Toast: A Breakfast and Lunch Joint

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.

The Flytrap & Sanders

Jeff over at Make Mine Potato recently reviewed this little gem of a place in Ferndale – an incredible diner called the Fly Trap. The menu is different than most diners in that it relies more on interesting combinations of food and presentation whereas other diners might concentrate more on portion size and slathering said portion with gravy, sauce, or whatever. I had the hot spiced beef brisket – an update of the classic Reuben. Thinly sliced beef, smoked Gouda, jalapeño mustard, and cabbage on grilled rye all work very well together and offer a much different experience than the same boring corned beef, sauerkraut, and Swiss. The familiarity of the Reuben is there, a feeling of “oh, I’ve had this before!” but the fresh cabbage and jalapeño mustard immediately subvert familiarity toward something special. The same could be said for the “Swat” sauce, a deliciously heated hot sauce that is chunkier than most, thus making it more substantive. I couldn’t place what pepper was used, but there was a nice smokiness followed by a potent punch – a solid hot sauce. Even the coffee is special – rich, creamy, and flavorful, a totally smooth cup that could easily be refilled 3 or 4 times a sitting. The fries, while totally decent, are, well, totally decent – nothing too tremendous, although they did become a nice transportation device for the hot sauce and side of jalapeño mustard.

With Heather nearing the end of the pregnancy, we try to assuage any need she may have. Tonight it was a need for a hot fudge sundae. Grosse Pointe has a village area that is rife with stores, coffeehouses, and restaurants. Also in the village is Sanders, a Detroit staple known primarily for their hot fudge and candy. Sanders closed down for many years. I remember going there every so often with my mother to grab one of their famous hot fudge cream puffs. The ritual of going out for ice cream is something to behold especially for children. Ice cream – good ice cream – is a treat and the event of going out to get it followed that. The Pecan Titan sundae was very nice. An amalgamation of hot fudge, caramel, vanilla ice cream, and roasted pecans, the sweetness of the ice cream, fudge, and caramel meshed well with the saltiness of the nuts. More importantly, the parlor was busy with a large family that spanned across multiple generations – grandpa sharing with dad who is sharing with kids. Traditions are important and in a year or two I will be sharing the tradition of Sanders hot fudge with my kid as well.