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Tittl review: It’s really all about the bread
Great Harvest Bread Co.’s other offerings don’t compare to anchor
| Wednesday, Jul 18 2007 9:45 AM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Jul 18 2007 9:45 AM
As a sandwich shop, Great Harvest Bread Co. is a great bakery.
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In other words, it’s no threat to Sequoia Sandwich Co. The ingredients inside the sandwiches are pretty unremarkable, and the combinations, while better than some sandwich chains, are not wildly innovative.
But, oh, that bread. The breads are definitely the thing here, definitely the lure, definitely the item that will have people searching out this tiny chain bakery on Hageman west of Centennial High School (near the new Don Perico) and clearing out the shelves quickly. You just can’t get bread like this anywhere else in town.
It’s hard for me to pick a favorite, but one I absolutely love is the pizza swirl bread. Big deal, huh? Well, the bakers fold the ingredients, including pepperoni slices, into the dough, so there’s a swirl of tomato-sausage goodness right under the crown on top. Take a loaf of this home ($6.50, though prices vary by the bread type), put it in the toaster oven with grated whole milk mozzarella and you’ve got a treat. My only complaint was that the baker doesn’t offer a vegetarian alternative. This bread would be just as appealing with, say, black olives and artichoke hearts instead of the pepperoni.
Like all the loaves at Great Harvest, this loaf was very heavy. The chain uses whole grain flour in most of its products. There is a real substance to these breads that is very filling. The company brochure said they are fresh for a week at home despite having no preservatives, and in my experience that’s true. And they have a monthly bread schedule so you know when you can get your favorites. They offer samples, a great idea when the quality is this impressive. Sure, they have sourdough (beautiful with Parmesan cheese on top) and squaw bread, but you can also get artichoke Parmesan, caraway rye, potato chive, olive, jalapeno cheddar sourdough, pesto sun-dried tomato and nine grain.
The dessert breads are another category entirely. These are incredible. Peanut butter chocolate chip has the chocolate chopped into such fine bits that when you toast it and put cream cheese or butter on top, it becomes something like a slice of heaven. They gave me a sample of white chocolate cherry. I almost bought that on the spot. Other dessert breads that sound great are apple crunch, blueberry cheesecake swirl, apple cinnamon walnut and cranberry walnut. There are also muffins, cookies and scones, if you get there early enough.
Twice we visited late in the day and customers were requesting breads that had sold out. One woman who gave me the monthly bread schedule to take home suggested I call early in the day (they open at 6 a.m. on weekdays) and they’ll save a loaf for you.
The best sandwich we sampled was the breakfast panini ($4.50), made with the bread of your choice (they gave me mine on honey whole wheat) with egg, provolone, cheddar, bacon and ham. This was crispy with nice ridges from the panini press. On another visit, my companion’s Tuscan chicken panini ($6.95) and the spicy smoked turkey and pepper jack panini ($6.95) had no crispiness and few ridges from the press. The meats instead looked like the dull processed variety, and though the vegetables were fresh, those were a major disappointment.
On yet another visit we had better luck with the cold sandwiches, particularly the ham and cheese made with Swiss and a thinly sliced ham that was the best of the meats we sampled. Sadly, the ingredients just don’t match the spectacular impression made by the bread. The menu had the Boar’s Head logo on it, but the same meats seem much more impressive at Sequoia.
Great Harvest is a tiny place with about half a dozen small round tables and walls covered with odd gourmet food items such as various flavors of whipped honey, soup mixes, barbecue sauces and other exotic items. They do serve Peet’s Coffee, so they can compete with the gourmet coffee purveyors.
The bread, however, is the real thing.
Great Harvest Bread Co.
9000 Hageman Road
587-5064
Hours: 6 a.m-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday.
Prices: Hot sandwiches $5.95-$6.95, cold sandwiches $5.95-$6.95, classic sandwiches $2.25-$5.75, salads $3.50-$5.25, breakfast panini $4.50. Payment: MasterCard, VISA, American Express, Discover and personal checks accepted. Does not accept The Californian’s Press Pass.
Dress: Casual.
Amenities: Wheelchair accessible; no alcohol served; some vegetarian options.
On the Web: www.greatharvest.com
Food: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 2-and-a-half stars
Service: 3 stars
Next week: Fishlips