Fresh-from-the-oven quick breads inspire memories of grandma's kitchen, lending an instant nostalgic touch to menus at breakfast and all day.
This article first appeared in the 1 January 2010 issue of Restaurants & Institutions (R&I).
R&I is the USA's leading source of food and business-trend information and exclusive research on operators and restaurant patrons. Editorial coverage spans the entire foodservice industry, including chains, independent restaurants, hotels and institutions. Visit the R&I website to find out more about the magazine or to search its recipe database.
By Christine LaFave Grace, Associate Editor
SCALLION BISCUITS (pictured above)
Braeburn, New York City. At Chef Brian Bistrong's Southern-influenced restaurant, servers deliver a basket of the specialty-of-the-house treats to each table. Sliced green onions, white pepper and diced garlic sautéed in olive oil contribute savory notes to a basic biscuit dough; lemon zest adds complementary zing.
ROSEMARY + GORGONZOLA BISCUIT
Drink Haus Espresso + Tea, Nashville, Tenn. Chef-owner Kat Roos calls on a classic flavor pairing—rosemary and pungent Gorgonzola—to punch up scratch-made buttermilk biscuits, which are baked in single batches in cast-iron pans. Bacon-, Cheddar-and-chive and sundried-tomato-and-basil biscuits also are on the menu at this contemporary coffee shop.
CREAMTOP BUTTERMILK BISCUIT
Pine State Biscuits, Portland, Ore. Diners have a choice of jam, butter and honey, or house-made pimento cheese—a spreadable blend of sharp Cheddar, cream cheese, sweet pimento peppers and, in Pine State's version, chèvre (rather than mayonnaise, as is traditional in the South)—to accompany biscuits at this breakfast-and-lunch spot.
BOBERRY BISCUIT
Bojangles' Famous Chicken & Biscuits, multiple locations. Per company policy, none of the more than 500,000 scratch-made biscuits the Charlotte, N.C.-based chain serves daily is more than 20 minutes out of the oven. This blueberry-flavored variety, drizzled with white icing, combines biscuits' buttery goodness with the sweetness of breakfast muffins.