Derek’s Foodie-2-Go Review

by Derek Karevicius

An Artisan Institution

I love bread.  I love how it smells, how it feels, and how it tastes.  I can’t imagine a world without its deliciousness.  Luckily, it’s been around tens of thousands of years - and it’s not goin’ anywhere anytime soon.

I purchase my breads at Fausto’s Food Palace on White Street, as many Old Town anti-car-bikers do.  I always have to get there early, and I always whisper a little prayer as the automatic doors slide open that they haven’t sold out of favorite loaves of Cole’s Peace Bakery bread.  Whether it’s the support system of my sandwich, or simply topped with butter, I’ve loved these wonderful breads for over a decade.

Cole’s Peace is an Artisan Bakery & Deli located inside The Restaurant Store at 1111 Eaton St.  What makes a bread artisan you ask?  Artisan bread is exactly what its name suggests: bread that is crafted, rather than mass produced.  Baked in small batches rather than on a vast assembly line, artisan bread differs from prepackaged supermarket loaves in a number of ways. Special attention to ingredients, process, and a return to the fundamentals of the age-old bread-making tradition set artisan bread apart from soft, preservative-laden commercial breads.  I don’t sound biased do I?

So being bread-minded today I decided to order from their deli, which offers free Old Town delivery Monday through Saturday from 10am-2pm.  Their usual delivery guy is Wayne, the fastest delivery man on the island, and yes, he will make sure you have ALL of your side dishes. (Thanks Wayne!).  Joined by the effusive Miss Eliza, we proceeded to order a cornucopia of artisan delights.

To start I had the soup of the day, a tomato shrimp bisque.  It was creamy and delicious, rich, and much more than I could eat.  I ordered the Cobba-Lotta - roasted turkey, smoked bacon, avocado, bleu cheese, boiled eggs, lettuce, tomato and red onions with a raspberry vinaigrette on crispy ciabatta bread. Any fan of a cobb salad will love this!

Eliza however, ordered the winner of the day - the Hot Italian Hero!  Genoa salami, cappicola and mortadella with hot sweet peppers, lettuce, onions, tomato and oil & vinegar on a baquette and topped with provolone. Great sandwich! The peppers pack a flavor punch and the melted cheese on top pulls everything together.

One of my favorite parts about orderings sandwiches from these folks, is that wrapped with each sandwich is placed one morsel of sweetness.  A single bite of one of their desserts for you to enjoy.  It’s always the perfect last bite of my meal.  Today however, we went all out.  I ordered a chocolate-peanut butter muffin top, and a mango triangle.  The muffin top was like a warm, delicious, fluffy, chocolate chip cookie, and the mango triangle...well that was foodgasm right there.  It’s like a wedge of warm mango pie - mango filling, flaky pie crust, and topped with a honey-oat granola topping. (Droooool!)

Amazing lunch from an amazing deli.  Sandwiches run about $9/piece, and their daily specials are listed on their website at www.colespeace.com every morning.

by Derek Karevicius