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CLOVER FOOD LAB
Vegetarian and vegan fast food for people who aren’t vegetarians or vegans? That’s the novel idea behind Clover Food Lab, MIT alum Ayr Muir’s prototype for his quick-service chain concept. I’m a dedicated omnivore who doesn’t understand the vagaries of vegan baking (apparently curdled soy milk stands in nicely for eggs) and unabashedly delights in gnawing on seared animal flesh, but I’d happily eat here often if I worked nearby. Breakfast options include vegan banana muffins ($2, small and fine), oatmeal ($3, fresh and chewy), and popovers ($2, simultaneously light and buttery — incredible). Coffee ($2) from Massachusetts roaster Barrington Coffee could not be fresher: Clover uses a one-cup drip-brewing method.
Lunch presents a rotating selection of terrific sandwiches, like the egg and eggplant ($5), which stuffs pita to overflowing with sliced hardboiled egg, unbreaded sautéed eggplant, Israeli salad, and tahini — a beautiful melding of sunny Mediterranean flavors. Eye-catching side salads include carrot with citrus ($2), a Moroccan-influenced combination of shredded carrots, golden raisins, pine nuts, and lemon juice. You might make a special trip just for the fries ($3), hand-cut on the spot (a whole skin-on Russet gets hand-punched through a wall-mounted slicer) and deep fried with fresh rosemary. They’re a little oily and just amazing by themselves — put down the ketchup. Even if the other food trucks clustered on this block were better (as it happens, they’re okay at best), Clover would still stand out. You really have to hope Muir’s chain idea catches on.
Approximate address: 25 Carleton Street, Cambridge
Hours: Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Nearby landmark: MIT Medical building
