For years in my neighborhood whenever I got the craving for pancakes there was always the Bright Food Shop, a little southwestern diner in Chelsea with high quality food and the best cornmeal pecan pancakes I or anyone else I know had ever eaten. When you got that craving your mouth could water but you knew soon you could be satisfied with the thickest tastiest pancakes on the planet served with organic maple syrup. Every one in my family was addicted and when they would visit from out of town they would be requesting Bright Food Shop for brunch before their arrival.
When I walked into the restaurant the waiter would know my order before I sat down, because rarely although every thing on their menu was good, did I order anything else. I always assumed they would be there. The restaurant had been a neighborhood fixture for many years. I never dreamed I would need to get their recipe and think of fixing them on my own, they were so successful it didn’t enter my consciousness that they could disappear. Then one day I was walking by and they were closed, they and their sister restaurant the Mexican take out place called Kitchen, also a neighborhood favorite. I can’t begin to tell you my disappointment and shock.  To this day probably a year or so later I feel the pain.
I was in Vermont in October enjoying the fall foliage, but one can’t think of Vermont or go there without indulging in pure maple syrup. This morning I was thinking of that weekend away and woke up knowing I had to have something with pure maple syrup. I wanted to go to Bright, for it to still be there and for me to be able to taste my beloved pancakes once again. I wanted the opportunity to turn new friends on to their pancakes and see their faces after that first bite, when they would be transfixed and in heaven. Ultimately I went to the Half King and had a delicious waffle with pure maple syrup. It was very good and I love Half King, but still it was not the Bright Food Shop.
It is my understanding that they lost their lease or decided not to renew their lease as the landlord was asking for a ridiculous increase in rent. I don’t know if it is true but that’s the rumor that’s been floating around and given the transformation and high costs of everything now in Chelsea, it would not surprise me. So I’m asking all of you out there, does anyone know the pancake recipe they used? Did anyone get it before they closed? Does anyone who worked at Bright want to share it with us or does anyone have a pancake recipe they think could rival the cornmeal pecan cakes from Bright Food Shop? I’m calling out to all of you. You can help. If anyone knows the true story of what happened to this neighborhood favorite and it’s sister next door, or if you know and are willing to divulge their wonderful pancake recipe you would be doing a community service and I’m certain it would assure you a good place in heaven and most definitely in this life. The maple syrup gods and all your new friends would look upon you most kindly and I’m certain you would be highly rewarded.
Trust me when I say this is a puzzle worth solving. Has Bright opened some place else, and more importantly where can we get their cornmeal pecan pancakes or ones of equivalent taste and quality? If you have an answer, please respond with your recipes and thoughts for myself and other readers of this blog. All of our Saturday and Sunday mornings could then be truly Bright.
