Natural Start was excellent in every way; Sharpe had good coffee, if nothing else; now the spot is back to being named Natural Start again, but don't get it confused with the original spot and the people behind it. This New Natural Start, as it shall forevermore be known as, is a slap in the face of good coffee and anything else good in life. I don't doubt the new owners have the best of intentions, and bless them for that, but New Natural Start delivers absolutely nothing.
There are, of course, those who will say we should give any new restaurant a break, with the typical teething problem a new establishment tends to have. OK, sure, but the fact remains that they are still charging full prices, and while some startup issues can be forgiven, there's just nothing here. It's null and void. No light at the end of the tunnel. And that sucks.
We gave them two chances, because, really, we did want them to succeed. No, really. I was downright excited to see the "Natural Start" name again.
During the first visit an Americano and bagel was ordered. We were told the bagel delivery hadn't arrived yet (slightly strange seeing it was primetime for breakfast rush, but whatever) so we asked for a latte instead. After an oddly long wait the latte arrived, without an Americano. Yes. The lady took the "instead" to mean "a latte instead of the bagel you don't have and the Americano the other person clearly wanted." When in doubt, ask.
The latte was atrocious. Not even luke warm and filled to the brim with syrup.
Second chance: Same lady at the helm, and an order for an Americano and a chai tea latte. Her deer in the headlight look when she repeated "chai... tea... latte...?" should have tipped us off. Again, a strangely long wait -- nobody else was there -- and the order arrived.
The Americano, I'm fairly certain, was made only with hot water. There might have been something stuck in the bottom of the cup to add flavor, but I do not know if it was coffee or not. That's not to say she hadn't pulled any espresso shots, as they, for whatever reason, had found their way into the chai tea latte. That's right. The chai tea latte had no milk, but plenty of coffee mixed with the tea.
This was all so ridiculous you'd think somebody was pulling a practical joke. Sadly, it wasn't funny, just gross.
I am sure New Natural Start means well. On the other hand, if I went into an operating room to remove somebody's appendix, I would also do so with the best of intentions, but that wouldn't make the result anything but disastrous.
And a disaster New Natural Start is.