This Is Framingham

Panache Coffee recently opened at 680 Worcester Rd. (Ski Market Plaza).   My mom was over and it was so nice out, we decided to walk down to check it out.
Inside has been renovated nicely with lots of neutral colors, big windows and a little nook with a fireplace.
 

The guy at the counter was very patient with my mom who likes to ask lots of questions.  She asked about all the different “fancy” drinks, what kind of syrups they use and what “WiFi” is.

She ended up getting and iced coffee (w/ cream, pictured on the right) and I got an Iced Americano with a shot of chocolate.

My mom, who is very particular about her coffee, said her iced coffee was “really good”.  I was very happy with my Iced Americano as well.  I don’t know where they get their beans from but it tastes like they chose a good quality supplier.  There is also a case with a typical pastry assortment if people want a little something to go with their coffee.

I’m really glad Panche opened here.  It’s so nice to have a small coffee house that has great coffee, looks good inside and is close by.  I’m looking forward to supporting this local business.

A new Italian style pizza and dessert place opened up on route 30, (661 Cochituate Rd.) called “North End Treats”.
It is a take-out only place that serves pizza, pasta, sandwiches, pastries and gelato.
Inside is small but large enough to serve it’s purpose since there is no seating.

We got 2 individual 9″ pizzas.  One Bourbon Steak Tips with peppers and one Caramelized Onion with feta and pine nuts.
Steak Tips:

Caramelized Onions (they forgot to slice it and the picture is blurry)

The steak was good but I really, really enjoyed the caramelized onion pizza.  It was excellent. The natural sweetness of the onions with the salty feta was a perfect match.   
These are especially good pizzas for people that like crust because there’s plenty of it.  I feel like a plain pizza would be very satisfying as well. 
Of course while I was  waiting I couldn’t help but look at the pastry case:

I decided to bring home a little assortment of a peanut butter brownie, cannoli and mini-lobster tail:

I never had a lobster tail before but it was awesome, pastry filled with whipped and Bavarian cream.  It was light (tasting) and so creamy- a very nice treat!  I’d tie that with the peanut butter brownie which is intense and I recommend letting it almost get to room temp before eating since the top layer of chocolate is so thick.  The cannoli was pretty good two but if I had to choose 2 out of the three, it would be the lobster tail and brownie.  I will be back to try the gelato and some pasta dishes.

This is such a great addition to Framingham pizza/food options.  My only wish is that it was downtown, it would be perfect in one of the storefronts down there! 

Laurie Lee hosted a little “Thank You” lunch for the ladies who pitched in for her campaign at the Columbus Club.  I’ve always wanted to go here but never got around to it or something weird happened, but today I finally got to go and experience the Columbus Club.Inside was exactly what I expected (and hoping for) an old-school, no-frills set up with wood wall panels, stackable chairs and a whiteboard as it’s only menu.  I got the “mac & meatballs” which is ziti and meatballs:This was awesome.  The sauce is excellent and the meatballs were perfectly moist and soft.  Simple but delicious.Some of the other dishes people got were Lasagna and Sausage:Chicken Parm:Chicken noodle soup:Selectman Dennis Giombetti came by our table and jokingly asked if anyone was going to try the tripe, which I guess is really good if you like tripe but even he didn’t suggest it for people who haven’t had it before.  He shared some nice memories of spending time at the club growing up too.  I got to talk with our new Town Moderator, Ed Noonan, who seems like a very sharp guy and has a clear plan on how he’s going to run town meeting.  I’m looking forward to watching him in action this year.  I had such a great time meeting people I’ve heard of but never met and seeing people I know from town meeting. The Columbus Club definitely has a “club” feel but also a strong sense of community and places like this are hard to find - and the food is delicious too!  A nice little gem in Framingham.For more info on the Columbus Club check out their site:http://framinghamcolumbus.org/

I doubt Starbucks will fret but, across the street from the Starbucks (by Whole Foods) at the “Ski Market” plaza on Rt. 9 will be an upscale coffee shop.  The “coming soon” sign is up and I know they’ve been putting a lot of work into the interior so I’m excited to have a coffee shop nearby that is neither StarB’s or Dunkins and a small business.  I’ll be sure to post when they open and I make a visit there.

I’ve already posted about our first visit to Callahan State Park last summer, but I found some pictures I took from our visit a few weeks ago and thought I’d post them.

Callahan is just as nice to walk through with snow as is it with green grass.  It’s always nice to see the doggies run around and have fun.  Although, like in the summer, we found poop on the trails- I guess some people will just never pick up their dog’s poop.  Maybe if it was in the woods, away from the trail, okay but I think it’s pretty lame to let your dog take a dump right in the middle of the path.  ‘Nuff said.

Other than that it’s a lovely place to walk around and a real treat to have in Framingham.

Laura Anes is a cake maker who lives and works in Framingham and was gracious enough to let me come over to talk with her and see one of her amazing works of art she just made for a baby shower.

We sat down and she showed me pictures of a bunch of cakes she has made.  Each one is different depending on what the occasion and theme is and I had a great time looking at all of them. Besides being an incredibly nice person she’s really talented and can pretty much make anything. Here are some of my favorites:

Laura has edible paper and edible ink so she can make logos and photos for the cakes too.  I would love to have a reason for her to make a Bradlees cake!  She was also nice enough to make a little cake for me to bring home and share with Ethan which was delicious:

More of Laura’s cakes (and contact info) on her blog: www.sweetresults.blogspot.com

This morning I was on Rt. 9 going by the old Shogun 9 that is now PC Healthstop (holding their seemingly endless grand opening) when all off the sudden I heard angels sing.  I stopped and upon closer inspection saw….THIS:

I couldn’t believe it.  Such a beautiful sight!
It was only last summer that Ethan and I got to know the awesomeness of Bronzetti’s pizza, over by the Temple St. part of Rt. 9, but sadly our new favorite treat silently disappeared in July.  The bar changed it’s name to something generic and, as others have commented, so did the pizza.  Oh Bronzetti’s, we hardly knew ye! 

But now I can look forward to the day I will hold a slice of heaven to my lips once again!  Don’t let the messy looks fool you, with it’s light but chewy crust (and just enough crunch!) and melty goodness all over, this is pizza of the Gods. I normally avoid Rt. 9 but I will try to keep track of this progress and report when I find it up and running.  Maybe they can take over the “Grand Opening” sign from PC Healthstop to let us know.