Location: Pain du Monde (Newport Beach, CA)
Hours: Mon-Thurs 6am-2pm. Fri, Sat & Sun 6am-3pm
Website: http://www.letseatoc.com/info/paindumonde_nb.htm
Any special or seasonal items? The beverage items are mostly just black coffee, but everyone orders a cinnamon twist or almond twists.And the specials change on a daily basis, here is todays
Mundane Mondays are the beginning of the week for my blogs. This is usually where I'd tell you all the things that would be coming up this week, and if there is nothing confirmed then I would just give you readers a lesson in coffee history. This entire week is just going to be introducing the basic pattern in which I shall be writing to you as well as revealing a few coffee places.
I chose Pain du Monde to start my blogging due to the fact that this cafe was the place that has given me every idea and inspiration to be what I am today: an artistic blogger. The store has such a quiet, homely atmosphere that it feels like I'm in my living room drinking my favourite cup of coffee (which, today, is actually a soy Chai latte- my favourite!). Everyone knows each other in this little cafe, making small talk of where they have been so far this morning and where they plan to go. Sometimes there is even deep conversations over what is the best way of dieting for their next 5k run. The traffic flow of the customers aren't as heavy as I thought they would be, but it is a slow and steady flow of new people grabbing a quick bite of the pumpkin muffins or almond twists (which is a bit on the pricy side, but it is well worth it). Everyone is so casual here it instantly makes me relax, I could easily stay most of the day to just people watch, which I will dub a "french connection". When I was in France a few years back I noticed the people at the cafe's would stay there for hours at a time, maybe even the whole day. I have yet to see people in America do that, but I hope these little places I share will help encourage that relaxed french connnection pace.
So, onto the beverage review.
Pain du Monde's black coffee is probably the most rich coffee I have tasted in a very long time. I tried the Dark Costa Rican coffe and the Medium Sumatra, both very dark and earthy cups of coffee. The Dark Costa Rican smelled almost of a light aroma with a hint of freshly tilled earth after a day of rain, while the Medium Sumatra was more dense and rich in aroma flavour. A medium roast is to have more caffeine in it, hence why most cafe's only serve it early in the day. Both coffees had a very flavoured taste to it, I did not feel like i needed to add anything to expand my taste palate in order to fully experience these two brands of coffee. Dark Costa Rican had a very rich and earthy taste to it, but it also hinted a citris flavour in it, like the coffee bean was grown next to a berry farm. I enjoyed the Medium Sumatra blend very much, the earthiness to this cup of coffee is apparent, but it was not the usual syrup texture: it was much lighter than expected.
Food for Thought
As popular as the Cinnamon Rolls and Twists are, I had my food expertise try the Pumpkin Muffin. "It is really rich and heavy, " she noted "with lots of almonds and raisins . " D e f i n a t e l y recommended as a breakfast meal item, it is a very filling pastry. It pairs very nicely with the Dark Costa Rican, each enchances the flavor of the other.
Cafe sketches
I hope you enjoyed my first entry! Tomorrow is Tea Tuesday, I hope to see you then!
Namaste