The Trimethyldioxypurist Hits A Downtown Sweet Spot
While some time ago, we advised using corporate coffee houses in a pinch when you're in a strange town, we're beginning to believe that French bakeries should be our new default places to get coffee.
After all we are still continuously pining for a cappuccino from La Boulange de Polk, even though we've been back many times since our initial review. And we've just visited such a place downtown, Cafe Madeleine, at 300 California (one of three locations). And the coffee was yummy. Though, much like La Boulange, the stuff behind the glass was hard to resist. We, in fact, took a copy of Madeleine's cake menu; it's serious food porn. Just reading it is giving us sugar lows and bigger love handles.
Quick side note: have y'all noticed SFist's spiffy new "columns" sidebar (look left). See, it says "Monday," and underneath it is "Trimethyldioxypurist." Hmph. We suppose that makes our deadlines semi-official. Please pardon this and the recent rash of Tuesday posting by yours truly. We'll get back on schedule, we promise.
Let us cut to the chase: the coffee at Cafe Madeleine is pretty good. Better than the evil empire and its imitators. Still, we can only compare it to its peers--and it's no Boulange de Polk. The cappuccino was decent and, at $2.75 for a double, is in an acceptable price range. The foam was nice, the flavor obviously indicated good bean and proper maintenance--but in the face of all those delicious-looking baked goods (coyly attempting to seduce us from behind glass), we were hoping for "spectacular." Perhaps that's just our own damned problem for having lofty expectations. The drip coffee ($1.25/$1.50) was good -- very good, actually -- a nice French roast, hot, dark, hints of caramel almost.
Final determination: its downtown location makes Cafe Madeleine a good candidate for a quick cup of joe on the way into the office, should you happen by when its lines aren't out of control. Spectacular? Not so much. But it's better than most of what else is available in the Financial District, that's for sure, and the value for quality and volume are more than acceptable.
But, man, the next time we want cake, we're giving it a try. Espresso-chocolate tart with milk chocolate mousse, anyone?