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    Restaurant Review: Toast Bar

    The whole toast tasting bar idea seemed totally resistible. It was just too much. Too, too much.

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    That was before visiting the new Toast Bar in Grandview.

    That was also before the realization that Toast Bar has bucked the number one dietary trend in the United States: gluten-free dining. Everything at Toast has gobs of gluten. The only way around the fearsome food is to eat only the butter and jelly toppings (which might not actually be such an awful work-around).

    Then there was the proprietor, Dan the Baker. He works the front of the house, and people wax rhapsodic about him. As hard as it is for a contrarian to embrace this figure, he’s actually really nice. Dan the Baker comes off like an ordinary guy who likes bread and baking and just wants to share all the stuff he likes.

    Even though the menu isn’t huge, it’s easy to get analysis paralysis. A Flight of Toast ($5.50) permits guests to pick three breads and three toppings in ramekins, all to arrange as they see fit.

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    Rather than make a decision, it’s easier to just order all the bread and all the toppings. That’s six breads and six toppings: two flights, done ($11). Well… not actually done, but it makes all the other decisions easy.

    During the visit the six breads were Country Sour, Garlic Asiago, Danish Rye, Sunflower Flax, 2x Sesame and Pain Au Lait.

    The Pain Au Lait was an overwhelming favorite. It was gone first, and missed immediately. It’s a white milk bread with a super tender crumb and moist texture: dreamy.

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    The other ones were still worthy orders, very chewy and crusty. The Sunflower Flax has an appealingly strong toasty, nutty flavor. They’re deserving of space in a flight, especially because of the palate exhaustion that stems from hitting Pain Au Lait over and over.

    As for toppings: butter. Really, just butter was the best thing ever. It tastes like my grandma’s homemade butter. You don’t know the lady, but she raised Guernsey cows (they make the fattiest milk) and made her butter out of milk that had just slightly soured. Dan the Baker said he makes the house butter from cultured cream, and that process intensifies the dairy flavor of butter like nobody’s business.

    The strawberry champagne jam was good too, with a clear, natural strawberry flavor. Meanwhile, the mushroom topping had a nice little hit of fresh pepper to spike it up. There was also chocolate hazelnut, almond butter and black raspberry jam to team with toast in different configurations.

    Lemon Curd on Cloverton ($4) was a custom option that somehow escaped the the giant flight order. It’s good especially for those who love lemon pie. Everything about it is intense: the sour, the sweet, even the bright golden hue.

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    That’s a lot of toast, there’s also a giant case of pastries to choose from. Yes to all of those too: the croissants are tender and quite moist and buttery. They are perversely both heavy and light. In both the Chocolate ($4) and Ham ($5) versions, the pastry plays the prominent role.

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    The similarly constructed Bear Claw ($5) has a nice bit of cinnamon to it.

    For something different –less flakey, there is the Lemon/Blueberry Scone ($5). A lot of scones in this world come off like stale biscuit consolation prizes: not here. That scone was lux with that lemon curd and a fruity-sweet blueberry layer. And there was also something worth trying called a Tebirke ($5), filled with lots of a mildly sweet poppy seed spread.

    You can do your own taste test at 1028 Ridge Street.

    For more information, visit www.dan-the-baker.com.

    All photos by Walker Evans. Photos are taken at a different time than review, so discrepancies between photos and review may occur.

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    Miriam Bowers Abbott
    Miriam Bowers Abbotthttps://columbusunderground.com
    Miriam Bowers Abbott is a freelancer contributor to Columbus Underground who reviews restaurants, writes food-centric featurettes and occasionally pens other community journalism pieces.
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