Miko's Flipside Cafe Pops Up for the Season

By Molly Durham in Food on Oct 3, 2011 4:00PM

Cozy, friendly and tasty. That's what a good neighborhood cafe should be. And that's just what Miko's Flipside Cafe is.

In the cold months, Miko's Italian Ice flips into its wintertime counterpart, Miko's Flipside Cafe. From October through April, the pop-up will offer coffee, baked treats, soups, sandwiches and mac and cheese. This weekend, we visited their season opener. Will Von Hartz, a laid-off IT director who used to bake desserts for Rootstock, served and hung out with customers in the tiny space that seats about 10. A big warm red wall, a row of stools and a crammed counter top make for a tightly packed and casual feel. You'll get to know the person sitting next to you whether you want to or not.

The menu included split pea and lentil soups, cheese cookies, grilled cheese with cheddar and smoked gouda on rosemary garlic bread, grilled vegetables on ciabatta, hot apple cider and pour-over coffee. The Panamanian coffee from Ipsento had a fruity taste, and the cider was piping hot and nice and spicy.

Everything tasted like it had just popped out of the oven at home. The cheddar cookies were cheesier than a Cheez-it. They're an interesting hybrid between a biscuit, cookie and cracker, and while we were there someone even tried to wrestle the recipe out of Von Hartz. No go on that one. We wished they had their curry cookies, which are on the menu, available for tasting.

The only question we left this place with was: why aren't there more seasonal pop ups for winter?

Miko's Flipside Cafe is located at 1846 N. Damen Ave.