Walking into the Fuel Coffee Shop in New Haven on a Wednesday afternoon, I immediately saw three glowing MacBooks, each with large white coffee mugs next to them. I was looking for a place to file a quick story so the two requirements, wifi and caffeine, were met.
This small, independently owned neighborhood shop is known for its organic, fair trade and vegan offerings — and for one heck of a cup of coffee. Even an oddly-timed midday line was four people deep, with the barista hard at work hand crafting designs atop the hot lattes. I saw a Peanut Butter Cup latte, $3.85, on the menu, and needed to look no farther.
I also ordered the veggie burger wrap, $6.95, served grilled with cheese, special sauce, red onion, tomato and spinach. It comes in both vegan and dairy versions.
The latte had just a hint of peanut butter and wasn’t overly sweet: so very easy to sip. The only thing that held me back was my fear of messing up the beautiful intricate foam decorations. I got over it.
The veggie burger came with a generous serving of crispy round tortilla chips. The wrap was giant and the tortilla had been toasted to a perfect slight crunchiness. The veggie burger was warm and loaded with flavor. What made it so delicious, unlike my veggie burgers of yore, I asked the owner.
“It’s the special sauce,” she said.
I asked if it was really a secret, and she said no, not really — just a mixture of vegan mayonaise, ketchup and cholula hot sauce.
Genius.
I couldn’t resist having a piece of New York-based Mister Sister Vegan fudge. I chose the Fudge Roulette ($3), which turned out to be java, made with Counter Culture’s organic and fair-trade Ethiopian coffee. The fudge had that perfect bitter dark chocolate hint. Paired with the latte, it was basically java nirvana.
Fuel’S menu includes locally-made bagels and baked goods. For bigger appetites, there’s tofu scramble, vegan bacon and a pesto-encrusted grilled cheese.
Coffee, iced coffee, lattes and teas are just the beginning of the caffeine train. A chalkboard displaying summer specials listed a coconut mocha iced latte, which seemed to be a favorite.
>>Fuel, 516 Chapel St., New Haven, is open Monday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and is cash only. Information: twitter.com/fuelcoffeeshop.
