Clare’s Creation
A few weeks ago, Clare sent me a Dunkin recipe for what she has since referred to as her “creation.” It is a large iced coffee with oat milk, one pump of butter pecan swirl (caloric), and two pumps of toasted almond swirl (sugar-free). I have ordered this a few times since, and though it varies in flavor severity from Dunkin to Dunkin, it usually tastes like frangipane, which is a delicious and surprisingly complex note for the chain that America runs on. At Dunkin, I am prepared for notes of “grandma lozenge” and “Hershey’s syrup,” not a $6 pastry. I recommended Clare’s creation. And if you order a medium, only get one pump of the toasted almond.
Five Guys “Veggie Sandwich”
I have a tradition with my grandpa of eating dinner at Five Guys and then seeing a new movie together. As my girlfriend pointed out to me, this likely contributed more than anything else to my budding cinephilia as a young person: together, we’ve seen Hugo, Lincoln, and American Sniper. It’s become a ritual I look forward to every time I am home. But now that I am watching my diet a little more closely (I have high cholesterol) I had to let my grandfather know I could not order a burger before our screening of Gladiator 2.
Luckily, Five Guys has a “sandwich” menu which consists of grilled cheese and a “veggie sandwich.” The latter is simply grilled vegetables—onions, peppers, mushrooms—with fresh tomato and lettuce. I ordered mine with ketchup and mustard, and it tasted like all of these things combined. I was not able to trick myself into thinking I was eating a burger, but it didn’t taste bad, just a little lackluster. I was still able to enjoy freshly cooked fries doused in malt vinegar, which I think is the real reason people go to Five Guys, anyway.
Starbucks Dark Toffee Bundt
Starbucks launched a special bundt cake as part of its 2024 Holiday menu. It promises “deep toffee flavor notes swirl together in a personal-sized bundt cake,” which excited me, because one of my favorite things I ate in England was sticky toffee pudding. While using Starbucks as a third place, I decided to order the dark toffee bundt with my coffee. It was very sticky and moist, which was a plus. But it lacked depth: this tasted like a molasses-flavored cake, nothing more. I’m sure it could be elevated with a caramel sauce (à la pudding), but Starbucks is not really in the business of elevation.
