My friend Cozy has been trying for ages to get the Accidental Locavore to stop at the Armsby Abbey in Worcester, Mass. Recently, on our way to Maine (to help lessen the lobster population), we finally made it to this exalted restaurant. We weren’t sure it was going to happen, as they only serve brunch until 3:00 and we pulled up at 2:55, dog in tow. They were happy to let us sit outside with the dog and we managed to order just before the kitchen closed.
I had a breakfast pizza which was a perfect sized pie with a tomatillo salsa, shredded pork, queso fresco, slivers of red onion and cilantro. It’s supposed to come with an egg, but, as everyone who has ever been out to brunch with me knows, I have this very un-foodie hatred of runny eggs, so it was easily left off. The crust was perfectly done and the pork melted in your mouth. A great pizza that would be good any time of day!
My husband went for the soup of the day, a bowl with corn, red pepper and more pork in a chicken stock. Fresh and tasty with a wonderful piece of housemade bread! That was followed by the chicken sandwich, which had a very tender piece of chicken on a sesame bun with a perfect tomato (one of the true pleasures of August) and a fried egg. He said the egg combined with the mayo to make it seem like a Béarnaise sauce-again, delicious!
In what initially seems to be a little precious, you can customize your Bloody Mary. Choosing from a list of vodkas and degree of spiciness to garnishes and flavored salt rim is almost too much thinking for an old standard, but when it arrived, it instantly reminded you how good a good Bloody Mary can be! The only misstep was the bacon garnish. As much as bacon would seem to be a great idea, you forget that it’s going to be cold and like French fries or pizza, cold bacon holds no appeal (but the dog loved it).
According to the women sitting next to us, Armsby Abbey is supposed to be one of the five best places in the world to have a beer. The list looked interesting and eclectic. Their new bakery is next door and the restaurant is expanding at the end of the summer. With their emphasis on sourcing locally, it’s definitely worth a stop, as Cozy has been telling me!
