Who doesn’t dig that cool little squiggle in the upper left of your keyboard? Did you know it’s also a cool new cafe in North Cambridge that serves coffee, wine and some killer Middle Eastern brunchy bites?
On Massachusetts Avenue near the Linear Park trailhead, Tilde is open from sunup (8 a.m.) to midnight (on the weekends; 10 p.m. during the week) and from Wednesday though the weekend serves breakfast until 3 p.m. At Tilde you can get your morning java jolt, get some work done, have a crispy egg sandwich for lunch and put an afternoon cap on it with a refreshing glass of locally sourced wine. For the constantly on-the-go set, the cozy spot is set up with plenty of electrical outlets and free Wi-Fi. Work or chill or chill and work. There are board games to go with your joe or tea should you want to unplug and connect. The coffee slate covers the essentials, and staff will put any hot drink on ice should you ask.
The small food menu has much to entice. The slate changes from time to time, but there are ostensible staples such as that crispy egg sandwich – silky golden, soufflé-whipped eggs that are breaded, deep fried and tucked into a fresh bun with a slice of cheddar. You can add sausage to it, and schug – which you absolutely should do. What’s schug, you ask? It’s a Levantine green sauce made of cilantro, garlic, green chilis, olive oil and salt that you could think of as pesto with a kick.
The other main menu staple is the Breakfast in the Levant (the Mideast corridor of Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine) that is pretty much a mezze plate of warm, rich olives, a small mint and dill salad, a posse of small, crisp gherkins, large chunks of feta, pita, some yogurt and berry compote and jammy eggs – the ones with the only slightly set yolks. Then there’s the Iraq Me (Amadeus), a pita stuffed with marinated eggplant and those jammy eggs.
For your sweeter side there’s French toast and pancakes – but not just any pancakes. These are oatmeal or sweet potato. Sounds funky, right? It’s infectiously delicious. The latter are Moroccan inspired, moist and fluffy pillows of orange that come with a zingy lemon curd sauce to drag your sugar-dusted cakes through.
The brunch slate at Tilde is essentially a pop-up with partner Third Time, which had an ice cream shop in Somerville’s Bow Market. The partnership works well, but you can tell Tilde is a bit of a work in progress and can see the owners tweaking and trying things as it finds its place in the community.
The cool thing about Tilde, with its casual, boho vibe, is that it is many things to many people at various times of the day: as a gather-and-chat spot; a wine date; or for late-night editing of your novel in progress away from the elbow-jockeying masses.
In the evenings there are victuals too – charcuterie and cheese, at the moment, from local stalwart Formaggio Kitchen.
As far as the wines go, natural is the aim and many come from Marzae in Acton as well as California and Oregon vineyards. As a white and orange drinker, every glass I’ve tried at Tilde has been a cut above; it’s a well-curated list with well-informed servers like you have at Dear Annie. If after a visit to Tilde you still need a sweet kick and a bottle of white to take home to binge “White Lotus” with, nearby is Momma’s Grocery + Wine. It has some heavenly, not-so-secret secret maple soft serve and vino to go.
Tilde, 2376 Massachusetts Ave., North Cambridge
Cambridge writer Tom Meek’s reviews, essays, short stories and articles have appeared in WBUR’s The 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.
This post was updated April 10, 2025, to correct that information about Bonanza Bites & Cocktails was gathered firsthand.
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