My grief was at its height when Debrodnik’s Real Bake
Company seemed like any other place. Another bakery or café in another plaza,
bombed with illustrations on its windows advertising fresh sandwiches and what
not. It too even holds up a little part of the aesthetic bargain. You can
believe there’s a wall to sit against festooned with the fanciest decorative
floral print wallpaper. You all know the next word I’m going to utter too:
rococo. Luckily, it’s reserved to a single space. Beyond that is a more humble
area with no spectacular colour schemes, just sandwich tables, pastry fridges,
and playfully framed wall illustrations. Beyond that though, a spectacularly
playful and spunky menu of simple, yet very creative sandwiches which, in
hindsight, were carefully considered and work. How could a poutine sandwich not
have been? Or a mini quiche in a bagel? If you’re reading this with any kind of
my usual acrimony, please don’t, because Debrodnik’s is a fantastic change of
pace. With meatball sandwiches, deep fried cinnamon buns, and proverbial black
and white cookies, Debrodnik’s brings us workable comfort food, junk food, and
good food. Yes, there are also fresh deli sandwiches. It’s an eight item menu,
and I hope it never grows. It doesn’t have to, especially when it’s matched
with some of the most creative pastries I’ve seen in a while.
Joey and I mowed down on a meatball sandwich and a gut
busting poutine packed in a Kaiser, aptly named, ‘the Gut Buster.’ Weighing in
at over one pound, a chewy Kaiser with an immaterial doughnut like sweetness
was stuffed with fries, cheese curds, and more fries. Then, topped with gravy,
it was carefully pressed together, ensuring its cheesy scaffolding would hold.
And before you think something so carbo-loaded couldn’t work, guess again.
Crispy fries, cheese curds that actually melted (in a poutine, heaven forbid),
and spicy gravy matched the texture of a Kaiser that was buoyant and without
all that flakiness we are always sadly expecting. Not here, however. Debrodnik’s
creates a novelty sandwich that won’t be novelty for long; it’ll be Canon.
Our Meatball sandwich was a close second. Crammed with
roasted red peppers, mozzarella cheese, parmesan, tomato sauce, and a meatball
the size of a little girl’s fist, we couldn’t believe it stayed together, but
the sandwich’s creator knew a thing or two about balance.
And if we weren’t comatose enough, we made sure we would be
by the time we left, finishing our visit off with a raspberry mocha slice- a
cake stacked with rich raspberry mouse, cake, mocha mousse, and a brownie like
bottom. A little rich for our fat selves, with a mousse a little more jellied
than we would have liked, but a creative ensemble nonetheless. Next was the
choux pastry baked black and white cookie topped with, what else? Black and white
frosting. Cake like, but with body, it reminded me of so many of the pastries
my grandmother shoves in my face. But the deep fried cinnamon bun was the
favourite of the bunch. With a crispy exterior cased around a soft chewy inner
bread laden with cinnamon and sugar, and coated with a thick heavy frosting we
had to stop and put it down, think of how good it was, and pick up where we
left off.
Debrodnik’s is the kind of stuff we dream about, see on TV,
hear about on cosmopolitan food trucks, but anchored in a locale we can always
come to visit. A place I’m wishing I kept a secret, what with its inexpensive
and great food. Food, as far as I’m concerned, that easily shames every other
blazeh bakery around.
Debrodnik’s Fresh Bake Company
(519) 888-8378
MON-SAT: 11-7
ANY PAYMENT
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2 comments:
And why do they all seem to be on King St. in Waterloo? Aside from some of the country bakeries I've visited, which do have distinguishing qualities, there are only two differences I've found in the KW ones: atmosphere - they're either rustic or fancy - and coffee flavour. But yeah, the baked goods themselves all seem very similar.
Deep fried cinnamon buns! This place is going on my list of places to visit.
There's no pretension here. It's an after thought- like, they figured they had to make it look approachable because people are shallow jerks. They don't even need it- da stuff's da bomb!
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