photo/Dan Zarin
Two Fat Cats
175 Spring St., Portland
541-9088
twofatcatsbakery.com
The first time you hear those three little words, it changes everything.
Pie for breakfast.
Back in the mid-to-late 2000s, Two Fat Cats Bakery (then located on India Street in Portland’s East End) ran a daily special: a slice of pie and a cup of coffee for $5. That may sound cheap by today’s standards, but at the time it seemed pretty decadent, and for a while I resisted the temptation.
Once I finally caved, I realized how foolish I’d been. With its wonderfully flaky crust and sweet-tart fruit fillings, the not-so-humble pie from Two Fat Cats was worth every penny.
Twenty years later, the location (and the price) has changed, but the pie, thankfully, has not. In addition to their primary bakery on Lancaster Street in Bayside, Two Fat Cats recently opened a cafe on the ground floor of the new apartment building on the former site of Mercy Hospital in the West End.
I woke up on a sunny Wednesday morning this summer craving my favorite breakfast combo, walked from my apartment to the cafe, dropped my bag at a quiet table by the window, and placed my order at the counter.
In addition to a Coffee By Design iced coffee ($3.75) and a slice of sour cherry pie ($6.75) — the best of the best, in my opinion — I decided to treat myself to a breakfast sandwich. Served on a buttery cheddar-scallion biscuit, the basic version ($6.95) was simply outstanding, from its crisp exterior to the gooey white cheddar and soft, perfectly seasoned disc of scrambled eggs.
Full and happy, I plodded homeward, burning off a small fraction of those deliciously empty calories.
A few weeks later, I met a friend at the cafe for another breakfast. We shared a flaky, cinnamon and brown sugar “morning toastie” ($5.25) and a crumbly blackberry hibiscus scone ($5.50), which were both excellent. In the mood for something slightly lighter and healthier to fuel the impending work day, we each ordered a yogurt granola bowl ($7.95): a parfait dish layered with Greek yogurt, fresh blueberries, buckwheat honey and house-made granola containing apricots and golden raisins. While each individual component was great, the overall balance was off — too much yogurt, too little of everything else — and I found myself distractedly daydreaming of sour cherry pie.
I look forward to sampling more of their menu, but I’ll be honest with you: it will always be a struggle to walk through those doors and order anything other than pie for breakfast.
Two Fat Cats’ West End cafe is open Wednesday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
