Natick Report

The latest Natick, Mass., business news:

A visit to the Muffin House

Somehow we’d never made it over the Muffin House Café(325 N. Main St.) until this week, when in our quest to go everywhere in Natick we braved the never-ending construction mess on Rte. 27.

We got there during the 8am rush, along with high school students and others who, like us, lined up inside the small cafe, or waited patiently just outside. You can order online to avoid peak hour crushes. Although there are a couple of stools at a counter area, the tight quarters make the Muffin House mainly a take-out shop. The counter area when we were there was in use as a pick-up area for pre-ordered cakes and other baked goods. A couple of tables and chairs are set up for outdoor dining.

The Muffin House is a small place with a big menu. The astonishing variety of drinks includes over 15 coffee flavors available, and all flavors are roasted in the bean so that each drink comes to the customer with a rich flavor profile. They’ve got four varieties of frozen coffee (mint chip, extreme toffee coffee, coconut cream, and chocolate decadence); nitro coffee; lattes; cappuccinos; espresso shots; teas; cider; hot chocolate; strawberry banana, wildberry,  or tropical smoothies; and more.

But they’re not called the Muffin House for nothing. On any given day about a dozen varieties of freshly baked muffins are in rotation from their roster of almost 20 recipes. We went with a pina colada muffin, as moist and tropical as a beach day on an island paradise. The vanilla raspberry offered a subtler taste, also good. Both muffins had a nice crumb to them, and a muffin top that gave a slight crunch at the edges. We washed the muffins down with a flavorful mango smoothie and were good for the morning.

Our sole disappointment was the news that they were out of rustic grain bread, so we chose to have our avocado toast on white. Not as satisfying, but the everyday bagel seasoning on top gave the toast plenty of flavor, and the avocado portion was generous.

There are five Muffin House Café locations, including Hopkinton and Medway.

 

Royal Smoke Shop wafts onto Rte. 9

Royal Smoke Shop has left Natick Mall and replaced a mattress and futon shop at 136 Worcester St. (Rte. 9 east).

The adult-only shop, where you can buy hookahs and such, is seeking a variance from the Natick Board of Health on Sept. 20 to add lottery tickets to its mix.

 

New program for nurse practitioner faculty

Natick nonprofit Nurse Practitioner Associates for Continuing Education (NPACE) has teamed with the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties to create a development program for new or early career nurse practitioner faculty.

This 28-credit on-demand continuing education program aims to help new faculty understand the nuances of adult education and the specific education needs of nurse practitioner students. The program is broken into five self-paced modules:
 Foundations and Theoretical Frameworks of Education
 Curriculum Design and Development
 Student Assessment and Test Construction
 Clinical Education and Evaluation
 Technology and Learning Best Practices

Discounts are available on the program.

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