We finally made it over to Toast this morning. Situated between 9 and 10 Mile Roads on Woodward, Toast is a fairly well-known breakfast and lunch diner that, on this particular morning, totally lived up to the hype. First and foremost, since we now travel as a trio I am always interested in how a place handles our little Laila. The folks at Toast were totally welcoming and immediately offered a high-chair – a plus right off the bat. Secondly, a quick perusal of the menu shows, like any quality breakfast joint would, that they serve biscuits and gravy. Of course, I am smitten by all things covered in delicious sausage gravy, but I am
especially fond of biscuits. Aunt Leola’s biscuits and gravy (pictured right) are the best manifestation of the dish that I’ve ever tasted. The gravy was creamy, spicy, and studded with plenty of nice sized sausage chunks. The addition of red pepper flakes to the gravy was welcome as it offered a kick that simple black pepper cannot. On top of the gravy is a layer of perfectly melted cheddar cheese which, for me, is a first on biscuits and gravy. The cheese added a textural dimension that along with the incredible scrambled eggs were an astounding complement to the gravy. And the biscuits – oh, the biscuits – flaky, buttery, dense, and moist. All things a biscuit should be and they held up so well against the strong flavors of the gravy. On the side (because there obviously wasn’t enough food on large plate) is cheesy grits. I’m a sucker for well cooked grits and these were cooked perfectly. Great texture and a sharp cheesy flavor with a delicious crust on top, these grits are the real deal. A near perfect breakfast especially when coupled with the great cup of coffee that never went more than half empty – next time I’ll have to try the French press version, though.
One of the specials this morning was a Breakfast Panini – a grilled sandwich made with cinnamon raisin
bread stuffed with Nutella, granny smith apples, and bananas. We have a panini press at home, so this is a sandwich that we’ll be bringing home. The hazelnut chocolate Nutella paired well with the apples and the banana. The sweetness from the bread was a welcome addition as well.
During the past month or so, I’ve made steel cut oatmeal a couple of times. Both times, Heather has been less than pleased with the texture of the oats claiming they’re too chewy. Given this fact, we have been unable to give the oatmeal to Laila, who at nine months old cannot chew them. Toast has oatmeal on their Kid’s Menu, so we ordered some for Laila. Unbeknown to us, they were steel cut except they we cooked beyond their initial chewiness to a state of transcendent fluffiness that was easily consumed by our nine
month old even more so when paired with the bananas that accompanied the oats.
I cannot wait until we are able to visit Toast again. I am very curious to see how they do lunch since they seem to do breakfast so flawlessly.
