Where to The Roasted Granola Café in Arlington Heights. It’s the first standalone shop for sisters Emily Patel and Sally Short, who sell their wares at Sophia’s Greek Pantry in Belmont and Pemberton Farms in Cambridge.
What for Yogurt bowls worthy of a GOOP photo shoot, granola, and baked goods, served inside the charmingly hodgepodge Art Lounge, a drop-in studio. By day, nibble granola; by night, paint seascapes and vases of lilies.
The scene Mellow. Neighborly. A woman in bike shorts wanders in to discuss a bag of books that she misplaced on a table. Another woman remarks on what a nice addition the café is to the Heights. Someone else recalls a long-lost tea room down the block. Paul Simon’s “Graceland” album plays in the background.
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What you’re eating Food that will make you tingle with virtue and vitality. The “Classic Creation” — a bowl of blueberry, raspberry, and frozen banana puree mixed with dates and almond milk — is topped with granola, honey, Technicolor-blue berries and bananas sliced like miniature suns. A “Savory Bowl” has tart, full-fat yogurt, quinoa, cilantro, cumin, and sunflower seeds. Or create your own yogurt bowl with toppings including maple pecan granola, hemp seeds, maple syrup, coconut, roasted almonds, or bee pollen. Those of us with less willpower can nibble house-baked blueberry muffins or apricot bars, or mini jars of Sophia’s Greek yogurt parfaits.
Care for a drink? There is Counter Culture coffee, iced matcha, and chai, lattes, and lemonade.
Overheard Missing tomes; temperature adjustments. “Your husband usually sits over there, doesn’t he?” Patel says to the woman searching for her missing books. Another woman walks in wearing a straw hat. She shivers. “I need to get my sweater! It’s cool in here,” she says. Patel’s daughter, Kayla, apologizes from behind the counter. “We’re working on that,” she says. “You’ll get the kinks out,” the clammy customer assures her. “I love California,” a customer says to Kayla, who’s wearing a Santa Cruz T-shirt. “I do, too, but the East Coast is so homey,” she replies. Suddenly talk turns to someone named Cheryl, who is apparently the Kevin Bacon of suburban Boston. “You know Cheryl? I know Cheryl. Everyone knows Cheryl!” says the book-hunter, who has abandoned her search in favor of amiable chatter. She samples little thimbles of granola from the counter, contentedly munching away as Paul Simon follows the river down the highway through the cradle of the Civil war.
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1346 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington Heights, 339-223-0062, www.roastedgranola.com
Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com.