There are nearly always a couple of children inventing a game in the café play area while their adult taps away on a laptop, nursing a latte or soda, in Under the Umbrella, a neighborhood café in the fullest sense of the phrase.
We can walk there from our house near Congress Park, and usually find a neighbor or two, along with a free table. On sunny days, customers more interested in chatting than chat-rooming sit at tables outside on the broad sidewalk. Inside, the café maintains an amiable dusky light, suitable for tete-a-tetes as well as Internet browsing.
The menu, posted on a blackboard behind the counter, offers relatively light fare – sandwiches, quiche, soup, salad, an all-day breakfast burrito, and scrumptious baked goodies, made on site, worth their caloric toll.
The bread for the sandwiches comes from the Paradise Bakery, which makes especially good bagels, croissants and ciabatta.
My elder daughter likes to order the veggie sandwich on a flaky croissant ($6.75) – a schmear of hummus with onion rings, shredded carrot, sliced cucumber and tomato. Her sister prefers turkey and avocado on sourdough ($6.75), with a fat layer of thinly sliced moist white meat overlaid with creamy green avocado. The sandwiches come with a side of the Umbrella’s homemade potato salad, a piece of fruit, or a bag of chips.
My husband and I lean toward the daily specials, like the daily soup (recently a chicken soup thick with veggies, $2.50 for a generous cup; $3.75 for an even bigger bowl) or the vegetarian lasagna ($6.50). Though we live nearby, we learned it’s best to eat in. The lasagna’s cheesy top turns into a nearly impenetrable crust when it travels.
There’s no alcohol, but otherwise the drinks menu is strong (small drinks are 12 ounces), and features Pablo’s Coffee. Baristas go the extra mile. A friend who ordered a medium (16-ounce) latte accidentally mistook the salt shaker for the sugar when she was dressing her drink but was too embarrassed to complain. An attentive staffer replaced her drink for free.
Besides the conventional soft drinks, the Umbrella stocks Blue Sky sodas and Boylan Sodas, which were a revelation to our family. Boylan uses cane sugar instead of corn syrup, and the taste difference is enormous. Boylan’s sugar-free cream soda is smoothly stellar; I wish they sold it by the case.
As for the sweets ($1.50 to $2.75), the chocolate espresso bread is a winner, light and slightly moist, as if it’s been misted with extremely strong coffee. The lemon bar combines a buttery crust with a tart curd that melts the instant it hits the tongue. We also like the pain au chocolat – that flaky croissant again, with a dusting of powdered sugar and a schmear of chocolate inside – and the ginormous chewy chocolate-chip cookies.
Under the Umbrella Café & Bakery Light American 3504 E. 12th Ave. Denver, 303-256-0797. Monday-Thursday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Front burner: Excellent sandwiches and baked treats, Boylan sodas, free WiFi
Back burner: Somewhat pricey – $6.50 for a plate of veggies and hummus?
Super Star Brunch
Enough with the mimosas and goat cheese omelets. Brunch has become a parody of itself. Shake it up this weekend by skipping the French toast and heading to Super Star Asian Cuisine for a rib-sticking dim sum lunch/brunch of dumplings, noodles and, oh what the heck, Seafood Delight on Sizzling Platter. Bring the whole crew; the tables are huge and the bill will be small. 2200 W. Alameda Ave., 303-727-9889
Tucker Shaw
