have tried the chocolate one and the apple frangipane cake, which is more like a coffee cake than a regular cake.

With so many grocery stores bringing in rubbery baked goods that leave the gritty mouthfeel of cheap shortening in your mouth, the Danish Pastry House is a real treat and provides the European flavor that you don't get at some of the other good bakeries in town like Iggy's and Hi-Rise.

Full tummies, high spirits

Today was a day of exploration. First stop was at Hi-Rise Bread Company on Brattle St. in Cambridge to pick up a loaf of bread. I decided on the potato bread, and decided to get a mini sandwich cookie and a lemonade. The lemonade was fantastic! Much better than the lemonade I had last weekend at a farmer's market in my husband's hometown, which tasted like chemicals, not real lemons. The Hi-Rise lemonade was lemony fresh, tart and had just enough sweetness. The sandwich cookie was also really good. The chocolate cookies had a tiny hint of coffee flavor. So good. I will definitely go back.

Then we decided to go walk around Boston Common and the Public Garden. I fed the ducks, which I wasn't supposed to do, but I didn't see the signs that said not to feed the duck until AFTER I had already finished feeding them. Oops. I quit when one goose started slowly advancing on me. Geese are scary!

We decided to try to have dinner on/around Newbury Street, but one of the problems with this plan is that you end up paying for the rent on Newbury Street rather than your food. We looked at a few different places; Parish Cafe (not on Newbury, but on Boylston), Stephanie's on Newbury, and Upper Crust. We rejected Parish because we weren't in the mood for sandwiches and weren't excited about the other food on the menu, Stephanie's for being too expensive and not really inspiring enough for us to forgo eating at Central Kitchen, which was our backup plan, and Upper Crust because I wasn't in the mood for pizza. We decided to head back to Cambridge to Central Kitchen, but not before we got some ice cream. We went to Emack & Bolio's, because we hit that before we got to J.P. Licks. I have to say.... not as good as Christina's in Inman Square. Not nearly. It was too sweet, the texture was a little gritty, and it didn't have the rich flavor that Christina's ice cream has. I also missed the unusual flavors that Christina's has- flavors like Burnt Sugar and Mexican Chocolate. I am going to stick to Christina's, I think. I will still give J.P. Licks a try if I come across another one.

We then took the #1 bus back down Mass Ave to Cambridge, and had dinner at Central Kitchen. Central Kitchen is remarkable for its casual upscale environment in a sea of dumpy-looking, gritty retail. We split a half-dozen oysters, and I got the mussels and my husband got the rib-eye steak. All of it was amazing. It's a little on the pricey side, but the food is really good and the portions are reasonably sized, so overall, a good deal.