Breadline

[babka]

How is it that in 17 pages worth of DelMarVa D.C. threads, Breadline hasn't earned a single one of its own yet? Oh sure, we dance around it when talking about the sorry state of bread in the district, and it earns its dutiful approbation in discussions of random lunches and earnest warm days....but c'mon, this place makes me as happy as a lunch without martinis can make me!

So what makes you smile and sweat through its maze of folks?

for me, the bbq pork with spicy coleslaw on sweet, crumby bread sings away the rain, while the prosciutto with fig paste marks the spring. Cucumber water is far better than the two-bit scam I first assumed it to be, and the little ciabattas make my home-packed tuna come alive.

[mnebergall]

I've only been to the Breadline once, years ago, and I don't remember what I had. Perhaps we could organize an eGDC lunch for all of us downtowners at the Breadline. The only rule being that everyone has to order something different.

[hjshorter]

Sadly, Breadline opened after I stopped working downtown, and they aren't open on the weekends. I've been twice and seem to remember some excellent egg salad.

[cuisy]

where to start? Last week I shared the lamb gyro and the italian sausage sandwich with a friend. Both sandwiches were amazingly wonderfully good and so generously oversized with excellent ingredients that I wondered how Breadline can make money. Our gyro must have had half a pound of excellent lamb. We also split a seafood stew that consisted of mounds of incredibly fresh seafood with just enough broth to cover the squid/mussels/scallops/etc. The fries are overrated, although fresh. Unfortunately we wolfed this meal down so fast that it was over almost before it started leaving us longing for more. I wish Breadline served dinner - in fact I wish they would serve me dinner right now.

[Malawry]

Sometimes on Fridays they used to have this fried fish sandwich on a massive brioche roll, with this awesome slaw that had pickly red onions in it. Edemuth and I would almost always get it if we went there together. It was massive. I haven't been to Breadline in about 2 years but this item stuck around on the menu for quite a while, so it might still be showing up. Best to try now while it's still Lent and there's higher fish demand as a result.

[babka]

they had the fried fish yesterday, Malawry.

[Malawry]

Didja get it?

I'm salivating just thinking about it. Knocked back with a glass of their homemade lemonade.

I thought their breakfast pastries, or at least those I sampled, were not very good. The blueberry muffin wasn't as tender as I'd like, and the cream-filled donut had a tasty filling (tasted of egg and milk), but the receptacle was a little tough and chewy and stale-tasting. I did like their chocolate sandwich cookies with mascarpone filling though.

[Steve Klc]

I wonder if the Breadline issue isn't more involved, perhaps even a "paradox" which unfortunately defines our area. I think BL and I return to question after question.

I've had no better bread than BL and I was one of those waiting in line outside Marvelous Market for hours when Mark first opened just to get my two loaves. We all agree the product is absolutely superior, it's the best bread and a fantastic lunch spot. He's friends with Phyllis and Tom and mentioned often in media. I love it when a restaurant buys his bread instead of someone else's and rather than making some middling, underbaked, over-risen attempt in-house--and I make a point to go back to those restaurants.

It's been mentioned elsewhere that our area doesn't "appreciate," and isn't willing to pay for, truly superior "artisinal" products--see Rocks excellent post about Amernick's traditional pastry shop for backup evidence. I agree with this to a certain extent--and I'm complicit. I settle too readily for inferior bread from Wegmans or Firehook or MM and sometimes used to settle for significantly inferior bread from Whole Foods, that was pre-Wegmans back when I still set foot in Whole Foods. I'm guilty of not making the special trip just to BL just for the bread as often as I should. And I know I should--it is centrally located, right?

But is that enough? How important is it for artisans (leaving aside debate over the criteria for "artisinal" inclusion for another time) to be available locally--as in my local neighborhood? When I lived in SoHo I walked out the door and around the corner everyday to Sullivan Street Bakery--and there was good bread all over the city. It would be a 30 minute round trip, at least, for me to go to BL and I live nearby, just across Roosevelt Bridge. Do we live in such an age of convenience which trumps our better judgement?

Then there's the perception of Furstenburg's poor approach to customer service and customer relations, perhaps rivalled only by Carole Greenwood. It seemed, for a while, that whenever I made a detour to the BL after work, at night or on weekends it was closed. If it were open at night I'd go often but would enough other folks? I've never had a poor first-hand experience in line but if I ever did, I'd probably never go back--I'm very unforgiving of poor customer service in foodservice. And the thing is--artisinal is still foodservice. And yet his place is always packed when I go, so not too many locals have been put off with poor service, have they?

What prevents Mark from just doing what he does best--make breads, sell them retail and wholesale--and see our area support him in that effort so he makes a decent living? Why does he have to do lunch--do you think he wants to or has to? Why can't I ever seem to find his bread available for sale in Arlington or in any of the gourmet supermarkets? If Whole Foods slams the door in his face--why aren't more of us upset with Whole Foods? As I've mentioned on other threads, the WF in San Fran sold 4 or 5 locally-crafted artisinal breads.

Maybe his future is as a consultant outside DC--you don't get a better resume-booster than a chef like Keller asking you to consult--but where does that leave us? Will he go the way of Dieter Schorner? (Cafe Didier failed and closed, after that Bruno Feldeisen failed and closed) Is this at all an indictment of how our area pales (or fails) in comparison to other cities? And how much of this is our fault and how much of that stems from decisions Mark himself has made?

I'm troubled by this and don't have the answers. In case anyone hasn't read this chat yet:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveo...y/bob051402.htm

[babka]

just fyi--Breadline's bread is available at my neighborhood farmer's market (Mt. Pleasant) during the summer...replete with samples and fresh butter. The guy selling it made a clear distinction between the bread at the market and the business for lunch--not sure what Furstenberg's (sp?) contracting arrangement is, but would a) love to know and b) love to figure out how to support it by encouraging other folks and farmer's markets to carry it in the neighborhood.

not least b/c my market's still down for the winter.

[Mark Sommelier]

Citronelle uses the Palladin loaf from Breadline.

[mnebergall]

What are some other "artisinal" bakeries in the DC area. Would a place like "Gold Crust" bakery in Alexandria qualify?

[JPW]

What are some other "artisinal" bakeries in the DC area. Would a place like "Gold Crust" bakery in Alexandria qualify?

YES!

Man, that's the number one thing I miss about living in Del Ray.

At least twice a week visits as I walked home from the Y.

Nicest people on the face of the earth.

[Busboy]

Mark Furstenberg wrote extensively about the trials in Slate last year. Note that there are five entries, to the "Diary" click through all the days of the week to get the whole piece.

Babka -- I wonder if I've bumped into you waiting in the bread line at the Mt. P market.

[Sr.Llave]

Don't forget Breadline's Cuban Roast Pork sandwich on Thursdays. Slices of roast pork, ham, and cheese with a few pickles and a subtle spread of orange cumin on ciabatta. Place this under the pannini press and you've got a meaty, warm melted cheese sandwich with a crust that doesn't fall apart . The pickles add a nice tart taste.

Too bad about the service chaos. One has to go a few times to get used to the process. Things could be better streamlined I think if everyone stood in the same line and the registers were further down the line.

[mnebergall]

Supposedly, Gold Crust supplies both the White House and Dean and De Luca.

[hillvalley]

I had lunch with a friend who is sort of in the industry. He had heard a rumor that Mark was leaving Breadline? Anyone know if it's true?

Did anyone have the soft shells this season? Are they still available?

[MCJB2]

I think he's been trying to sell breadline for awhile now. I had the soft shell sandwich once, it's available on Thursday & Friday. I do not care for the brioche it is served on (the same one all of their seafood items are served on), it is too sweet to my taste. Also, the soft shell I got was tiny & not very meaty, the taste of the crab was easily overwhelmed by the other ingredients. It is served with very greasy french fries, I know a lot of people love their fries, but they are too heavy for me.

[artisanbaker]

i had a great experience at this place. mark was also the one who brought a certain mr. vatinet to the states years ago.

i hope he does well, and judging from the crowd i saw last fall, he is.

[morela]

Plus, Mark is a good writer. I enjoy his Letters to the Editor and his 'Close to Home' pieces in The Washington Post.

Edited August 2, 2004 by morela (log)

[DonRocks]

From today's Washington Post, an excerpt from the article entitled "Humble Sandwich Often Tops the Menu - Chains Try to Gobble Up the Market for Gourmet Lunch Fare" by Candy Sagon

Washington baker Mark Furstenberg, who owns BreadLine near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, has nervously watched in the past year as Potbelly, Quiznos and Corner Bakery have all opened within a block of his restaurant.

"It's hurt my business. We used to serve 975 customers a day, we are now serving 775," he said. Competing against the chains is difficult, he said, "because they have greater buying power [with suppliers], so they get better deals. They can also afford to operate at break-even, even at a loss sometimes, to increase their market power."

Never forget what just happened to Ann Amernick's bakery: AVOID THE BLOODSUCKING, EXANIMATE CORPORATE CHAINS.

Rocks.

[iamthestretch]

\Ex*an"i*mate\, a. [L. exanimatus, p. p. of exanimare to deprive of life or spirit; ex out + anima air, breath, life, spirit.] 1. Destitute of animation; spiritless; disheartened. [R.] "My vocabulary seems exanimate next to Rocks's.''

[jparrott]

\Ex*an"i*mate\, a. [L. exanimatus, p. p. of exanimare to deprive of life or spirit; ex out + anima air, breath, life, spirit.] 1. Destitute of animation; spiritless; disheartened. [R.] "My vocabulary seems exanimate next to Rocks's.''

←

My liver seems exanimate next to Rocks's.

[pastramionrye]

maybe i'll go to breadline today for lunch...or eve????where oh where should i go?

[Chef Shogun]

I don't know if 975 or 775 is a good ammount of business for a store that's only open ~five hours a day to do, but the place is always packed, so I just assumed they were doing well. And sure, they're losing business to the Potbelly at the end of the block; you can eat for three days at Potbelly* for the price of most lunches at Breadline. They win big in quality, but can't compete on price. I love Breadline, I'm in there all the time (more than I should be, from a financial standpoint!), but reading that they are losing business to Potbelly and company, while I was sorry to hear about, was kind of a "Well DUH" moment.

* Kind of the the pathological case, being the cheapest sandwich in that immediate area. That said, I pretty much stopped going to Potbelly when I got into Breadline!

[DonRocks]

The Grill at Galileo gets a lot of attention here (justifiably so), but Breadline doesn't get enough. A "turkey sandwich" ($6.90) might sound unimaginative, but the one at Breadline reestablishes just how great and important a restaurant this is. The turkeys are roasted daily, and must surely be brined, because the meat is flavorful like Palena chicken is flavorful, and is offered up in thick, generous handcarved slices (a perfect mixture of white and dark meat) on the best focaccia roll in town. The sandwich is at its best topped simply with lettuce and mustard (tomatoes are not available off-season), and it stands as one of the truly great lunch items in all of Washington. And it's healthy, too!

Gobble one down and see for yourself,

Rocks.