Noah Phillips
4 & 20 Bakery and Cafe, 305 N. Fourth St., near East High School, was born three years ago as an offsite kitchen for the owner’s catering business, but quickly blossomed into a laid-back neighborhood establishment.
Catering is now the side business, with the cafe the focus of the enterprise. Glossy blue wooden tables, unfinished concrete floors and upbeat, original art on the walls decorate the space.
I ordered a neighborhood favorite, 4 & 20’s unique New Orleans cold brew. The beans, a special blend from Just Coffee, are steeped with chicory for three days during the cold brewing process. 4 & 20 staff samples every batch before adding the whole milk and brown sugar simple syrup that complete the drink.
The result is delicious. The brown sugar offers a balanced, pleasant, subdued sweetness, and the chicory, which 19th century Louisiana added to coffee as a cheap way to stretch expensive coffee beans, adds a lingering note of nuttiness. The whole milk mellows the chicory taste, and the experience conjures up images of a leisurely mid-morning stop at Café Du Monde in New Orleans.
