For some, there is nothing like a hearty breakfast to start the day. For others, scurrying out the door to work is more of a grab-and-go situation. Fortunately, the valley has some delicious breakfast spots that can accommodate both. Here are breakfast restaurants and their delicacies that won the Best of Phoenix award in 2021. click to enlarge Ollie Vaughn’s has the best breakfast in the valley. Ollie Vaughn’s Best Breakfast Ollie Vaughn’s1526 East McDowell Road Partly informal breakfast place with lighter plates, part bakery, part coffee shop where you can eat snacks forever and enjoy a slow drop of caffeine food. The croissant creations, such as an egg sandwich and croissant pudding, are simply not to be missed. The meat breakfast sandwich is constantly changing and tends to be bang after bang, like a buttermilk biscuit with ham, eggs, and allspice; or another cookie sammy with Schreiners sausage, green chillies and eggs. Some of the best baked goods here are classics. Don’t sleep on the everyday strawberry muffin with plenty of powdered sugar. At Ollie Vaughn’s, the selection of teas is just big enough and the coffee menu covers all the essentials admirably. The baked goodies at Barb’s Bakery are unbeatable. Diana Martinez Best Bakery Barb’s Bakery2929 North 24th Street We had a friend named Dino but we stopped talking to him when he said he didn’t like the gingerbread men at Barb’s Bakery that Phoenix has served for decades. We don’t need such negativity in our life. What we need is one of those flavourful, warm cookies from Barb’s, and we need that every week. Also half a dozen Barb’s shortbread biscuits, just as ice-cold and perfect with a glass of cold milk. Barb’s Orange Dreamsicle Cupcake is the best we’ve ever tried, next to their made from scratch cinnamon bun, sticky with sweet icing and almost big enough for two. Except that we don’t like sharing our stash of Barb’s. Get your own. I Support Local Community Journalism Support the independent voice of Phoenix and help keep the future of the New Times free. click to enlarge Gluten-free delicacies at Sweet Dee’s Bakeshop. Chris Malloy Best Gluten Free Bakery Sweet Dee’s Bakeshop 7350 East Stetson Drive, Suite C101, Scottsdale A lot of people seem to be thinking, “You can’t even say it’s gluten-free!” is the highest compliment you can give a gluten-free pastry. We tell you: It is not enough for us that our gluten-free delicacies are considered “normal” delicacies. They better be tasty too. Sweet Dee’s always lives up to our standards; Every day the range of pastries includes a number of great gluten-free options. We tried the butterscotch chip brownie, juicy and rich; a sour, smooth lemon bar; and exquisite macarons in flavors such as matcha and dark chocolate pomegranate. Dee’s Nuts (LOL), the bakery’s mini donuts, are also gluten-free. Sweet Dee’s menu, which features light fare like quiche, avocado toast, sandwiches, and salads, also suggests that each menu item can be made gluten-free. All in all, Sweet Dee’s is where we buy gluten free pastries and all the flavor. Rainbow Donuts wins by keeping it simple. Rainbow Donuts Best Donuts Rainbow Donuts 1347 East McDowell Road Since the opening of places like Portland, Oregon’s iconic voodoo donuts in 2003, the game has changed for the often one-hole pastry; a number of spots around the world have gotten super-creative with their interpretations. That’s all well and good, but sometimes a simple fried batter offering satisfies donut cravings like no other. Rainbow Donuts is not trying to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. This old school place is all about putting delicious pastries on the day. You will mainly find glazed, raised, filled, plain and speckled in their long showcase. The buttermilk bars are also exceptional, but if you get to the Rainbow too far after sunrise, they’ll be sold out long ago. Delicately dense and subtly sweet with a hint of nutmeg, these hearty bars are reason enough to put this shop on your route. The chocolate éclair is one of many delicacies at Essence Bakery. Essence Bakery Best Chocolate Croissant Essence Bakery 3830 East Indian School Road If you are lucky enough to get to Essence Bakery as soon as the pastry comes out of the oven, you will smell the chocolate croissant before trying it. The first bite will stop you in your tracks. Despite being a butter-made pastry filled with chocolate, the pastry made by Chef Eugenia Theodosopoulos is exceptionally airy and flaky. You may have to take a few bites to discover the rich, dark chocolate inside the pastry, but your teeth, and soon your fingers, will eventually discover the utter softness inside. It won’t be long before you’ve devoured it all and all that’s left is flakes of dough on your shirt and butter and chocolate on your fingertips. You might as well order another one – this little piece of pastry heaven is only $ 4. There is a tragic shortage of good bagels in Phoenix. Luckily we have Bagelfelds whose bagels, marketed as Brooklyn-style bagels, are phenomenal. Biting into one of those fresh, chewy bagels smothered in a garlic and pepper smear is a New York border experience; It’s even better knowing that you’ve had more bagels in your paper bag since you passed out a dozen. The menu includes flavors like fennel seeds and golden raisins and sea salt, and you also have cream cheese options like lemon herb and honey brown butter. They don’t have a formal shop front, but you can buy your bagelfelds from the stalls at Uptown Farmers’ Market, Downtown Phoenix Public Market, Stoop Kid at The Churchill, and Nelson’s Meat + Fish. The Arizona Bread Company is a long-standing favorite in the Valley. Jamie Peachey Best Bread Arizona Bread Company 7000 East Shea Boulevard, 101, Scottsdale It’s not uncommon for a bakery to make excellent kalamata olive bread, which the Arizona Bread Company certainly does, all chewy and filled with olives and sprinkled with cheese. And there are several local bakeries that have a really good round raisin challah as well (though none is half as dense and tasty as Arizona Bread). But can someone please help us find a tastier, more perfect Italian rosemary bread than the one baked in this longtime Valley favorite? No, forget it. You can’t do it; We tried to find one that we like better. Don’t take our word for it – try this flavourful, crusty bread for yourself. And while you’re there, don’t miss the chance to take home a slice of Arizona Bread’s dark honey wheat bread or the Parisian baguette with its tough, crispy texture Try the outside and the tough, soft inside. click to enlarge prickly pear jelly from Cotton Country Jams. Lauren Cusimano Best Preserves Cotton Country Jams 3801 South Central Avenue Step aside, Bonne Maman. Cotton Country Jams is in the house. Amanda Hawkins’ grandmother started this business in 2000; at the time the only product was wild Maine blueberry jam. Hawkins took over the business in 2008 and today it offers jams, jellies, pickles and syrups using mostly local ingredients and grandma’s recipes. We keep our kitchen filled with the prickly pear jelly and bread-and-butter pickles by snapping them up when we spy on them at local farmers markets. But the lineup’s crown jewel is fig jam. Made from figs, lemon juice, sugar, citric acid, and pectin, it has just the right texture (not too thick, not too thin), flowing, and sweetness. You can also find Cotton Country Jam products locally at Woods & Whites, Sphinx Date Co., Noble Eatery, and Pane Bianco. click to enlarge The Futuro is here now. Allison Young Best Coffeehouse Futuro 909 North First Street In a room that feels like it’s locked in a box of shiny computer paper, Jorge Ignacio Torres runs the liveliest coffee program in Phoenix. Futuro exists in the Palabra, the multi-purpose room in the city center, which also houses the Pasado restaurant, a hairdressing salon and changing exhibitions of current avant-garde art. The coffee, a large part of it single-origin, creatively pushes new boundaries and lets you rethink what coffee can be. Innovative mixes like a double espresso with milk and marzipan candy or cold brew with nectarine, honeysuckle and cream often come in stemless wine glasses when they’re frozen and hand-thrown ceramics when they’re hot. The beans and quirky yet harsh flavors of Torres have deep roots in Mexico. Classics like Café de Olla and Cajeta Latte feel brand new. The Cave Creek Roastery knows their beans. Roastery of Cave Creek Best Cold Coffee Roastery Of Cave Creek 7003 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek With two decades of roasting experience and some of the world’s most coveted roasting machines in his business, Kansas transplanted Dave Anderson and his Cave Creek crew rolling out the red carpet for coffee beans and brings them to their full flavor before brewing. He started canning his Nitro Cold Brew a few years ago. It has a deeply frothy head that could kill Guinness for its money, and such an amazing array of slightly nutty, malty, fragrant flavors that it almost looks like you’re not drinking coffee – until its buzz zaps you like lightning . Wake up to one of these and a big day is pretty much guaranteed. Click to enlarge The Churro Macchiato at Native Coffee Co. Chris Malloy Best Mobile Coffee Native Coffee Co. Pulling up to this sky-blue, cloud-white, wood-paneled coffee trailer with a psychedelic saguaro on the door feels like a block party. Whether they’re parked in their usual downtown Tolleson parking lot or elsewhere, Raul Chavez and Brittany Martinez-Chavez toss their fun latte riffs in front of large crowds. They use Quetzal Co-Op coffee and mix espresso-based drinks like a Mexican hot chocolate mocha and a churro latte. Native Coffee Co. drinks are sweet and icy and huge, the best a touch or crazier. The two also brew base teas, some from Native Seeds / SEARCH, like prickly pear and desert mint. But the coffees deserve their star. They are just so unique: Mexican in spirit with Akimel O’odham influences and a lot of humor. click to enlarge A brunch spread from Prep & Pastry. Prep & Pastry Best Brunch Prep & Pastry 7025 East Via Soleri Drive # 175, Scottsdale is the spot. The Scottsdale canal-side pastry shop has some circus skills, from a croissant and puff and shatter to passion fruit pavlova and praline eclair. The plate brunch dishes are just as creative. Highlights include French toast with peanut butter and jelly on Japanese milk bread, a breakfast routine with pork belly, and a cast-iron duck confit with cherries and goat cheese that could be an appetizer for dinner. Drinks are thoughtful riffs on brunch classics, and they tend to quickly fade into the pleasant blur of a meal that achieves everything that the idea of brunch promises but almost never actually delivers.
[ad_2]
