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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Back Bay’s Flour Bakery and Cafe provides simple, delicious treats

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Flour not only offers an array of wholesome baked goods but also a pleasant and light atmosphere for eager customers.

One of four locations, Back Bay's Flour Bakery is a vibrant and inviting hub of kind faces, tantalizing scents and beautifully crafted food. Opened in 2013, the Back Bay branch is the youngest Flour location. After exploring the culinary breadth of New York City, Harvard graduate Joanne Chang returned to Boston in 2000 to open up this highly successful bakery and cafe that would go on to be featured in Gourmet, Food & Wine, Bon Appétit and the New York Times, as well as becoming the recipient of many Best of Boston awards.

The sunny Back Bay location, situated across from the colorful and kid-friendly Garcia Park on Clarendon Street, is never short on bustling activity. The staff works like a well-oiled machine to quickly serve the hungry and anxious customers forming a line along a wall that reads, “Make life sweeter … eat dessert first!” The homespun-looking menu, accented with color and illustrations of avocados and lemons, showcases a wide range of delicious options. With many well-marked choices for those who have gluten-free, vegan or allergy-related dietary restrictions, Flour Bakery seems to have something for just about everyone.

Choices include high quality revamped classics like a turkey sandwich with house-made pickles, cheddar cheese, whole grain spicy honey mustard and red onions. The menu also proudly offers a “tall, cold glass of milk," perhaps to accompany one of their “Chunky Lola” cookies with pecans, coconut, chocolate and oats. These classics remind customers just how good the simplest things can be if they are done right.  But for those opting for an imaginative departure from the more traditional offerings, a sandwich with roasted lamb, tomato chutney and goat cheese or one with a trio of roast chicken, mashed avocado and the unlikely addition of jicama may hit the spot. Drinks range from full-flavored coffee beverages to “fiery hot chocolate” and even a house-made raspberry seltzer. However, don’t bother dropping the few bucks on watery iced tea, which, despite being "for-here," was put in a landfill bound plastic to-go cup.

Flour also provides patrons with a pleasant atmosphere. The room is bright and dynamic, creating a perfect place to have lunch with friends or to sit quietly and read while enjoying a cup of coffee and a “light-as-air” meringue with flecks of chocolate. Sandwiches and salads are made fresh in front of customers.

Chang’s mission harkens back to something wholesome in its simplicity, a different take from the increasingly popular “foodie” mentality. In a video on the Flour website, Chang speaks to her culinary passion that lies within “bringing pleasure to people through food." She says that when crafting a menu, “if something is so good that when we take one bite, we can’t stop eating it, then that’s what goes on our menu." Chang’s enthusiasm to teach others through the Flour cookbook and cooking classes help to expand a community of people who can proudly create something sweet for the ones they care about.

Flour offers an extensive catering menu and an array of cakes, tarts and breads to take home as an accent to any meal. And if you remain unsure, just remember Julia Child’s strong conviction that “a party without cake is just a meeting."

A jaunt to Flour is the perfect way to spend an afternoon away from campus. Whether it’s time spent with a companion or getting ahead on homework, snacks from Flour will make any trip highly enjoyable. The Back Bay branch of Flour Bakery is across the street from the Back Bay T-station, and is open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.