Claire’s Corner Copia

Decades ago when we lived in New Haven, Claire’s was a regular stop for us … for hot muffins and coffee cake at breakfast, for excellent Mexican meals at lunch and supper, for lentil soup, French peasant soup, and mushroom barley soup, each served with hunks of yeasty bread.

A recent breakfast visit reminded us why we need to return more often. The Lithuanian coffee cake, a long-time favorite, was moist and full flavored as ever; and the granola — which we don’t ever remember sampling — was exemplary. There are good hot breakfasts, too: frittata, French toast (made from thick slices off a baguette), multi-grain pancakes.

The warm drink menu is itself a joy to browse, including hot chocolate and Mexican hot chocolate (the latter spiced up with a dash of hot pepper), mulled cider, Russian fruit tea, and hot buttered rum.

In addition to good (vegetarian!) food and drink, Claire’s is notable for its comfy counter-culture atmosphere. Service is semi-cafeteria style: line up, browse the blackboard menu and the pastries on display, place your order, and pay. Then you find a seat and gather whatever silverware you think you need, and pretty soon your meal is delivered by one of the staff from behind the counter. The management asks customers to please clean up their own tables when finished with a meal.