Teele Square Cafe

A triumphant return

By PATRICK MAIN

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At my day job in Kendall Square, I've long enjoyed the lunchtime pleasures of the 2nd Street Cafe in Cambridge. Legendary for its fresh, creative sandwiches, soups (oh, the soups!), and breakfast bites, one of the café's familiar faces disappeared about a year ago. Turns out, the owner/chef, Jonathan Adelson (also the former executive chef at Aquitaine), sold the place after the birth of his first child. He and his wife have decided to take the plunge again, opening a new spot in the former building of Soleil Cafe in the heart of Teele Square.

Walking in, you see this isn't a sit-down, table-service restaurant, but rather truly a café, with the menu splashed along one wall. The selection seems to be more of a starting point, with even the standard sandwiches offered on your choice of a plethora of bread options, and—befitting the chef's history—a rotating selection of fresh soups (follow their daily lineup on Twitter: @teelesquarecafe).

I ended up visiting the café twice to properly sample the various meals. When I first discovered it, I headed in with a friend for a Friday night, light dinner before venturing out. For starters, I opted for a delicious take on chicken noodle soup ($3.25/cup). In addition to the large, jagged chunks of chicken and soft, fresh wide noodles, this rendition had spinach and a hint of lemon to round it out. My friend tucked into an excellent sweet potato bisque ($3.25/cup), which was smooth and just the right balance of sweet and savory. The grilled chicken sandwich ($6.95) with sweet red peppers, field greens and balsamic vinaigrette on (my choice of) French baguette was as good as I can imagine it ever being. The grilled chicken was tender and juicy, the field greens were as fresh as can be (and this at around 7pm for a place that opens at 9am) and the baguette was just crusty enough. My dining companion grabbed a niçoise salad ($7.25). It was really a dinner-sized salad, barely able to be contained on the plate. Topped with a heap of olives and fresh tuna, and served with a Dijon mayonnaise dressing on the side, it was a pitch-perfect rendition of the French bistro staple.

The second time I ventured in was before work to sample the breakfast options. I know coffee is a very personal taste, and I tend to come down more on the Dunkin' Donuts side rather than the Starbucks side of the spectrum, but theirs is a brew for all palettes. Strong without being burnt or over-roasted, it struck the perfect balance between the extremes of watery diner joe and the full cup of espresso-strength mud that too many "high end" shops foist on you. As I was grabbing and going, the breakfast sandwich on a choice of bread (bagel, croissant, or one of the regular sandwich-bread options) with fried egg, cheese and choice of ham or bacon seemed like the obvious choice. It was served in a nice foil wrap, for easy consumption on the move.

The Teele Square Cafe picks one thing to do and does it to near perfection—fresh, light food served in a cheery environment. They just opened a few weeks ago, and I've never seen a restaurant as ready to go on day one as this, leaving the imagination reeling as to how much better it could get once they hit their stride.

Rating: * * * *

* * * * * phenomenal

* * * * added to the regular rotation

* * * solid cuisine, presentation and taste

* * average

* meh

TEELE SQUARE CAFE

1153 BROADWAY ST., SOMERVILLE

617.625.0082

MON-FRI 7:30AM-7PM, SAT & SUN 9AM-3PM

TEELESQCAFE.COM