Bread

[chefg]

. At el Bulli, there is a bread service -- and the bread was very good. It was in some way comforting to have something familiar amongst the onslaught of soups-that-were-sauces, sweets-that-were-savouries and the like.

Jonathan:

I am interested in hearing more about this as I don't recall a bread service when I was there in 2000...or maybe I didn't eat any..?

[Rosie]

"Rosie, it's interesting to read that restaurants in Australia and New Zealand offer bread as an a la carte option. In Spain, many restaurants charge for bread, but I feel it's a cover charge rather than a charge for what you eat in most cases. Two generations ago, it was common in France to charge for bread and tablecloth -- literally bread and cover, which is the origin of cover charge, I believe. "

The funny thing was that if you order soup it came with a thick slice of hearty bread and was cheaper and much better than the bread brought in a basket. We weren't impressed with the bread in Australia/New Zealand except for toast that we would order for breakfast in local coffee shops. We were tempted to order the soup with bread and tell them to hold the soup!

[inventolux]

. At el Bulli, there is a bread service -- and the bread was very good. It was in some way comforting to have something familiar amongst the onslaught of soups-that-were-sauces, sweets-that-were-savouries and the like.

Jonathan:

I am interested in hearing more about this as I don't recall a bread service when I was there in 2000...or maybe I didn't eat any..?

I was at El Bulli over this past march and they refrained from serving bread at that time. Its definitely not their style to do so. (unless its a toasted bread cotton candy)

[Jonathan Day]

At our dinner there was definitely a bread service -- crusty white bread rolls, with pointed ends (a "batard", I think, or a "banette"). It was brought round at least 3 times, roughly to match the service of each of the main wines we ordered. Good crust and crumb, tasty but not oversalted. I don't remember the butter that was provided.

The restaurant at el Bulli is only open from 1 April to 30 September. Was your visit in March part of a special event?

[tan319]

I can't believe I found this thread and that it was started by chefG!

I have SOOOOOO many thoughts on bread, it being a major monetary concern to both of the restaurants I work at, how it affects the meal ( I am a pastry chef, the more bread eaten, the less room there is at the end) the labor and expertise required to produce something exceptional.

It's given away, at an expense not usually considered by most people.

We were spending 400+ bucks a week on it, not counting ,what, 20 lb. of butter a week also?

If you get into flavoring the butter ( a concept I truly dislike, unless for fish or meat) even more money spent on labor.

If the chef wants to get fancy, piping out pats of butter, more time, more money.

And if you have truly great bread (And why not?) you never can keep up with the demand.

We cut it out for awhile, we made flatbread, to be given out with a variety of olives, we now have the culinary student I hired to work as my assistant, spending every single minute of her time making, you guessed it, bread.

The other restaurant I consult for just did away with it. They throw an amuse out there and feed you what you order.

I love the european idea of charging for bread service.

I can't imagine sitting down for a meal at Trio or El Bulli and getting bread.

Come to think of it, when I worked at Chicama, I don't think Chef Douglas served bread.

Or maybe he did send out a cassava flatbread(bought in) with a tuna mayo.

Does he do this at Ola?

I do think of the whole 'breaking bread', semi religous, tradition of bread being offered but the whole thing just seems to eat up so much time, money and thought process.

At Peter Lugers, yes!

In an oyster bar, with salted butter, yes!!!

With a braised dish, with a wonderful broth, sure. Make it a component of the dish.

But then the other customers will see it and want it.

When I took my main gig, a bit over a year now, one of the first things I said was a deal breaker was that I don't do bread.

I wish bread could be more of a surprise to people, like an amuse, rather then this entitled, expected part of the meal.

chefG, I can't see how people would miss it at Trio.

[twodogs]

alas is not bread merely just the vehicle for great butter?

cheers

[tammylc]

alas is not bread merely just the vehicle for great butter?

cheers

At Trio, yep. It was good bread, but the butter was absolutely steller, and given that we were eating 27 courses, the only reason I bothered to eat any bread at all.

Now, the bread at Tapawingo is just incredible bread. And since our dinner there was only 5 courses, I had room for it...