The June O-Rama installation has a summer theme: gelato and ice cream, and so I stopped by Bard Coffee to try Gelato Fiasco's gelato affogato.
I'm happy to have had the chance to try Brunswick-based Gelato Fiasco. It seems I'm always hearing about all the great things in Brunswick, but since I'm loathe to leave Portland, I've yet to experience El Camino, Lion's Pride Pub, Frontier Cafe, or Great Impasta.
So I love to see a local vendor offer Gelato Fiasco, so I can stay in my Old Port comfort zone, yet taste some great gelato. Since Saturday was a rainy, blah day, I went with salted caramel affogato (with a shot of espresso poured over it).
You can see the sea salt caramel on the left in the above photo, next to Grape Nuts (bleh, that flavor is lost on me).
But the salted caramel affogato was awesome. Caramel (salted or not) can be a little cloying, but the bitter espresso flavor balanced out all the sugar. Every now and then a little salt came through after a satisfyingly crunchy grain.
And Bard Coffee is so fantastic. Everyone there is so friendly, patrons and staff alike. And on this particular day, Pete Miller was there with his acoustic guitar and his band mate with an upright bass. I curled into a leather sofa, listening to the great music, sipping/spooning my concoction, being so happy to be home in Portland.
