FALL 2010
Autumnal Accents
by jack robertielloOperators are learning that high-quality bread service supports the rest of the menu
Having survived the Atkins diet craze and economic pressures, bread is returning to restaurant tables in a big way. From silver-tonged service to such daily bread specials as Bagel Bomb French-Toast Bread at Momofuku Milk Bar, bread options in restaurants have never been better or more varied. Given such table trends as charcuterie boards, cheese plates and upscaled grilled-cheese sandwiches, serving great bread makes sense.
The French Pastry School doubled in size this year, in part to accommodate professionals who come for continuing-education classes, such as Artisan Breads or The Fundamentals of French Bread, a class that often sells out.
“Time equals taste,” say artisan bakers. This means that letting bread dough ferment longer adds flavor, and more operators are seeing the truth in this adage. Over the past 15 years, bakers and bread manufacturers “have realized that it is not that expensive to slow down and get better results,” reports Melina Kelson-Podolsky, baking and pastry chef instructor at Chicago’s Kendall College.
Out of the Basket
In the wake of the recession, observes Katie Kelsey, director of marketing for La Brea Bakery, many restaurants could not offer free table bread, so limited it to the dinner service.
“In the past nine to 12 months,” she notes, “bread is cropping up on appetizer menus and as garlic bread, crostini, bruschetta and flatbread pizza items,” a trend she links directly to the upgrade in table breads.
Kelsey notes that the menu at Osteria Mozza, a Mario Batali enterprise in Los Angeles, offers several different crostini on the menu, including one with white-bean puree and another with goat cheese, toasted walnuts and walnut oil.
La Brea Bakery introduced the highly versatile Antipasto Bread last fall for basket, appetizer and other menu applications. Available in three varieties — rustic Italian, roasted garlic and toasted walnut — the slim, round loaves lend themselves to small slices that can be grilled and toasted. La Brea has been promoting grilled-cheese sliders featuring the bread. This product moves bread from the basket onto the plate, and by toasting bread, “you can use it longer,” says Kelsey.