Brunching with Bloggers: Craigie on Main

It's funny how many people I talk with through blogging, be it via Twitter, comments left on pages or Facebook fan pages and as fun as it is to chat via online mediums, I always love meeting people in person.  So that's why when I got an email from Olga, who writes the blog Mango & Tomato, asking if I wanted to meet her and Dan from The Food In My Beard for brunch, how could I pass that up?  I love brunch, it's a beautiful Boston day and I wanted to see if Dan actually had food in his beard (he did not).  So over the river and through Harvard Square to Craigie's for brunch I went.

Can you spot the house-made cider donut?

It was my first time at Craigie on Main and I'm happy to say it won't be my last.  I'm not particularly surprised by this as they've won about a bajilion awards for the high quality food they churn out and now, I see why.  I think the thing that really sets them apart is the strong attention to detail and their ability to show a fair amount of uniqueness all the while.  For example, I loved how when I ordered coffee, free-formed sugar cubes accompanied it.

Classic cubes of sugar for coffee

Everything is naturally homemade and flawless (a unprocessed foodie's heaven!) and while we were selecting our meals, we all decided that one of the house-made donut was to be ordered and shared.  What a great call that was!  With a soft cake-y center and crispy cinnamony-sugared crust and sitting in a pool of caramel, this thing was out of this world good.

And then there was the donut...

Ahhhh.....

For my main meal, I ordered the pancakes and was happy with my choice.  They were fluffy and light and with spots of tart huckleberries.  Drizzled in pure maple syrup, this trio of pancakes hit the spot.

Huckleberry Pancakes

Plump little huckleberries

The absolute best part of today, however, was the fact that Dan answered my plea for pretzels and made me some home made pretzel sticks!  I was floored and he's kinda my hero right now.  The funny part is, I attempted my own last night (post to follow later this week) but mine were wheat and shaped like pretzels and his were sticks.  So I now, thanks to Dan, have a pretzel variety in my cabinet, hopefully my supplies last through the end of the month!  Here's a couple of pics of my pretzels from Dan..