We were a little surprised the first time we paid for bread service at the Bristol. We mean, what’s next? Charging for water? And what is this, Europe? But by the time Girl and the Goat opened in 2010, the concept was not so foreign to us, and it actually seemed like not a bad deal to pay a little more for bread that was way beyond the cardboard cutouts so many places were serving. Now, the bread is better, and it costs, but you get what you pay for, as Lisa Shames explains in today’s Sun-Times.
Shames details the evolution of the pay-for-bread phenom in Chicago, from those early days at the Bristol to more recent places like Nellcote ($3 for bread), Balena ($5) and Vera ($6 — which seems steep but we’ve had it and it’s worth every penny).
Just as Starbucks got us all used to dropping a five-plus for a “premium” cuppa joe, so are we now all used to paying for our daily bread…at a lot of places
One thing we can’t get used to, however, is the appalling lack of Manhattan clam chowder in Chicago, also discussed in today’s crusading Sun-Times.
Breaking Bread’s Boundaries [Sun-Times]
