Fortissimo and Cafe Tango Both Headed for Somerville

Somerville will soon gain two new cafes with the upcoming openings of Cafe Tango and Fortissimo. Chowder reports that the music and dance-themed Cafe Tango will be a coffeshop and creperie on Bow Street and that it's shooting for a mid-month opening. Boston Restaurant Talk describes Fortissimo as a "coffeehouse and bakery" coming to Somerville Ave at around the same time: April 16. As Chowder notes, these latest openings continue to confirm Somerville's popularity, especially Union Square, which is already home to hotspots like backbar and Casa B and is slated for the outdoor wine and cheese market Swirl & Slice, the barbecue restaurant The Bearded Pig, and a Counter Culture Coffee school. Union also recently saw the debut of Akimenko Meats, and the upcoming M.F. Dulock Pasture-Raised Meats will be close by.

There are two unmistakable trends in Somerville's new wave: meat and coffee. Meat: The Bearded Pig, Akimenko Meats, M.F. Dulock Pasture-Raised Meats. Coffee: Counter Culture Coffee, Fortissimo, Cafe Tango. That may be a reflection of the neighborhood itself, or it may be more proof of the preference for primitivist, nostalgic, sometimes kitschy cuisine evocative of bygone eras. Now if only someone would open up a Somerville butcher shop that also serves coffee and has lots of art with birds on it, they'd be golden.

· Fortissimo to open in Somerville's Union Square [BRT]
· When it comes to restaurants, Somerville is so hot right now [C]
· All Somerville coverage on Eater [-EB-]