Back Burner

Daven Wardynski
Executive Chef, 676 Restaurant and Bar,
Omni, Chicago
“Here at Omni we’re trying to be more socially conscious and responsive to the well-being of our guests. Thus, we started an initiative—the Art of Breakfast— where we use only cage-free eggs, organic cereals, and whole-grain breads. We work with a local artisan bakery that provides fresh bread to us daily, such as sliced-toorder millet, baguettes, sandwich breads, and so forth. I’m always looking for something unique and innovative to serve, and current offerings include fennel and golden raisin bread, calamata olive bread, an olive oil and salt focaccia, garlic breadsticks, and sun-dried tomato crackers. We have offered unusual dipping sauces from time to time, but we’ve found that our customers prefer a simple olive oil and a great balsamic or just plain butter. We currently get about one request a week for gluten-free bread, which we can accommodate if it’s a special order. More often than not, though, the customer who is allergic to wheat brings their own bread in and asks us to toast it or whatever. I’ve found that people are not so concerned with low-carb now, but they definitely want organic.”

John Eisenhart
Executive Chef, Pazzo, Hotel Vintage Plaza,
Portland, Oregon

“We bake our own breads in a building next door, which also houses a daytime café and a retail bakery. We bake basic breads such as focaccia, baguettes, rolls, as well as some special breads. One of our challenges was olive bread because of the pits and the sometimes resultant chipped or broken tooth. So, in searching for a creative replacement, I found a vegetable called the PeppadewTM pepper, discovered in South Africa in 1994. It’s a mild red pepper with a sweet taste. We we put them in the ciabatta, thereby creating a different and unique offering. We rotate our breads seasonally, and presently we’re offering a sweet onion bread with parmesan. The nice thing about being located here is the bonanza of local, fresh ingredients, which makes creating new dishes easy. Most of my ingredients come from the Pacific Northwest, some from California, and about 30 percent from Italy. To accommodate our gluten-free clientele, we offer a soft baked bread similar to a muffin, made with rice flour and cornmeal.”

Mark Chapman
Executive Pastry Chef, 1886 Café
Bakery and the Driskill Grill Restaurant,
Driskill Hotel, Austin, Texas

“I think bread is a prelude of the meal to come. We bake our own breads in-house every day, right down to the sliced bread for sandwiches, hamburger buns, hoagie rolls, focaccia, artisan breads, croissants—all of them. We are fanatical about buying our ingredients from local farmers; we use only organic flour and eggs. Breads are our claim to fame, and not too many hotels in America do what we do. Even something as simple as a tuna fish sandwich is served on fresh brioche. I was a trained pastry chef in New York City when I was recruited to work in Texas. I decided I wanted to make bread, too, so I made it part of my relocation ‘must-haves.’ I picked up many of my recipes when I was working at the Fauchon in Paris, and they are, I think, hard to beat. For example, our authentic French-style croissants are made with pure spring water and Vermont butter, and I don’t think you’ll find a better croissant outside of Paris. I am absolutely passionate about breads, and I think, like anything one is passionate about, it shows in the end product.”

Greg Griffie
Executive Chef, T’bones Steakhouse, Bridgewater Marriott, New Jersey

“I think the quality of bread served is a good indicator of what’s to come because it shows the attention to detail. We outsource to a local artisan baker who delivers fresh bread twice a day. Our signature bread is a semolina bowl, warmed, sliced, and served with our own roasted red pepper and parmesan dipping oil. The dipping sauce is so popular that people have asked if they can purchase it. At breakfast, because we host quite a number of European guests, we serve a hard roll on our buffet, along with our inhouse baked croissants and muffins. We also serve ciabatta bread on weekends, as well as fresh baguettes. From time to time, I serve a walnut raisin crisp with our cheese plates. We don’t get many requests for glutenfree bread here, but when I was in Baltimore, it was very prevalent due to the high rate of celiac disease patients at nearby Johns Hopkins. Right now, I’m actually working with an artisan bakery in New York City to perfect a recipe for gluten-free bread so we will be able to offer it.”

Pam Leigh is a frequent contributor to HOTEL F&B.