Everyone has heard me rave in many different mediums about the wonders to be had at Tartine run by chef/owner Cara Benson. Well, this magical, magnanimous, Mom and baker extraordinaire has done it again with Toast, a mouth-watering breakfast experience she opened about six months ago.
To be perfectly fair, I’ve already raved about Toast, too … just not here on my lil old blog. Now seems the optimal time to rectify that. I’ve been to Toast on many occasions since the first, an experience I’m about to relate, but just know, there is nothing on this menu that won’t make you swoon, and if it doesn’t well … more for me!
About a month after it opened in June 2014, John and I headed Uptown to Laurel Street to have a meal that was so delightful, Toast has become the stuff of dreams to us, a place we think of every time we think of breakfast.
Though it was still dreadfully hot, we opted to sit outside since it seemed the only way we’d be sure to get a table. We both ordered a cup of coffee (yes it was French Truck, thank you very much) and tried hard not to order everything on the menu.
John chose one of the “toasts,” with cream cheese, smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and capers atop a thick, toasted slice of Benson’s brilliant, house-baked brioche. What can I say? It was astoundingly simple, yet exquisitely delicious. Everything was just right, from the amount of cream cheese to the fluffy scrambled eggs.
While I loved John’s toast, we both couldn’t help oohing and aahing over my dish, a huge slice of ham and Gruyere quiche. Cross my heart and hope to die, this was the best quiche I ever had the pleasure of inhaling. Easily three inches high, it had a gorgeous golden crust and the filling was so light and creamy, it was almost like delving into a delicate souffle. Don’t doubt that I’ve enjoyed her daily quiches many times since.
John and I also shared a side of thick-sliced bacon and, something I never thought to see on a breakfast menu, a plate of ratatouille — a mouth-watering, stewed vegetable dish that only added to the meal’s overall wonder. I can’t wait to go back again … and again … and again …
