Infallible Flour – Boston

Flour was truly infallible. There is literally nothing bad here. I don’t love everything, but I can safely say I’ve liked everything I tried. And you know how picky I am. If you don’t, you clearly haven’t read any of my blog. But that’s ok. I’m glad you’re starting now. Welcome to my cynical world of food! (Insert sinister laugh here…)

Overall, I’m a firm believer that a healthy dessert is an oxymoron. And although Flour follows that rule, it manages to use good ingredients that will probably kill you less slowly than some of the other stuff out there…but I will confess, I don’t love the oily texture of the vegan stuff. But aside from the greasy texture of the vegan muffin tops typical of substituting oil for egg, everything else here is like most men; delightfully dense. Flour’s food also relies on real flavor rather than an overload of sugar, and it’s probably the only venue where it is socially acceptable to display visible muffin tops…

As for drinks, the coffee is standard, the Chai Latte is good but not the best, and I swear there’s crack in the Raspberry Seltzer because it’s the most addictive thing ever. I took a sip of my friend’s drink, and I thought I didn’t really care for it. But 2 days later I found myself venturing to Flour in the middle of an icy Boston winter for an ice-cold raspberry seltzer and 2 days after that…and after that…and after that…Buyer beware. When you take that first innocent sip, know that you may whittle away your trust fund $2.25 at a time...

Flour has mastered the art of the sandwich. The combinations are original, and the flavors of the top-notch ingredients somehow combine to form something even more exceptional.  I’ve tried several, but I’ll limit my review to my two faves. You really can’t go wrong with the sandwich selection. Just start from the top and work your way down!

The Roast Chicken with avocado & jicama is the perfect combination of flavorful but not too much, not soggy but not too dry, and the jicama is the perfect crisp, sharp but slightly sweet refresher to the avocado spread and neutral flavor of white meat chicken. This sandwich ties with the lamb as my Flour fave, and I really wish I could order two half-portions every time.

Mary had a little lamb…little lamb…little lamb…Mary had a little lamb…and she made the mistake of bringing it to culinary school. The Roasted Lamb with tomato chutney and goat cheese is yet another perfect sandwich. I don’t really like tomato, but that chutney is the perfect touch of sweetness for a heavily meaty sandwich, and I thought that goat cheese was too heavy for lamb, but the chutney lightens it just enough and I stand corrected.

Other highlights from the sweets menu include the perfectly sweet and slightly bitter and sticky ginger molasses cookie, the cupcakes in chocolate and red velvet (believe me, South End Buttery doesn’t even come close!), and the pricey but decent berry bread pudding. The banana bread pudding didn’t have enough flavor for me but I still loved that densely moist-but-not-soggy texture. Don’t love the oreos, but I still get them from time to time when I want a sugar fix…Last but not least on the sweets, the iconic sticky bun. The sticky pull-apart pastry on which Joanne Chang built her bountiful empire…would it be going too far to say she has great buns? Get one in the morning while they’re hot – they run out pretty quickly…

My advice: steer clear around lunchtime on weekends. The line is out the door and around the corner, and though I would happily suffer for fine dining, getting sick dulls your tastebuds, and you won’t let ANYTHING to come between you and your Flour, would you?

It’s taken me a long time to get around to writing about Flour, and I hope my heaping teaspoon of praise will atone for my neglect. I just didn’t know where to start – I’ve tried a lot of different things there, and frankly, it’s hard to come up with a fair way to rate a place with such a range of offerings. Plus I feared my personal struggle with addiction to their raspberry seltzer and the crack-like effect of the sticky buns would cloud my judgment. But I can see clearly now after several failed attempts at seltzer-rehab, and I see that nothing will stand in my way to giving Flour a whole-hearted 5 stars.