Join us on a Caffeine Crawl through the Valley
BLACK FOREST CAFE
Installment #2
We continue our Caffeine Crawl through the valley with our second installment, which includes some of our newest coffee shops to open in the Blackstone Valley.
One, located on Putnam Pike in Chepachet, serves up coffee and waffles with a German flair and is appropriately named, Black Forest Cafe. We discovered this great place on a Fall drive from Smithfield to Chepachet and just happened to stumble upon it at the junction of Route 44 and Route 100. We decided to try their German waffles with caramel sauce and bananas along with a strong cup of Vienna Coffee. Vienna coffee is made with a single or double shot of espresso and a healthy dollop of whip cream. Suzanne, the owner/chef also did not hold back on the whip cream with the waffles. Though the waffles were just as yummy without it. She explained that the German waffles are thinner, delicate and served with powdered sugar in addition to a topping of your choice. Black Forest Cafe also serves ice cream year round and has since added sandwiches and soup for the Fall season.
Two more new coffee shops we visited are both located in Pawtucket, Notes Coffee Co. located on Armistice Blvd. in Pawtucket and Blackstone River Cafe located on Blackstone Street in Pawtucket behind Tolman High School.
Notes Coffee Co. is a great spot for taking a book along while sipping your coffee or for viewing art by local artists on their walls. It is an intimate setting with some seating indoors and outdoors. Notes has partnered with local coffee company New Harvest Coffee, also in Pawtucket, to serve sustainable coffees. Coffee flavors for the season include Maple Vanilla Latte and Pumpkin Spice Latte as well as their Notes House Blend of milk chocolate and almond finished with a soft sweetness.
Some of their popular food items are the Avocado Toast and Jammin Figs Panini and recently added for the Fall, Cider Donuts from Knead Donuts.
We tried the Nitro Brew and the avocado toast on our visit – yummy! We look forward to returning to try the Notes House Blend with a pumpkin spice coffee cake. They also serve other beverages including herbal teas, chai and sparkling water and locally produced Yacht Club Soda. Whole beans are also for sale to take home.
Formerly known as the Mad Dog Cafe, the Blackstone River Cafe opened in August. It takes its new name from the nearby Blackstone River, so if you want you can always take your coffee to go and sit by the river along the bikeway behind Pawtucket City Hall.
The coffee they serve comes from another Pawtucket coffee roaster, Downeast Coffee Roasters, located on East Avenue. Sometimes if you are driving past on your way to Providence Eastside you can smell the coffee roasting.
Anyway… back to the cafe, they have indoor seating and limited outdoor seating; and like Notes Coffee Co., are serving up the Fall flavor of pumpkin spice in their Pumpkin Spiced Macchiato. Of course, when visiting a coffee shop, we also have to try the food whether it is breakfast, lunch or brunch. On our visit we tried The Sour Apple, an appropriately seasonal sandwich of sliced apples with cheddar cheese and dijon mustard served on panini bread, which went well with a cup of herbal chai tea served with oat milk. Very tasty and fulfilling for our afternoon at the office.
They also serve local bakery items including donuts from Knead and Allie’s Donuts (local to Rhode Island) and muffins from Wright’s Dairy Farm & Bakery in North Smithfield.
One more stop to check out is the return of Hydro P.U.N.C. Cafe in Central Falls. They have partnered with coffee farm families in Colombia to bridge the gap between coffee and the consumer. They also have their own signature coffee. Iced on a mild fall day and paired with their Autumn Salad of grilled peaches, arugula (grown on the premises), ricotta cheese and avocado with basil champagne vinaigrette was a perfect pick me up. Recently reopened, they are open for curbside pick-up only.
This is by no means the end, stay tuned for future caffeine crawls leading into the new year as a few more coffee shops are planning to open soon. Again, if you want to do your own caffeine crawl through the Blackstone Valley visit tourblackstone.com/cafes-bakeries.
Written by: Patti McAlpine; Photo taken at Black Forest Cafe by: Patti McAlpine