Jay K.
Yelp
Molecular gastronomy, once the sole domain of celebrity Iron Chefs on food television and spendy Manhattan restaurants, has come to Fairhaven to disrupt the status quo of coffee. The mad scientists at "The Nook" have created a menu of unique, delicious coffee beverages based on combining chemistry with carefully procured high-end coffee stones. Like everyone's favorite TV chemist, Walter White, the eccentric geniuses behind the Nook create extremely addictive substances that will most definitely quicken your heart rate.
Nitro Coffee is The Nook's gift to Southeastern Massachusetts. Nitro stands for "nitrogen," and it affects both taste and texture of the coffee, resulting in a somewhat-creamy, somewhat-sweet coffee even when served black as I had it. I didn't need to add anything to it, and despite tasting as sweet and rich as it did, my delicious cup of the Nook's Nitro Coffee contained no more than 2 calories.
I also sampled the Nook's Nitro Latte, which is cold-pressed espresso blended with water and milk. Again, the creaminess of the nitrogenation process allows them to use less dairy, and a cup will cost you a mere 80 calories, or about half of what an equivalent-sized latte would expand your waste by at Starbucks.
Finally, I also had the "Local Buzz," which is a peppy "grown-up grade" coffee-flavored milk built on top of the Nook's homemade coffee syrup and consisting of vanilla combined with all-natural sweetening ingredients such as maple syrup and local honey.
You can't go wrong with any of the beverages I tried, but perhaps my favorite thing I ordered was the Nook's Linguiça Roll.
Within the Nook's rendition of this regional treat, spicy slices of browned linguiça sausage swim in melted cheese, encased in a buttery, sweet, soft, bread-y roll. Ask that they heat one up for you and prepare to be blown away by the combined flavors of this simple, yet devastatingly effective pastry that has been immaculately engineered such that the whole is greater than the mere sum of its parts.
With Davy's Locker's closure a few years back (marking the unfortunate end of availability of their rendition of "Shrimp Moçambique"), I am prepared to crown the Nook's linguiça rolls as Southeastern Massachusetts' best bite of food. They're that good!
Conveniently located in Fairhaven's beautiful waterfront and bustling "downtown" area, and walking distance from Fort Phoenix beach, on a street with plenty of street parking available, the Nook is a destination that I expect will delight both locals and visitors (such as myself) for many years to come.