In my most egomaniacal moments, I hope that the real food critics use blogs as a way to identify places that they should check out.
The Sun actually reviewed Bon Fresco yesterday -- saying that the bread was exceptional and talking up the lentil soup and the grilled vegetable and spicy Italian sandwiches. This was ironic because Elizabeth Large posted an email from me two months ago as part of her posts about "places we probably won't get to as well." This was also terrific because the Sun will drive more people for Bon Fresco's bread and sandwiches -- a crusade that I have been on since they opened last summer.
The truth is that the Sun probably saw the recent WPost review. But either way, I'm a huge Bon Fresco fan. A great place to grab lunch if you're doing errands in Columbia today -- especially that potato salad.
Thanks to Cari and Sarah who pointed out the review!
18 comments:
The review was done by Rob Kasper-- he used to write the beer blog for the sun (which I sorely miss!) and his articles are always very good, and sometimes off the Sun's beaten path, which might account for it.
Part of the problem with The Sun is that locals do have to point things out to the paper since it is really no longer a Baltimore paper but the Baltimore Edition of the Chicago Tribune.
I am a fan, too. The owner is super nice and b/c it was our first time a few wks ago, he gave us a free (from the lips to the hips) sourdough roll while we were waiting for our sandwiches. hubby had london broil, i had TBM.
i know where i'm going for lunch today!
I just got back from Bon Fresco, where I enjoyed the grilled vegetable sandwich and a side of potato salad.(The.best.lunch.ever.) The place was packed, and I'm guessing that this blog played a huge part in that!
My guess is that Bon Fresco is inconsistent. I had the lentil soup last month and it was watery [not thick] and over salted. In their favor, they gave me samples of a couple of their breads, which were *very* good.
The WashPost gave another shoutout to Bon Fresco in the 3/28/2010 WP Magazine (aka Sunday magazine): http://bit.ly/cQ7Bvc
LOL because I was munching away on a Bon Fresco baguette when I came across the kudos in the Best Bets section of the magazine.
This place is ALWAYS out of stuff. They never have potato salad after 6pm, etc. Seriously, prepare properly, you have been open for a year now..
Also, the sandwiches are def overrated by howchow as is most of the places he reviews. Howard county has pretty average restaurants for the most part which is incredibly dissapointing considering the amount of $ people have in the area.
I'm confused....first, Anonymous (if that is your real name)you say you had and I quote: "The.Best.Lunch.Ever" then you say the place is overrated and some other nonsense. Make up your mind.
Brandon, "Anonymous" is something you can post as, so they are different people. See how it easy that was?
March 28th Anonymous:
Then please, enlighten us as to where all these wonderful restaurants that you'd recommend are, since you seem so dissatisfied with the suggestions here.
(Amazing how almost all the negative feedback comes from someone posting anoymously. I don't have an account yet, but at least I sign my name to things.)
~kam
I'm sorry...my joke has fallen on deaf eyes.
I'm really surprised at how positive the reviews are of bon fresco on this blog. As mentioned above, they are always out of things, and I've been disappointed in all of the sandwiches I've tried there. The fresh bread is great, but the rest is hit or miss. I've never been given free samples of anything there, either. And don't they keep saying they are going to have breakfast and then not delivering on that promise?
New Anonymous:
Those are legitimate complaints, but I'd imagine the reason why people rate it so highly is because they *do* enjoy the sandwiches, and that's enough to get them to be more forgiving of the other things.
In the interest of full disclosure, I've only ever been for lunch, so I haven't had any trouble with them running out of items or closing early.
~kam
Bon Fresco had a queue at 11:20 today. Personally, I will support any place that strives to provide fresh food every day even if they are sometimes off the mark. Having a few friends in the food service business, I know finding good workers is really hard. I'd rather they not lower their quality and run out of food than the alternative. I understand not everyone feels that way, however. I do hope they get help soon.
The apple pastries ("turnovers" they call them) are also excellent. If you arrive early enough, the curst is nice and flaky. Kind of like a light version of an apple pastry from a french bakery. A steal at under $3.
I've never had a problem of them being out of anything at lunch (on a weekday) and I go there quite often. They periodically have cookies now in the pastry case, $1 each, that are out of this world. So far I've had chocolate chip and a chocolate/chocolate one.
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