Have you ever been to Afters Cafe in Federal Hill? I don't usually make it all the way to Federal Hill (or blog about restaurants twice within a few weeks), but I think you should know about this adorable dessert shop on Charles Street!
This weekend we went on a double date and stopped first at Hersh's Pizza in the weird semi-industrial part of South Baltimore (where Light Street ends, under the shadow of I-95). The neighborhood strikes me as odd with the combination of newly converted high-end condos, gritty commercial zoning under the highway and old-time working class Baltimore as well...and yet parking was surprisingly difficult to find. Location aside, I'd highly recommend it. The plaid shirt-clad waitstaff serve delicious, simple and nicely proportioned personal pizzas and classy drinks in this relatively new establishment owned by a brother and sister. I particularly liked hip interior, full of reclaimed materials and vintage charm stretching across two floors. Their website and logo are also well-designed, which totally influence my view of a restaurant. When we arrived around 6:30 it was nearly empty but as the evening wore on, there was pretty much a continuous line of young couples and families waiting by the door. It seems like they will offer outdoor seating soon, which would be a nice option. [My apologies for the lack of photos of Hersh's]
The highlight of my evening, however, appealed both to my sweet tooth and my love of Scandinavian design: we topped off our pizza with a trip to Afters Cafe. I had passed Afters on the Circulator many times and was intrigued by its sharp design out front:
Once you walk inside, you're greeted by a cheery all-white interior, bright wood floors and a cleanly displayed dessert case full of macarons and pastries (yum).
Although I'm sure their espresso and the treats in the case were lovely, I headed straight to the frozen yogurt. They provide this cute sign for guidance on how to enjoy their frozen yogurt:
I believe you could choose from six flavors--today's were original (tart), pomegranate raspberry sorbet, cake batter, vanilla, pistachio and dark chocolate. Each flavor had a guide as well:
The back of the store offers ample seating at these nice, colorfully-tiled tables:
I filled up my cup with vanilla yogurt and went down the topping buffet without a clear theme in mind...I ended up going for mini-marshmallows, broken up Reese's cups, and gummy bears--which was tasty, of course, but a rather strange combination. It is lovely to control what and how much you want by yourself--self-serve is, in my opinion, so much more satisfying!
The prices were pretty reasonable (I ended up paying around $4 for mine) and the atmosphere was perfect for enjoying my little concoction. If you're a fan of self-serve soft-serve (and who isn't?!), you should definitely check out this frozen yogurt hotspot!
