There’s no need for rivalry among Somerville sibling cafés Diesel, Forge and Bloc. The Globe has written recently of their relationship and owners, but I want to write of the experience of each – what connects them, what makes them different, who is there. And especially their character and how they use the buildings they inhabit.
Davis Square café mavens have settled comfortably into Diesel since 1999, while down the street sitters slumped comfortably into sprung sofas at the Someday Café. In 2002, however, a corporate cloud gathered above these local caffeinating sites: Starbucks. If the internationally recognizable (and therefore “cosmopolitan”) café with the green aprons arrived, was gentrification on the doorstep?
Yes, but what it meant unfolded differently: Diesel lost no customers; Starbucks simply attracted those less likely to sit and ponder, more likely to grab and go. (People indeed on the gentry road.) Diesel expanded its geography with Forge on Somerville Avenue and Bloc (then Bloc 11, another story) in Union Square. At this writing, the owners also have a small bookstore café, Page and Leaf, in Porter Square Books’ new location in the old Sears building, now Lesley University’s property.
Now that the formerly threatening Starbucks in Davis Square has closed permanently (along with several other Starbucks across the country), and the Someday has become Mr. Crepe, Diesel is as before, the place to go for coffee and its foods and working and socializing.
Its sisters, Forge and Bloc, are far from carbon copies of Diesel. You’ll recognize the Forge pastries and the Intelligentsia coffee they all serve, but you will also notice the very different ambiences (that of course vary by time of day and week, as in most cafés) and the difference in your own experience. Each reflect the former uses of the building – one about the street and traffic, another about industry, the third referring to its past as a (lightly remodeled) bank. There’s a phrase for this: “adaptive reuse,” and it is what distinguishes the sisters.
Let’s visit, as I did over the past couple of weeks.
Diesel
In the heart of Davis, near the confluence of six roads whose intersection has become an icon, Diesel is the sine qua non of coffee life. There’s often a queue to order and scattered people awaiting their beverages, but the line moves fast and, as elsewhere, lines have their own rewards. Pleasant exchange with strangers is said to be good for mental health in these parlous times, so you indulge in small talk, knowing you’ll be on your own once you’ve placed your order.
The coffee is excellent – those who read these columns regularly know my test is a small drip, which tells me a lot about the roast’s level and time since roasting, though I really don’t have a very refined palate. Because the volume of cups sold here is high, the turnover is fast and thus the time since roasting is “correct.” (Coffee geek talk: Don’t drink coffee roasted more than two weeks before brewing, but don’t drink coffee that hasn’t sat at least 24 hours after roasting.)
“Diesel” signals transport. The shop features a large Mobil Gas sign, a “road closed” sign, a “walk/don’t walk” light, and local road signs (Elm Street). I am particularly fond of the fire hydrant near the “walk” sign, wondering if dog companions of coffee sippers indulge in their usual hydrant behavior.
Most tables are for two and are indeed inhabited by a duo, even if both people are focused on their laptops. At least one person known to this writer has regular “office hours” at Diesel and several have “regular” tables, though they find another if someone has camped there before their arrival.
There is an infrequently used ice cream counter and dipping station. The pastries from Forge are mostly a standard display, though the quality is better than standard. My favorite, the cardamom bun, is a Swedish pastry without which fika, the compulsory Swedish coffee break, is not fika. Other merchandise includes Intelligentsia beans, cool gadgets and expensive coffee-related gifts.
Weekdays are workdays, but weekends are family. Lots of little kids, some waiting patiently for treats, some hopping about, some appearing to need the bathroom immediately. Parents are having grown-up moments while children have the run (yes, run) of the establishment. It’s all quite cheerful.
Forge
Forge arrived in 1999 in a strip mall on Somerville Avenue. The building’s original use was industrial and Kevin, a staff member, thought it was once a pillow factory, then storage for a moving company. The walls reveal the original brick (as most older industrial buildings around here do when stripped) and the décor includes large pipes running across the high ceiling and machinery whose purpose, to this observer, is not obvious but is intriguing. Instead of Diesel’s street mechanics theme, Forge has a slightly dislocated steampunk air.
There are about 16 small and one large table with a mysteriously perforated heavy metal top. Bar seats face a plate glass window through which the baking operations can be viewed. Kevin, our staff informant, was enthusiastic about the space and its uses, noting that even with laptop access, the dominant sound is conversation. As at Diesel, the art on the walls by local artists is for sale. The mercantile element here too features interesting items including sparklers, candles and an “ice cream cone” made of paper that, unwrapped, yields a present. These were a familiar surprise to my friend who owned the much-missed Joie de Vivre, a Cambridge shop selling similarly highly desirable and entirely unnecessary items.
Here the Intelligentsia beans are attended with care and the drip coffee, from a medium roast, was excellent. With a blueberry muffin, the coffee took off, with only the desirable light edge of bitterness remaining. It’s why we eat pastry when we drink coffee.
Bloc
Union Square, now a stop on the MBTA green line, is building up. High rises house Boston workers who want to live a little outside the center and a little cheaper. Union Square is also a world-food destination. There is Peruvian, Machu for traditional and Celeste for modern creative. Juliet has a great brunch, Himalayan Kitchen has Nepalese food, Bronwyn great sausages, and I won’t hesitate to use “great” again for Backbar, my favorite and great drinking corner. I’ve visited Maprang in Union Square for coffee and Thai flavor-infused pastries (and written about it here), but for coffee and a long sit, I choose Bloc.
As noted, Bloc occupies the old Somerville National Bank building. As also noted, the owners have accommodated the structure. One can sit on a cleverly designed bench in a vault, the heavy door ajar (causing a fleeting flutter of fear of being locked in). The floor resembles old wood, the walls are stripped to brick, tables are here and there; more private in back, in full view in front. There is a small espresso bar in back, not in use during my visits, but I’m guessing it is available for parties.
There are other semihidden rooms, one with stacks of board games and books (also for sale). But on days such as we’ve been having, I sit out on the patio, with newly emerging greenery and party lights making it resemble the setting for a village festa in Italy.
Like its sisters, Bloc’s coffee is well made, service is attentive and friendly, hours are long, pastries and bread are from Forge, and art is local and for sale. With the farmers’ market now open on Saturday mornings, Union is a destination for more than coffee. Bring your bags of lettuce and berries to Bloc and sit a while, contemplating harvests to come.
Diesel, 257 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
Forge, 626 Somerville Ave., Ward Two, Somerville (7 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
Bloc, 11 Bow St., Union Square, Somerville (7 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
Corky White, a food anthropologist at Boston University, has lived in Cambridge since 1953 with long sojourns in Japan. She has written articles on coffee for Standart Magazine and books including “Cooking for Crowds” (in its 40th Anniversary edition) “Coffee Life in Japan” and, with her son, Ben Wurgaft, “Ways of Eating.” Corky is grounded in coffee and welcomes suggestions at cwhite@csindie.com.
About The Author
