Twelve Pines Deli

The Twelve Pines Deli is less of a deli and more of a trendy food marketplace for Peterborough's art community. And if you're not from the Peterborough area, let me tell you, the McDowell Art Colony has grown quite a little art community in Peterborough, and I suppose this is where those people go grocery shopping.

Usually, a half diner/half market arrangement is kind of a caution flag, but in this case, the atmosphere only adds to the high quality food.

I got a tomato and mozzarella panini, as pictured here. It cost about a dollar more than you'd find in a similiar panini at Panera or some other national chain, but at Panera they don't give a rat's ass about the ingredients. Twelve Pines just exudes the opposite, at least from the local chefs in the back preparing all the ingredients for the kids up front who....probably had to flip a coin between working here or some Panera-like establishment and probably don't give a rat's....ok fine, the service wasn't superlative. It wasn't bad either though, unlike many chain places. In the end, with over the counter meals, service isn't a huge deal.

What mattered here was the fact that I probably could have picked a dozen other choices they had and left happy. This place caters to the connoisseur, everything feels and tastes fresh, unlike the fast food places or even the faux-fast food places like Panera.

The problem is the price, but when you enter a place that says "no photography allowed inside" on the door, you know what you're getting into. Yes, I do understand the irony of that given the fact that I took a photo of my sandwich, but I can only assume they were talking about the antique barn that this place is housed in.


Meal: Tomato and Mozzarella Panini, Ginger Beer and Chips
Price: $11.00
Speed of Service: 10 minutes
Time of Meal: 12:30 PM, Weekday