May-2015
Maine Grind building boasts café, bakery, Wi-Fi

PHOTO BY JACQUELINE WEAVER
“Flexit Café & Bakery,” the new café inside the orange-and purple-trimmed Maine Grind building, has a growing number of folks meeting and flocking there for freshly made muffins, soups, home-baked muffins, fruit and vegetable drinks and other fare.
Owner Paul Markosian addresses the name.
“The name Flexit is meant to evoke, among other things, the term ‘flexitarian,’ which is an approach to eating that is not locked into a single dietary model,” he said.
Flexitarians might eat a big rib eye one day and then limit themselves to vegetables the following day.
“It’s also someone who likes to try, and mix, many different styles of food,” Markosian said. “Flexit also refers to the idea that the menu supports a healthy lifestyle [with muscle flexing] and indulgent desserts alongside salad. And, finally, Flexit stands for a ‘yes we can’ attitude.”
Who knew?
The café offers breakfast, lunch and food to take home for dinner.
They also have smoothies with customers choosing three among five fruits, which then are combined with yogurt and orange juice, or soy or almond milk.
Breakfast options include, among others, a burrito with cinnamon-chipotle roasted sweet potatoes, quiche and muffins.
Lunch includes different soups each day, at least one of which is vegan. One recent day there was roasted red pepper bisque with smoked Gouda; haddock chowder; lentil and butternut squash and apple on the menu.
The sandwiches range from the familiar — turkey with lettuce, tomato and mayo — to the more exotic — Banh Mi, a Vietnamese classic with fresh cilantro, carrots, jalapeño, cucumbers and mayo with choice of roast pork, grilled chicken or baked marinated tofu.
The salads reflect the healthy aim of Flexit with a Super Greens Salad featuring baby organic kale, red and green chard, spinach, cucumber, carrots and balsamic vinaigrette.
“In general, we serve a wide array of menu items made from healthy and sustainable ingredients, combining bold flavors in many enticing combinations,” Markosian said.
Markosian says Flexit’s role in the community is a gathering place, where he sees “business people meeting clients, friends meeting friends, runners from a 5K road race assembling here after their run.”
Flexit Café & Bakery is open Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Sundays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.