Eating in the suburbs

Good morning everyone!

I live in a suburb of Boston, a small city called Marlborough. Marlborough and its surrounding towns are a big melting pot of ethnicities. People from all over the world come to cities like mine, where the cost of living isn’t as high as in bigger cities, but there is still plenty to do.

All though I have my job and many of my friends in the Boston, sometimes I feel so far from the comradery the city has to offer. Boston has an amazing line up of bakeries, coffee shops, and restaurants with foods from all over the world, that will transport you to a new location as soon as you take your first bite. Living about 45 minutes from the city, sometimes I just wish I could have that same sensation while eating locally.

I took this weekend to catch up on some work I’ve been trying to ignore, and I thought to myself, “where could I grab a bite while being productive.” I debated going into the city but the drive slaughtered my motivation. I decided to do a little research and explore.

I drove about 10 minutes into the town of Hudson. Hudson’s main street is filled with American style breakfast cafes. I thought to myself, “delicious but not very productive”, and I kept driving. I know Hudson has a large Portuguese population and remembered a small bakery my dad used to bring me to when I was younger. “I wonder if it’s still there.”

Somehow, I remembered exactly how to get there.

Its 11 am and as I walk into Silva’sBakery. The smell of sweet bread filled the air and it reminded me of my child hood. It’s still a very simple place. Glass displays filled with the pastries they have to offer. 2 people behind the counter, one making fresh coffee and the other reorganizing their displays after the morning rush.

I walk up to the girl making coffee (I regret not getting her name) and get greeted in Portuguese. Thankfully my Brazilian parents taught me enough Portuguese to get by in this situation. I asked her to give me a typical Portuguese breakfast. She responded “anything”? and I said “yes, anything!”

I sat down and patiently awaited, laptop open, wifi on. As I started my work, she brings me a sandwich and a coffee. She explains to me she grew up eating this with her Portuguese parents.

What she had brought was a misto quente (miss-too ken-chi) and a café com leite (cah-feh con ley-chi). It was almost like a ham and cheese panini but it had an egg in it and was made on a salt roll instead of square bread. The coffee has steamed milk in it and was sweetened to the t! It was the perfect sweet and salty combination to start my morning.

I really have nothing but good things to say about Silva’s. The staff was super friendly, speaking in Portuguese with their regular Portuguese customers and in English with an American couple who came in. Everything looked and tasted fresh, especially the coffee. The price was unbeatable. My sandwich and coffee cost me about 5 dollars! I was super impressed. And best of all, after I was done eating they had no problem with me spending another 2 hours in there finishing up my work!

As I was leaving, I realized that almost forgot where I was. Was I in Boston? Maybe in Lisbon? Nope. I was 10 minutes from my house! This little excursion was perfect. Just goes to show, you don’t need to travel far to see the world!