Fuel America – Brighton, MA

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Boston, cafe, caffeine, cappuccino, coffee, diva, fuel, Giacomo Puccini, latte, Lauren Flanigan, Massachusetts, Music, opera, score, soprano, Turandot, Wiener Melange

Cafe: Fuel America – Brighton, MA

Opera: Turandot – Giacomo Puccini

The first stop on my Cafe Melange journey is Fuel America, a lovely cafe in Brighton, MA. Since I’ve recently been laid off, I am using this time to actually be a singer, which means hours of score study, translation, watching vintage performances on YouTube, getting to the heart of a character and memorization. In the past few years I haven’t been able to do much of this because I was working, working, working, to pay my redics student loans and afford my life. However since being laid off, I have the luxury of spending time focusing on my REAL career goals, singing all over the world with a little blogging and social media strategy mixed in!

The last week has already gone by in a blur but each day I’ve been trying to check out a new cafe in which to set up my computer and music books, aka my “office”. Check out the About page for more on the impetus behind this blog…

In my search for a glorious cappuccino and comfy cafe, I turn to Yelp for divine inspiration. I live in Boston, which means most of the coolest cafes are in areas not exactly conducive to parking for extended periods of time… Since I didn’t feel like schlepping my scores on the T today, I decided to look to the ‘burbs for my caffeine fix. With a rating of 4.5 stars from 46 reviews AND a parking lot (!) Fuel America won the “where shall I drink today?” contest!

I’ve decided that since I am in search of the perfect melange replacement outside of Vienna, (no one can make this anywhere in the world… the closest I’ve found in the last 11 years is the cappuccino at Cafe Regular in Park Slope, Brooklyn…) I will try a cappuccino in each cafe I visit for this blog.

Coffee: The cappuccino at Fuel has a wonderfully frothy foam that you can almost mold into an artsy sculpture of milky goodness. The espresso is rich and not bitter and even before my obligatory packet of Splenda, has an almost sweet flavor. I’ll give this 4/5 cups but it is NOT a replacement for the creamy goodness of a Wiener Melange.

Music: The music on tap is an eclectic blend of alterna rock, metal, and typical coffee house singer/songwriter. Right up my ally.

Decor: Fuel has a grease monkey, rugged, pseudo ’50’s diner meets auto repair shop theme which my inner pin-up loves. The furnishings are all clean and sleek and there is a lot of leather and chrome. It also has PLENTY of seating so there is none of that vulturing for a seat that happens at some smaller venues. They also sell Moleskine notebooks so… theres that.

Today I am studying “In questa Reggia” from Puccini’s Turandot, an aria I am equal parts thrilled and terrified to be working on at 31. It sits very high but is one of my dream roles. I’m headed to NYC for a few weeks for an Audition Bootcamp with Lauren Flanigan’s Music and Mentoring House, so I need to get this and the other new arias I’ve been woking on under my belt. I am so happy to have the chance to be a “real” singer for a little while! Watch this video for the consummate Turandot, Birgit Nilsson. There really hasn’t been a signature Turandot since Birgit, soooo… someone needs to follow in her footsteps right?

With that I’m off re-caffinate and translate some Italian. Ciao!