Each night there is a line. I ask a young woman from Orlando, why? She says, "They're good." And what else? She points to the window sign: "They're on TV." They are on TV, on TLC: "All new episode! NY vs. Boston." Not baseball, cupcakes. The newly opened Newbury Street location of Georgetown Cupcake.
The number of people in line is 25 and sometimes more. Inside are two cashiers and five packers. They need them all. You pay first and wait to pick up. Everyone is smiling: the help, the people on line, the eaters, and we who'll soon have cake.
The concept comes from DC sisters Katherine Berman and Sophie LaMontagne. Wikipedia says the cupcakes have 250 calories. Neither of the cupcake sisters look like they have ever eaten a single cupcake.
My first is chocolate with cream cheese frosting that's been rolled in coconut. (Be sure to ask for the ones with cream cheese). Cream cheese is frosting's best friend. It's like bacon. If you put bacon that's not crispy between two slices of toasted mayo-ed cardboard, it's lunch.
Next is carrot with cream cheese frosting. The menu says it's "classic cinnamon apple carrot" but I get spice notes and thankfully, no raisins or nuts. My third is red velvet; it's moist, dense chocolate cake topped with 1/4" of cream cheese frosting. Red velvet is very popular. I see why after a taste test.
I toast half a Whole Foods plain bagel, very un-New York like, and apply cream cheese. One bite of bagel, one bite of red velvet. They're both good; since it's breakfast, I eat the bagel. Later, I toast the other half. I find some packaged (meh) New York lox. Our research shows that lox still goes with the cream cheese on the bagel and Riesling pairs with the cream cheese on the cupcake but hold the lox.
Georgetown's everyday menu includes chocolate, vanilla, pink, blue and red velvet. Other days they add lemon blossom, toffee crunch, honey banana, peanut butter fudge, chocolate banana, Key lime, lemon berry, and salted caramel.
Yes, it's worth the wait. They're better than a cup of vanilla ice cream, two colas, 11 Hershey's kisses, 30 chips, 100 pieces of sugar-free gum, or one commercially baked apple turnover, when you've got 250 calories to spend. As I leave, there are 20 people on line.
Georgetown has one location in Boston:
83 Newbury St
(617) 927-2250
and a new location coming to LA:
143 S. Robertson Blvd
Kitty Kaufman is a Boston writer at http://www.corp-edge.com. Cupcake Photo by Dilusha De Tissera - Twitter: @Dilusha9h
The photographer ate the cupcakes after the shoot.