Tucked just off the corner of First and Grand St. is the quaint Green Pear Café.
With its cozy and peaceful interior and free Wi-Fi, the Green Pear offers a great place to escape from campus for a bit to enjoy a cup of coffee or a smoothie and a snack.
Walking in, the staff, or rather family, as the café is family owned and operated, was friendly and accommodating. My new lunch date and I chose the smoked salmon on paratha, crab cake, cremespresso, and pineapple smoothie.
Opting for indoor seating, we headed back to the little alcove, but not before stopping to see the local and imported Italian goods lining the walls. The previous sentence may bring to mind images of overly-crowded shelves in an average Italian deli, but the Green Pear manages to make the goods appear as though they are part of the décor. Everything is neatly arranged in rows, and adds to the bright and cheery ambiance.
According to their Facebook page, the desire to rid their diets of “empty calories” and “artificial food” has prompted the owners to “connect [their] brick and mortar cafe with local farmers and artisanal food producers in the area.” This decision results in a seasonally changing menu and fresh ingredients.
Not long after sitting down, our smoothie and cremespresso were brought to us. Perhaps the owners subscribe to the whole dessert-before-the-meal philosophy (my second favorite philosophy, only below having dessert as the meal), but I was a little surprised when the espresso gelato-like dessert was set before us and not our lunches. No mind though, as the smooth, cool creaminess in a chocolate shell was quite the refreshing treat. The pineapple-coconut-date-banana smoothie was good, but seemed flavorless compared to the cremespresso.
A short while later, our meals were placed in front of us. I use the term “meals” lightly, as the portions were more of an American-sized snack (don’t make the mistake of coming hungry).
The crab cake tasted fresh, and was almost all crab (some places have a tendency to add quite a bit of bready filler), but seemed dwarfed next to the large mystery wafers place on the plate. The wafers tasted good, but seemed to have no purpose next to the crab cake, tomato, and cucumber salad. Thinking back, the size of the cake is respectable for $10, as many crab cakes cost double that. However, after having walked all the way from campus, the portion seemed quite small for a meal.
The salmon sandwich was decently sized, especially for $8. The salmon tasted fresh, and the paratha (an Indian flatbread) was a warm blend of crispy and chewy. The combination with the dill sour cream was light and tasty, but didn’t blow me away. I enjoyed the sandwich overall, and thought it the better of the two plates.
The Green Pear Café does a great job of replicating the modern European café. The atmosphere is welcoming and cozy, and the prices are quite reasonable. Even though I’m still trying to find a definitive aspect that separates them from every other quaint café, I would make a trip back.
