A recent offering was Regal de Bourgogne aux Moutarde de Meaux, a creamy cheese coated with cracked mustard seeds with the result being a balance between sweet and spicy elements. A weekly “fromage feature” is available with crackers and currants as a cheese plate. Several varieties of cheese are sold by weight and displayed in a refrigerated case. The expanded food menu goes beyond typical coffee house pastry to emphasize cheese, a natural accompaniment to the wine sold next door, as well as some of the tinned fish, local bread, and charcuterie products featured on the cafe’s grocery shelves. The result is a more extensive selection of food suitable for light meals or snacks. In its latest incarnation of Hidden Track Cafe, the familiar cold brew and cappuccino have remained available while being supplemented with additional choices that extend the mission of the neighboring wine and beer shop. This is a lot to fit in a compact space, but it works well enough that Hidden Track has recently opened a second, off-rail location a few miles to the north. The small kitchen and customer service counter are situated next to shelves full of Mediterranean imports such as tinned fish and specialty rices for making paella and risotto, as well as local favorites like Noble Bread’s country loaves. The result is a combination of a coffee house, a wine bar, and a boutique grocery all coexisting in the same space with walk-through access to a shop selling beer and wine. With a return to normal operating conditions, the cafe has expanded, augmenting its previously limited indoor seating by filling an adjacent room with tables and a bar. It began a gradual transition in its approach after being acquired by the store next door and briefly changed its focus to be more of a self-styled “ bodega” providing groceries and other essentials during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hidden Track Cafe was originally a coffee house specializing in flavor-infused cold brew coffee, under a different name and different ownership. Bike racks in the area take the form of loops built into several parking meters along Monroe, as well some additional ones on the east side of First Avenue. The cafe and shop are just a block-and-a-half from the Van Buren / Central (westbound) and Van Buren / First Avenue (eastbound) light rail platforms. While the bottle shop lives up to its name with a location somewhat hidden inside the lobby of the 111 West Monroe office tower, the cafe is more prominent with a street entrance and a long, shaded patio that stretches nearly to First Avenue. Less common in an age of streaming services and song-by-song disaggregated listening, the idea is still relevant enough that there’s a downtown Phoenix wine and beer store, Hidden Track Bottle Shop, with an adjacent coffee house and wine bar, Hidden Track Cafe, under the same ownership. Ditties like the Beatles’ “ Her Majesty” appeared when records were dominant, and hidden tracks persisted with compact discs. Aficionados of rock and pop music have long delighted in discovering hidden tracks, secret songs not listed on an album’s packaging.
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