Last summer the food world was freaking out over “artisanal toast,” pricey butter-and-jam-smeared slices from high-grade whole-grain loaves, like something your weather-beaten ancestors might have kneaded out of einkorn, oats, and prairie dust. Many laughed at the presumption of this latest outrage of food-hipster pretension, but nobody’s laughing at Bunny, Elizabeth chef Iliana Regan‘s latest effort, a bakery in a Lakeview shoebox of such modest dimensions she dubs it “the Micro Bakery.” Hundreds of its artfully framed toasts populate Instagram, all taken by the gentle light of the front window on a single wooden bench table seating 12—tops. The space is compact, but not so Lilliputian that it can’t serve as a bread-baking classroom or as the scene of Regan’s periodic Wunder Pop dinner series.
There’s also a “Dutch oven of the day,” always some sort of soupy/stewy brew poured over chunks of buttery toasted sourdough, such as a French onion soup built on a powerfully umamic vegan stock made with charred onions. Specials of startling refinement include a bowl of chewy house-made spaghetti in a tart cream sauce made from nutty Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese, garnished with nasturtium flowers and shaved cured egg yolk—something that wouldn’t be out of place on the table at Elizabeth.
2928 N. Broadwaybunnythemicrobakery.com
