those who know me know that kitsch is practically my middle name. i live at smelly vintage stores, die over retro tchotchkes, and appreciate nostalgia more than many. so when my good friend emily told me about coven, a funky new bakery and cafe opening in salem, ma (yes, the "spooky" one), i was totally psyched. they did a "soft open" this wednesday, so naturally our cupcake-loving selves could not wait until the grand opening at the end of the month and went the very next day. while the concept is undoubtedly AWESOME, let's just say i'm not completely lovin' coven just yet.
we wander in shortly before 7pm and notice a bunch of unique/gourmet groceries on our way to the counter. cool! but as we approach to take in the cafe offerings, we're met with a wimpy wasteland of goods that looked like they hadn't been restocked since the place opened this morning. i completely understand that these first few weeks were meant as a "preview"- no full menu, etc. - and that's fine. but you'd think that if the place is open until 9pm, there would be a decent selection of fresh food throughout the day, so as to create a positive first impression. the girl who served us was nice enough, albeit a little out of it, and seemed a bit flustered when we started ordering for some reason.
but the thing that killed us....KILLED US! was the fact that there were no cupcakes. we had been dreaming about delicious frosting-topped cupcakes all day, but apparently they were "cleaned out" this morning. and no more were made?! for shaaaaame. we cut our losses, ordered a slice each of tomato-fontina-bacon quiche (decent) and a dessert bar (me, oreo; emily, lemon...okay, but no cupcake).
the atmosphere has major potential - we took seats at one of the hi-tops pictured and chowed down, surrounded by classic scooby-doo episodes on the tvs and a shelf full of board games. also pictured is the crazy-cool cereal wall, where you can pour a bowl of your choice. if i lived closer, i could totally see myself coming in on a lazy weekend morning, snagging some cocoa krispies and playing some scrabble.
we definitely plan to be back in a few months after the grand opening to see if they've worked out the kinks, but i was a little let down by my first taste of coven.
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