The Darwin’s Ltd. chain of cafes shuttered at the end of 2022, ending a 30-year area institution. But in the old Darwin’s locales we have Circus City Cafe on Putnam Avenue, Luxor Cafe (formerly Roust) on Mount Auburn Street in Harvard Square and now the recently opened Asaro Cafe on Cambridge Street across from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. (Coming soon: The Smoot Standard in the final emptied slot in The Port.)
Asaro is a Jewish-styled bakery that offers something new along with the familiar. The redo to the interior is impressive, framed by enticing display cases full of housemade pastries, cookies and sandwiches of the day. The big table is still there and the stately stacked stone slate walls, but the rest feels refurbished, buffed up and new.
Asaro is all about the challah, though they bake some pretty killer croissants too. The breakfast sandwiches are all-dayers, including a “Not So Classic” offering that is a neat changeup: a perfect omelet topped with a beet spread, goat cheese and arugula. Given that combo, there’s a lot of flavor, texture and zest packed into a super fresh and moist challah.
Lunchtime tuna and egg salad offerings are pleasing too, with low use of creamy dairy and puckering additions of pickled onions and more of that fresh arugula.
Also on the menu is a crispy chicken schnitzel, and a dried-fruit and slow-cooked chicken thigh sandwich, as well as a turkey meatball sub that’s got some spicy zing to it and a lighter, zesty marinara; each is packed into puffy challah.
Other things to have are the Jerusalem bagel platter with some of that tuna salad, labneh (yogurt) and hard-boiled egg slices, as well as premade salads, risotto and other pasta dishes in a grab-and-go refrigerator and, always, that sandwich concoction of the day.
Being a cafe, Asaro has a rich coffee menu. One cool thing to try during these hot days of summer is the black and tan, a mix of cold brew and a foamed latte on tap. It’s a sweet (but not too sweet) reprieve from the heat.
The staff at Asaro has to be one of the friendliest and energetic I’ve encountered recently. It’s a great place to hang, chat and work while noshing and imbibing. If I had two minor nits, they would be that there are not enough outlets to plug in (though free Wi-Fi, yes!) and, maybe, that the challah rolls are a tad too large. I don’t need a bigger sandwich, but I could perhaps use a little less bread. That all said, Asaro is a great reboot.
Asaro Bakery & Cafe, 1629 Cambridge St., Mid-Cambridge
Tom Meek is a writer living in Cambridge. His reviews, essays, short stories and articles have appeared in the WBUR ARTery, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, The Rumpus, The Charleston City Paper and SLAB literary journal. Tom is also a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and rides his bike everywhere.
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)3 nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.
