I have a friend in town from Washington D.C. this week and she is staying at the W Hotel downtown (yes, I already teased her about how swanky she is). To make our meet up easy, I suggested we meet for lunch at Finale.
Growing up, my mother would pick up a special dessert for Shabbat dinner every Friday night. Once when I was in middle school she brought home treats from Finale and they were too sophisticated for my pre-teen palette. I didn't get it. This was the first time I had sought out their treats since that dinner.
We met at 1:00pm and placed our lunch order at the counter. We took our seats and waited for our plates to arrive.
I ordered the fresh mozzarella sandwich which came with tomatoes, arugula and a basil mayo on foccacia bread. All of the ingredients were incredibly fresh and tasty.
My lunch date ordered a half a sandwich with a half salad. She selected a sandwich I was eye-ing as well that was green apple, mango chutney, caramelized onions, arugula, walnuts and goat cheese. YUM. She let me have a bite and it was sinfully delicious! Her mesclun salad also looked divine.
After a solid hour of digesting we returned to the counter to order some sweets. We had very big eyes and giddily selected three confections. Each dessert was the size of the palm of my hand.
First we tried the pumpkin cheesecake which was creamy and bursting with pumpkin flavor. It was so rich we only finished half!
We also picked the fruit tart which was topped with fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and kiwi. The fruit was fantastic, the cream filling was sweet and the crust was a perfect, short bread-like consistency.
We couldn't resist the homemade whoopie pie which came with either traditional vanilla or peanutbutter filling. We splurged on the peanutbutter which did not disappoint. The large, piped dollop of filling was sandwiched between two brownies. Yes, you read that correctly. Brownies. The next time you offer to bring dessert to a party, make sure these whoopie pies are your contribution!
We sat at our cozy table for four hours without being interrupted, a true luxury in a downtown restaurant. All of our food was superb and fairly priced. If you're looking for a place to meet someone staying downtown or a post-theater spot, Finale is an excellent choice!
I'll be headed to Finale's Coolidge Corner location in Brookline in two weeks for a baby shower. Needless to say, I'm excited!
