Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Counting Calories at The Coffee Bean

There was a time when I didn’t think much about calories. I’ve recently attributed my newfound calorie counting to my age and the slowing of my metabolism, but it might have more to do with California’s menu labeling law. Either way, it’s been enlightening.

This morning, I went corporate for my (third cup of) morning coffee. I usually make the trip down to North Park, but today I wanted to stay within the general vicinity of my daughter’s school so I could maximize on my work-time. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on Clairemont Mesa had an open table next to the window and an outlet, so I spread out my computer, notebooks, and pens and went to the counter to order.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/may/04/23873/

I’m usually partial to bagels and breakfast sandwiches at this time of day, but the Coffee Bean is more of a pastry kind of place. I’ve heard that muffins are one of those traps for people seeking to cut back on calories. You hear muffin and you think ‘Better than a donut,’ but they’re high in calories. Sometimes I pretend I don’t know this and I order one anyway. Other days, I order a scone.

Maybe I’m the last one on Earth to know this, but when I looked at the calorie label on the scones this morning, it blew my mind. At 530, they were higher in calories than the croissants (400)! The two pastries with the lowest calories were a mini cheese Danish (another surprise – I would’ve thought that would be higher) and the mini banana nut muffin, both at 190.

I'm now convinced that the new obsession with mini everything that seems to have overtaken the food universe has as much to do with calories as it does to do with cute – perhaps more so.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/may/04/23874/

I settled on a mini muffin to go with my coffee. It seems like muffins have gotten sweeter and cakier in recent years. Or maybe they always were. Anyway, this one was surprisingly less cakey and sweet-sweet than most other banana nut muffins I’ve had, which made it just the right companion for my black-no-sugar coffee.

Total bill: $3.02

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?

There was a time when I didn’t think much about calories. I’ve recently attributed my newfound calorie counting to my age and the slowing of my metabolism, but it might have more to do with California’s menu labeling law. Either way, it’s been enlightening.

This morning, I went corporate for my (third cup of) morning coffee. I usually make the trip down to North Park, but today I wanted to stay within the general vicinity of my daughter’s school so I could maximize on my work-time. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on Clairemont Mesa had an open table next to the window and an outlet, so I spread out my computer, notebooks, and pens and went to the counter to order.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/may/04/23873/

I’m usually partial to bagels and breakfast sandwiches at this time of day, but the Coffee Bean is more of a pastry kind of place. I’ve heard that muffins are one of those traps for people seeking to cut back on calories. You hear muffin and you think ‘Better than a donut,’ but they’re high in calories. Sometimes I pretend I don’t know this and I order one anyway. Other days, I order a scone.

Maybe I’m the last one on Earth to know this, but when I looked at the calorie label on the scones this morning, it blew my mind. At 530, they were higher in calories than the croissants (400)! The two pastries with the lowest calories were a mini cheese Danish (another surprise – I would’ve thought that would be higher) and the mini banana nut muffin, both at 190.

I'm now convinced that the new obsession with mini everything that seems to have overtaken the food universe has as much to do with calories as it does to do with cute – perhaps more so.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/may/04/23874/

I settled on a mini muffin to go with my coffee. It seems like muffins have gotten sweeter and cakier in recent years. Or maybe they always were. Anyway, this one was surprisingly less cakey and sweet-sweet than most other banana nut muffins I’ve had, which made it just the right companion for my black-no-sugar coffee.

Total bill: $3.02

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.