Fresh ingredients + simple, classic preparations = tasty food. Duh. It's really amazing how many shitty restaurants there are that manage to fuck up this math.
Running a restaurant can't be easy. The vagaries of the marketplace and public whim can be murderous, I'm sure. But a place like Bread & Circuses seems like a no-fail proposition. It's located on Corydon in a beautifully sunny room (big windows, eastern and southern exposure) with simple furniture and accents, and functions as both a breakfast/lunch eatery and a bakery. I'm not certain in the minds of its owners (or accountants) which aspect dominates, but on the Thursday lunch hour I visited the place was packed with lunch-goers; maybe the bakery packs 'em in before and after work.
The service is canteen-style, but the folks behind the counter are friendly and knowledgeable. The menu is small--a few sandwiches, a few soups. Unfortunately, the friendly folks behind the counter were unable to find a soup to accommodate my lunch companion's onion allergy(*), but plenty of sandwiches fit the bill.
I had the gazpacho and a ham and swiss sandwich on multigrain, and both were fresh and clean. My companion's rye bread looked darker and heartier than my multigrain, so I'll have to make a point to try it on my next visit. The gazpacho was summery and exactly what I wanted at that exact moment. We were eating indoors, since a morning rain had driven the patio gear under cover, but the day was already heating up and a cold soup cools like few other dishes. The ham and swiss were both quality (the cheese may have been jarlsberg, but my palette is kind of crap) and they were accompanied with large, fresh(**) slices of cucumber and tomato. The sandwich was served with mayo; I generally think of dijon mustard as being the obvious condiment to add to a ham and swiss, but the mayo wasn't slabbed on with a putty knife, so I could dig it.
They do lose a few points for serving Stash(***) teas--you'd think a joint with the hippy vibe of this place would be down with loose tea. Maybe I just mistakenly ascribe a hippy vibe to any and all bakeries.
Sure, I could have pulled off a ham and swiss sandwich and a bowl of gazpacho at home. But not every restaurant needs to wow. Bread & Circuses isn't reaching for the stars, and that's okay. It doesn't have to. It serves fresh, simple, delicious food. Done.
Location: 238 Lilac St
Price tag: Lunch for two: ~$25
*And really, you can't fault the place for not being able to accommodate an onion allergy. This has got to be the single most difficult allergy to eat out with. Bummer.
**Fuck it. I'm just gonna keep saying "fresh" over and over again.
***Still, probably one of my favourite floor sweepings teas. Tazo is ok, too.
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