Bread & Circus

My buddy Jaime and her husband Kamloops treated us out for dinner at Bread & Circus. Bread & Circus is located in a space between Una Take-Out and Frenchie’s Wine Bar. The location is weird and wonderful. I felt like the restaurant was in a secret hidden location.

We were seated at the back of the restaurant in front of Frenchie’s Wine Bar. My husband L and I admired the picture of a French bulldog, so much in fact, we want a portrait done of our schnoodle Brut. L thought the lights over the painting was a nice touch.

My choice of music for this post? Let’s crack that whip and put on a show by the one and only… Britney!

Bread& Circus makes excellent cocktails. Jaime liked the traditional, heavy cocktail glasses. I concur. There’s nothing that ruins a fine drink more than a cheap piece of glass. Kamloops was impressed with his Manhattan ($13), noting the cherries were good. Jaime was pleased with her Lazio Negroni ($10). I ordered a glass of Costadila prosecco ($13) and L predictably stuck to Peroni ($7). We also ordered a bottle of Noelia Riccii Il Sangiovese ($60).

For appetizers, we shared the Chicken Liver and Almonds ($13) and Cauliflower and Cumin ($12). The chicken liver was cool, smooth and creamy like a paste. Topped with chervil, pickled red onion, honey oat granola and a cured egg, there was a delightful buttery crunch and sweetness to the dish.

The salad consisted of cauliflower, chickpeas, whey, cumin dressing and crystallized buckwheat. The cauliflower was cool and shaved so thin it was a treat to bite into. Cauliflower and cumin go together like bread and butter. The dressing was creamy and made the salad decadent.

Jaime ordered the Cacio e Pepe ($19). The linguini noodles are made in-house. We were warned the cheese was salty. The noodles were a delicate tangle. Jaime couldn’t finish it all so I helped her out.

I ordered the Carbonara ($20). The best part were the bits of smoked bacon. When I bite into it, I could taste delicious squirt of fat.

Kamloops ordered the Gnochhi alla Romana Braised lamb ragu ($24). I liked this dish so much, I probably ate half of it. I loved the combination of eggplant, mint and 3-year old aged parmigiano-reggiano.

One of the best pastas was the Oxtail Rigatoni ($23) I like how rigatoni was al dente with a bite of a chew to it. The red wine raisins gave a bit of sweetness to it. The pine nuts were toasted and still warm.

Each dish we tried was a different experience and the flavours worked. If you have a healthy appetite, I’d suggest you get an appetizer, your own pasta and a dessert. The food is rich, so the portions reflect that. When I got up from dinner, I regretted eating half of Jaime and Kamloop’s dishes. Life is hard when you’re a glutton.

Thank you Jaime and Kamloops for a wonderful meal. It was great to spend time with you again.