The Weekly Rant is back!!
We’ve been slacking lately, yeah, yeah, you’ve heard the excuses. You know the reasons, so I’ll cut to the chase…
I’m pissed enough to return to THE RANT!
Recently a large group of us went out for dinner to a local Italian restaurant. It was a very pleasant evening at a well established neighborhood restaurant. As with most Italian restaurants one of the first items to be brought to the table was a basket of bread. We had 5 children in our group and they immediately reached eagerly and enthusiastically for the basket. Dipping the bread into the olive oil provided, the enthusiasm faded quickly. The bread was completely flavorless. Stale? No. Flavorless.
The crust was not crusty, but thin, stiff, yet not crunchy. The interior lacked the texture expected of a high quality Italian roll. It may have been worse then, gasp, Amoroso! How does this happen in an ITALIAN restaurant? How, you ask? I’ll tell you how. Business is not what it used to be, so restaurants cut corners in all of the wrong places. They purchase low price rolls to save money. What an awful way to start a meal. An Italian restaurant with bad bread is like a Chinese restaurant with bad rice. It’s the beginning of the end for a restaurant when things like this happen.
There are ways to cut costs. The quality of the food is not the place. Here’s a tip, offer high quality bread and ask if your diners would like bread before you bring it to the table. Many people don’t eat bread these days. Serve less and refill. Don’t serve crap. There are too many options for great bakeries in our area; Conshohocken Italian Bakery, Sarcone’s Bakery, Carangi Bakery, or Wild Flour to name a few. Or, do what some Italian restaurants like D’Angelo’s do, and bake your own. If you are going to serve bread that makes people talk about you, why not just serve this, at least it’s a real talking point:
Bread Heads
So chew on that thought…..
You KNOW I couldn’t agree more…but I have to admit. You really creeped me out with that “Bread Heads” picture!!! Good rant!
You KNOW I couldn’t agree more…but I have to admit. You really creeped me out with that “Bread Heads” picture!!! Good rant!