Hello All Southwest Virginia Foodies!
My name is Sarah Carlson and I had the honor, neigh the privilege, of accompanying the Blacksburg Contessa on one of their food adventures. You see, it was the last week of school before Christmas break and Olga had already left for that strange state of Texas, so Molly and Katherine invited Lauren Flynn and me to fill her void. Considering that we are the almost exact definition of opposite (she barely hits 5 feet, I try to stay under 6) hopefully we did a decent job.
This Wednesday, we went to Our Daily Bread Bakery and Café. We hoped it would be good considering there's that whole Jesus reference and it would really suck if they let Jesus down now wouldn’t it? When you look at it, it doesn’t seem like there would be much. But behind a beautiful array of snowscapes painted on the glass by local artists there lies a very large bakery and café that probably has any type of carb you are looking for. Now the prices aren’t exactly cheap (~ $7-9 dollars), but the food is quite unique and very tasty. On this cold day, Katherine, Molly and I got the same thing, because we have the issue of liking the same things. We got tomato soup and turkey paninis with yummy hummus that really hit the spot on a cold December day. Lauren ever the dare devil got a quiche, which was also delicious. The booths, if you can get one of them, are nice and big and really help you feel separated from the hustle and bustle and allow you to enjoy your lunch and lunch mates more thoroughly. If you can’t get a booth then there are a couple of tables but not that much seating.
Now just to warn you, if you are like me and have a tendency of getting hit on by old men, the pickings are prime here. As I was getting water, this one old guy came up to me and commented on my water-attaining skills. Apparently, back in his day men looked for women had good ability of finding water and getting it for the family (how old was he??). But don’t let that scare you, the workers there are really nice and the whole atmosphere really got me into the holiday spirit. Since we were feeling so good, we decided to get some desert as well. Molly and I got delicious canollis and latte which made me feel like I should hop on a Vespa and ride the hills of Tuscany…but that might be because I always want to. But the most wonderful thing was not the food but when was Lauren Flynn turned on one of those robotic singing stuffed animals by accident. It was a dog with big floppy ears and moved when he sang, looking at the joy on little Lauren warmed my heart.
I feel like that best sums up Our Daily Bread: warm, and I think Jesus would be pleased with that. Until next time!
Carlson
