Being part of Boston Brunchers has given me the opportunity to win quite a few fantastic brunches in the past year. Each one different, unique, stunning and fantastic in it’s own way. I left February’s brunch at Bakers’ Best a happy woman.
Bloody Mary Shooter and Sour Cherry Martini
To say that I was excited at winning a brunch spot at the Bakers’ Best Catering Headquarters would be an understatement. Last summer we moved to Newton and were happy to find a place that we could enjoy a leisurely brunch spot 2 blocks away, which happened to be the Bakers’ Best restaurant. Our hearts broke after a few months because it closed up shop. But why? It was always busy? Don’t they understand I need my breakfast when I can’t deal with the thought of dirtying any dishes? I wrote about my love for their sweet potato and corned beef hash previously, even trying to come up with a justifiable substitute sweet potato hash.
As we gathered upon arrival in the catering offices of Bakers’ Best we were greeted with the Bloody Mary Shooters and the Sour Cherry Martinis. I could have easily enjoyed a dozen of the shrimp topped Bloody Mary Shots, but thankfully I restrained myself so I would have room for everything to come. While we enjoyed the drinks we were introduced to some of the team behind Bakers’ Best. Specifically Michael Baker spoke about founding the company, the history, business, opening of this catering kitchen location, and the sad closure of the location that started it all. At that point I could understand his passion for food, his business and the heavy decision he had when closing the cafe. Over the course of 27 years the business shifted from the cafe to cafe with some catering to extensive catering, and in the end the cafe was only about 10% of their multi-million dollar business. While I miss our brunches at the cafe I completely understand where Michael was coming from, plus I could not help admire this savvy business and dedication to doing what is best for the company and ultimately the customers.
Just as a tour was beginning we were halted with the passing around of these to-die-for “everything” bagel gravlax bites. Michael soon learned the food bloggers take a lot of photos of their food and was a good sport about the frequent breaks. It is hard to not photograph great food! As well, I enjoyed Michael’s tour of the kitchen because of how well it was design and maintained. They moved in 5 years prior and you would not have known it was 5 years to 5 weeks… Spotless. Being in the design profession, I thought the design of the catering kitchen was done well, and was really impressed with it.
full rack oven and work space
dry ingredients and storage of kitchen supplies
produce and prepared food
preparation of chicken skewers at one station and miso sesame cups at another
The staff was hard at work preparing food for Oscar parties
Sweet Potato Corned Beef and Asian Tuna Tartare bites
The ‘eye openers’ we enjoyed while on the tour were really eye openers! They were 1 or 2 bites each, making for the perfect food to enjoy while on tour, or at a catered party. I obviously loved the sweet potato hash cups because of my love for the hash I used to get, but what made this appetizer more incredible was bacon… The cup shell itself was made with the maple bacon. Details like that really set Bakers’ Best above the competition. Similarly, they made the shell of the gravlax bite with everything bagels and the tuna tartare was made with a miso and sesame paste. From crunchy bacon to crispy miso the flavor spectrum was hit with the 3 passed hor’ d’oeuvres we had.
beautiful place settings and the fresh pastry basket
After the tour we sat down at a few tables to enjoy the main part of the brunch. As we chatted, drank mimosas, and swooned over the youngest bruncher… Tessa who was just 12 days old! We were so glad to see Jessica and her new daughter doing well. A quick hush came over the group when the bite sized waffle egg sandwich was placed in front of us. A flurry of tweets and photos were taken and then enjoyed dug into waffle sandwich. The waffle was warm, sausage perfectly seasoned and the quail egg was still runny. The accompanying Camembert and tomato jam added perfect level of saltiness and sweetness to the sandwich.
brunchers taking photos of the buffet
quiches and beet ravioli
challah french toast and the accompanying bananas foster topping
Shortly after we enjoyed our amuse plate, the buffet was ‘opened’. The staff at Bakers’ Best commented on how we all stood around taking photos at every angle of the food. We only began making our plates once we made sure everyone was satisfied with their photos. It was interesting to see the world of catering as well as enlighten them on the world of blogging.
I stuck with a savory brunch with the salad, beet raviolis, and quiches. The beet ravioli were nothing like I had ever had before with their thin slices creating the pasta portion of the ravioli. They were unique but the salad pair with them really tied the whole thing together. The fennel and the citrus really brought the beets to life. The trio of quiches was my favorite part of the buffet. I love quiches but these were out of this world with their filling combination and their pastry shell. I have never had such a buttery, flaky crust like that before. Each quiche was better than the last.
A huge thank you to everyone at the Baker’s Best for welcoming us for such a great brunch. We really appreciated the warm welcome and the amazing food. I highly suggest Bakers’ Brunch Catering for your corporate or personal events.
*While I did recieive a complimentary brunch from Bakers’ Best Catering these opinions are entirely my own.
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