We kicked off Sundaylicious last Sunday with a super cool place called Area Four in Cambridge. www.areafour.com Area Four is both a bakery/coffeehouse and a bar/oven (and their full pizza menu is available all day long). They have a huge whiskey menu and delightful cocktails to choose from, so we will have to go back for dinner sometime to sample their pizza and booze :-) Area Four is in the heart of the MIT zone, and the restaurant plays homage to its scientific surroundings. It is a small space, that is filled with chrome tables and chairs surrounded by chrome walls that connect to huge windows. This place could have a cold feel to it due to all the metal, but somehow it doesn't. Perhaps this is due to the giant brick pizza oven that makes their delicious pizza, and the fresh cut wood that surrounds the bar as if you were in a log cabin. Perhaps it is due to the friendly service and the small size of the place. Whatever the case may be, the windows are the heart of this science, chic restaurant and you can't help but wish there was a rain storm to watch as you gaze outside into the courtyard. On the day we went, it wasn't raining but it was grey and cold...ugh another winter day like any other winter day. But we didn't let that stop us...off to enjoy brunch we went.
Tommy joined us fresh from his road travels this past weekend, so we were the three musketeers out looking for good food. We had to wait almost an hour for a table, even though we got there at 12pm (which I feel is on the earlier side for brunch). As we waited the people continued to pour in, so Area Four is obviously a popular place. We decided to sit at the bar and have a drink to pass the time. I got a Mimosa, Laura got a Bloody Mary, and Tommy got a beer. The Bloody looked chock full of yummy horseradish and Laura was very pleased with it. The Mimosa was standard, but it came in a stemless champagne glass which was super cute. I have seen the stemless wineglass, but I have never seen this type of glass before and I loved it! Very on trend Area Four!! We also got coffee which was as delicious as they claim it will be. Going to a restaurant bar/coffeehouse bakery makes for a good combo for brunch....It's the best of both worlds!!
Finally we were told our table was ready, only to be brought to a community table...what is the deal with these tables at new restaurants these days? I DO NOT like them!!! I understand they might look chic and cool, but no one wants to share a table with strangers. Memo to ALL restaurants: STOP WITH THE SHARED COMMUNITY TABLES!! THEY ARE NOT OK!! Spoiler Alert: they will be docked eggs for this!!! We had waited so long for a table, that we accepted our shared fate and moved on with brunch.
The menu is not big at Area Four, so we all ended up getting the same thing: The Hot Mess, which is two sunny side up farm eggs, home fries, caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, scallions, and pickled banana peppers (Tommy got the veggie mess which also came with baby spinach and mushrooms, and Laura got the meat version which came with bacon and breakfast sausage). I was suppose to get the meat version, but somehow I got the veggie mess....much to my bacon hungry stomachs disappointment. Laura and I also got appetizers, which was good because our food took a very long time to come and we were hungry. I got the Greek yogurt parfait, and Laura got the buttermilk biscuit and breakfast sausage gravy. My yogurt was mega small but very expensive, and Laura's biscuit were extremely big and filling and less then my teeny tiny yogurt cup...hmmmph, maybe they should swap the prices for these dishes. We all enjoyed our Hot Mess (even though I didn't get the right one), but Tommy and I don't love eggs sunny side up/over hard....and this is the ONLY way you can get them. I have never been to a place that only makes eggs one way, and I think that is CRAZY!! Who can't make scrambled eggs for goodness sake? Well, over hard eggs and all, the food was still good and we came out feeling full despite the smaller portion sizes.
Overall, we gave Area Four a 7 out of ten eggs for food, and an 8 out of 10 eggs for atmosphere. We loved the cold, science chic feel of the place, and the big windows were to die for. We did not love that it took so long to get a table, and then we had to sit at a community table (booo!). We thought the drinks and food were good, but we docked eggs for the portion sizes being small, there being only one way to get your eggs, and that I got a dish I didn't ask for. It was a good start to our Sundaylicious future ahead. We hope you eggheads are ready for more....we know we are!!!
Coming up....Harvest in Harvard Sq....get ready to be blown away by deliciousness!!
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