Soon we will cross into a new year, so it’s a natural time for some change for the better.
As you well know, these Food Snob installments tend to be very lunch-heavy. The reason for that being, well, we’re always looking to get lunch during our workday, and it’s a bonus when doing so is actually a job assignment.
This past week, however, we decided to take a slightly different route by venturing into the world of (nonalcoholic) liquid. We figured that since there are so many places to grab a cup of Joe in the city, we should start checking some out.
That’s how we ended up at True Brew Barista in Bicentennial Square, home of a whole slew of coffee, tea, espresso and other great-smelling goodies.
Oh yeah, and they also serve food – which is always a big plus.
The first thing we did after walking in was peruse the large menu on a board behind the counter. For a Food Snob, possibly the first ever to feature a coffee drink, we didn’t want to just get a plain old regular coffee – where’s the fun in that? – and needed to take a minute to look over the options.
One helpful resource True Brew has is a lineup of illustrations describing different types of coffee drinks and what’s in them. For instance, it tells you that a macchiato is espresso with a dollop of foam and a cappucino is steamed milk and espresso with a lot of foam.
The one we found most appealing was the latte – steamed milk and espresso with very little foam. This would be our first latte not just in the history of the Insider, but in the history of this Food Snob’s life.
This thing was amazing. As a true coffee junkie, it’s not easy to impress me, but boy did this beverage get my attention – it even looked great.
I ordered it with whole milk (or as I like to call it, real milk), and that made for a nice and thick texture. I didn’t add any flavoring so I could let the cof– I mean espresso – really shine, though I did add some sugar.
It was strong but not super strong. It was hot but not scalding. It was sweet but not candy-like. Thick but not heavy.
After only taking about 4 minutes to finish it, I found myself wishing I’d ordered a bigger cup. True Brew, you can be sure to see me back again real soon, ordering up the biggest size you have.
But the latte wasn’t the only reason we were there – we were hungry, too, and we’d never eaten at True Brew before.
Since it was about 1 p.m., we were, as usual, in lunch mode and browsed that menu instead of the breakfast one. Near the top was The Governor: turkey, applewood smoked bacon, baby spinach, tomato and mayo on a sourdough panini. Nice.
The first bite was very good – immediately the savory, smoky bacon flavor came through and seemingly brightened the whole day. The turkey was tender and moist (but not wet like you see at the deli sometimes) and blended perfectly with the bacon.
The whole sandwich was nicely grilled, too. It had some crunch but it wasn’t leaving crumbs all over me.
Another thing this sandwich had going for it was its durability. There’s nothing worse than trying to eat a sandwich that gets soggy and/or falls apart in your hands and onto your lap. This bad boy held up to the rigors of this hungry Insider like a champ (though ultimately it was the Insider who won the battle).
The spinach was a nice complement to the meats, and the mayo perfectly tied everything together.
Next time you need a mid-day pick-me-up, stop by True Brew and try these two.
