Midnight Morning

Midnight Morning opened in 2023 at 14 Birch Street in Roslindale Village, taking over the premises of the longtime Birch Street Bistro. Its owner, Virginia Schubert, came to the business from a career in design and built it around a single format problem: that Roslindale had few places that could carry a customer from morning coffee through to a late drink without changing venue. The name states the ambition. The restaurant is certified in the City of Boston's Supplier Diversity Program as a Minority Business Enterprise, Woman Business Enterprise and Small Local Business Enterprise, and the kitchen is run by executive chef Rory Lee on a globally inflected, made-from-scratch menu that turns over with the seasons. The Boston Globe profiled it on October 12, 2023, describing the house cocktail list — the margarita-adjacent Captain Crunch made with corn liqueur, and the Honey Oats, a daiquiri topped with oat milk foam — and recording that there are also several zero-proof offerings.

The day starts as a cafe and the coffee programme is not an afterthought. The printed cafe menu runs drip, decaf drip, cafe au lait, iced coffee, cold brew and iced decaf; a rotating pour-over selection that has recently included Banda Rebelde and E.A. Decaf Popayan; a full espresso bar of americanos, lattes, cappuccinos, cortados and flat whites; and matcha, chai and Rishi teas. House favourites listed at the top of the board include a grapefruit and orange blossom espresso tonic, a dark chocolate mocha latte and a sparkling matcha lemonade — all alcohol-free drinks built with the same care as a cocktail. Behind that sits a house-made syrup and sweetener range covering vanilla bean, dark chocolate, dulce de leche, real maple, honey syrup and cold foam. In the evening that same care goes into a standing Zero Proof section on the printed drink menu, four cocktails priced at $10 alongside the alcoholic house list rather than tucked beneath it: Remember Me, built on AMASS Riverine with lemon, honey and aquafaba; Bad Decisions, on Everleaf Forest with lime, lemongrass and orange blossom; Threat Level Midnight, which pulls the cafe and the bar together with Zero Zero Amaro, cold brew and condensed milk; and the Arbore'rum, on Ritual Proof Rum with lime, pomegranate, rose and ginger beer. Two non-alcoholic beers are poured as well, Lagunitas IPNA and Kit's gluten-removed On Your Mark blonde, both at $8. Food runs from a breakfast menu served until 4pm through lunch sandwiches and salads to a dinner list of pastas and larger plates. The restaurant opens at 8am on weekdays and 10am at weekends, and runs to 12:30am on Fridays.