Flour Bakery & Cafe

The problem with this post: I'm going to have a hard time completing it without walking over to Flour to buy lunch. Seriously. Their menu speaks volumes about the creativity, talent, and care that goes into every morsel. You can view this menu at their web site, www.FlourBakery.com.

I'll start with the sandwiches, because they are what hooked me first. From my first bite of the fresh mozzarella sandwich, I knew I was in love. This sandwich ranks in my top five sandwiches ever eaten by me. That is not an easy feat. Other sandwiches from Flour that I love:
-Smoked turkey, Vermont cheddar, and cranberry chutney
-Applewood-smoked bacon, lettuce, and tomato (known affectionately around my office as The BLT)
-Roasted lamb, tomato chutney, and goat cheese
Now, those are just my favorites. They have ten sandwiches, about all of which I have heard wonderful things. It would not be an exaggeration to say that a sandwich from Flour can drastically improve one's day.

Not only do they have the regular sandwiches, they also have specials every day, including quiche, soup, stuffed bread, pizza, and usually a different sandwich. I LOVE their quiche. No, really, this is the best quiche I've ever had, and my mother made some darn good quiche when I was growing up. My favorite of all the quiches I've had there (probably a few dozen different types by now) is the salmon, herbed cream cheese, and scallion one I had the first time I ordered quiche. The ingredients change day to day, but there are a few common ingredients/combinations that you see a lot of the time - even once a week. My coworker had the soup today (told you I couldn't make it through this post without going), and this is what she had to say about it: "Not only did that taste like homemade soup, it tasted like the best homemade soup I've ever had." Yes, it's that good. I had some of their chicken soup a few weeks back, and though I don't have the nutrition facts on it, I was surprised by how little sodium I tasted. It seems like most soups these days pack in so much sodium, all you can taste is salt. Not so with Flour's soup. It was delicious.

Now for the bakery part... I think you know what I'm going to say here. Delicious. As an introduction, try their oreos. It's like the ones that come in the blue package from Nabisco, but freshly baked, bigger, and far more tasty. One bite, and you'll wish you had a big glass of milk to go with it. Fortunately, Flour's staff is more than happy to provide that, too. Look for it on the kids' menu. Some of the cookies have strange names (I still cannot pronounce the name of the chocolate chip cookie), but they are delicious. I have tried all of them. Also good: the raspberry crumb bar. Similar to a lemon bar, but with raspberry - what could be better? Try the mini tartlettes to get a taste of the pastries you see in the glass case. The Boston cream pie, a staple in this city, is delicious, though not the best I've ever had (I prefer the very unique style of Legal Seafoods' Boston cream pie). The sticky buns are every bit as delicious as the ones my mother used to make every Christmas morning. If you're there earlier in the day, try the cinnamon cream brioche. Don't ask questions, just try it. The bottom line on Flour pastries: they are freshly baked with care, they are deliciously conceived, and they are well-loved by patrons all over the South End and Fort Point. It kills me to go and not get a pastry of some sort, especially since the line snakes right past all of the delicious pastries.

One thing to keep in mind about their specials and food in general, though: they err on the side of gourmet foods. Much of the time, I have had to Google the ingredients just to figure out what's on the pizza or in the quiche. Stay open-minded and foster some trust in the talent of the chef, who is an absolute genius at pairing different flavors. He comes up with some things that you would not expect would be delicious, but I have never been disappointed.

If I move out of Boston, I can tell you that Flour is one of the things I will miss the most. Finding a combination of food this delicious, a staff this friendly, and an environment this warm and welcome is a rare thing. They capture a love for food while being a friendly part of the neighborhood. It's no wonder that Flour has developed a dedicated following. I can hardly resist making the walk of several blocks for a sandwich or quiche. With its variety, Flour has never met a palate it could not satisfy.