Wednesday, December 26, 2018

A Breakfast Worth Toasting To?


Toast Kitchen + Bakery
1767 Newport Blvd. 
Costa Mesa, CA 92627

It was the last day before my vacation from work would come to an end, so Katie and I decided to go out to breakfast for some sustenance. After a very pleasant walk around Upper Newport Bay, we definitely felt that we deserved a good first meal of the day. I had heard about a new place that had opened up in mid-July and has been on my radar thanks to their Instagram posts that have showcased some beautiful pieces of pie and other selections from their breakfast and dinner menus. We hurried back to our car and headed straight for Toast Kitchen and Bakery in Costa Mesa.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with Toast, they took over the spot that formerly housed the Golden Truffle for 37 years. If you are unfamiliar with that spot, first shame on you for not making it there, and second it's located on the same side of the street as Condom Revolution, Kabob Republic, Cucina Roma, and Side Street Cafe. Hope that narrows it down for you, and if you are still lost, just go north from the busy cross streets of 17th and Newport Boulevard.

Even though this restaurant is called Toast, they are open for lunch and dinner, as well as breakfast Tuesday through Saturday, and open for breakfast only on Sundays. Toast comes to us from Ed Lee, of Wahoo's fame, and Chef John Park who cut his chops in LA at Father's Office, Lukshon, Water Grill, and Quenelle ice cream shops. He moved to OC two years ago and staged pop-ups until Ed called to see if he had any interest in running the former Golden Truffle spot, which is not only Toast but also Fil, a sister restaurant that specializes in malasadas and ice cream. More on that later.

Toast opened to rave reviews for not only their food but the way they also do business. It was very important to Chef John that he gives back to the community that supports his restaurant, so he convinced Ed that they would donate 10 percent of their profits to a charity each month. This modern take on a diner, with an Asian twist, also helps the community by employing veterans, recovering substance abusers, and homeless people, workers who might not get a chance to work anywhere else.

When we arrived here on a recent Sunday I was half expecting to have to wait, but we must have been lucky because we got seated right away. The restaurant was busy, with a large bridal shower near the back of the restaurant, which included one of my favorite food people, Connie, from OC Comestibles. I figured if she was eating here, we were probably in for a very big treat.

Like I said earlier the vision of this restaurant is modern diner cuisine with a slight Asian twist, and I'd also add a touch of millennial edge to that description. There are three kinds of toast on the share portion of the menu, with the obligatory avocado toast leading things off with other lighter offerings. The bulk of the menu lists 13 brunch items, many of which tempted me, but I knew I had to limit myself to one sweet and one savory item, as I always like to do with the first meal of the day. Let's see how everything turned out for us on this visit to Toast.


It's always nice to get something unexpected from the kitchen while waiting for your meal, it always kind of makes you feel special. This amuse-bouche if you will, came out rather unexpectedly, but I was pretty hungry and scarfed it down rather quickly. So quickly in fact that I did not write down in my notes what it was. If I had to guess I'd say it was toasted bread with micro greens on top, along with a fig jam, Brussel sprouts, and a light sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Tasty, but not something that I'd typically order. Still, a nice touch.




Katie has been on a real breakfast burrito kick lately, and she stuck with it here at Toast by getting their version of a Breakfast Burrito ($16 with avocado added). Yes, you read that correctly, a sixteen-dollar breakfast burrito. Yes, it was good, nice, and lighter than most, with plenty of soft tater tots, creamy avocado, maple glazed bacon, slightly spicy chorizo, and fluffy cheesy scrambled eggs. As Katie stated this was a very well-put-together burrito, with fresh items that were prepared well, but nothing that warranted the price tag that came along with it.


I was really stuck about what to get here, but after conferring with our server I went with the Pork Belly ($16). This breakfast bowl came with some of the lightest herb and butter rice I have ever encountered, a sunny-side-up egg, pickled carrots and daikon, bok choy, and a chili hoisin sauce. I've always said that if you see pork belly on a menu, you should order it, and the pork belly here was equal parts crispy and a little fatty, which is the way I enjoy my pork belly. The rice was very light and stepped aside to let the pork be the star of the show. A little more hoisin sauce would have been preferred with this, but this breakfast dish was lighter than most and made me feel okay about getting two breakfast dishes this morning.


My sweet item was an easier pick, the Nutella Stuffed French Toast ($13) popped off the menu and landed right on our table. They use brioche to make this, along with a creme brulee batter, then add Nutella to the insides. It's finished off with raspberries and candied hazelnuts. I was a little let down by this. The french toast could have been cooked a little longer, as the bread was left pretty soft. I also would have liked a lot more Nutella slathered on the inside of this. The candied hazelnuts were probably my favorite part of this, as they added a textural component that the toast could not deliver thanks to the undercooked bread.



It was the pies that I saw on Instagram that pushed me to come to Toast, but none of them really spoke to me this morning, and cookies always speak to me loud and clear, so we gave them a try. The Peanut Butter Cookie ($2.75) was bland and chalky, but the Salted Chocolate Chip ($3) hit the mark. It had a nice crunchy outer ring and a soft and chewy center. There were plenty of chocolate chips and the salt added a nice contrast to the muted sweetness of the cookie.

The food at Toast is made with some really great ingredients and it's obvious that the kitchen takes great care in preparing the food here. I liked what we had, but was not blown away with my breakfast on this late morning. I'll definitely be trying something different on my next visit, maybe the shrimp and grits or the chilaquiles. Even though I know that profits from this restaurant go back into the community and they are doing a lot of good with their hiring practices, I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that I felt that their prices were a bit too high. $16 for a breakfast burrito with avocado, $19 for their burger with fries, and $12 for just avocado on toast make this breakfast restaurant less of an everyday hangout and more of a special occasion spot. The service we experienced this morning was very upbeat and pleasant, and you definitely get the sense that the employees are really behind this concept. As for me, I'll be excited to return to Toast and see how they grow in the future.

Out of five fiddles, (because Tommy Jarrell, a noted fiddler made his home in Toast, North Carolina), five being best to zero being worst, Toast Kitchen + Bakery gets 3 fiddles.

For more information about Toast, head to their website here: https://www.toastkitchenbakery.com/

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