Café Fixe

Individualistic Café Fixe of Brookline bucks numerous trends, focusing on espresso over drip and favoring darker roasts, mainly from Barrington (in Lee, Massachusetts). A Western Massachusetts theme carries into other offerings, including milk from High Lawn Farm in the Berkshires. If the roasts are darkish, the space is light and minimalist in a Scandinavian vein. Owner Maks Milstein, who trained as a lawyer, runs an unusual setup of Anfim grinders and a Kees van der Westen machine; Milstein doubles as a local sales agent for van der Westen. Grab a not-too-sweet, poppy-flecked tebirke and stay for the thoughtfully chosen vinyl, usually jazz. A smaller sibling cafe, Seven Pond, makes an essential stop in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, a few miles to the south. 

—Alexander Henry