Bagatelle Bakery- Wichita KS

One of Wichita’s dining/food weaknesses is the local bakery scene. There are only a handful of places that offer fresh baked delights and one of those is Bagatelle. Located on Harry just east of Woodlawn, Bagatelle has been turning out breads and pastries for a number of years as well as serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After just one visit to this bakery/restaurant I am ready give it the award for “Most Eclectic Menu in Wichita” or “Most Likely Restaurant to serve Mexican, Lebanese, and French foods on the same day”.  Those are two categories that must be added to the Reader’s Choice Awards next year. We apparently visited on Mexican day, because the special was enchiladas, which complemented the quiches, soups, hummus, and ham sandwiches rather nicely. A bit taken back by the presence of enchiladas at a bakery I fell back on my old trusty friend, the ham and cheese croissant. I also got a cup of black bean soup for my side. Steph decided to go simple as well and ordered a turkey croissant with a side of hummus. Making our way to the decent sized seating area, we found a basket full of pita chips and well as some tasty ciabatta bread that was being offered to all customers. It looked like if we had gotten there earlier, there would have been some cake for dessert on the freebie table.

We enjoyed our generous bowl of hummus and as well as the cup of black bean soup and some ciabatta bread while waiting for the sandwiches to come out. The sandwiches eventually came out served with a simple pickle. Both the turkey and the ham sandwich came out the same with ample amounts of meat, several slices of cheese, and served on what was a very good croissant. Some people might have been taken aback by the lack of other ingredients, but it just reminded me of the way they serve sandwiches in France. When you have quality ingredients you don’t need a bunch of sauce and vegetables to get in the way.  Now I’m not saying the croissants at Bagatelle are as good as in Paris, but they are some of the better ones I have had stateside. We left Bagatelle full and satisfied with our experience. Steph was so full from lunch she actually passed up on some of the wonderful looking pastries behind the counter.

As far as the bread and pastry products go at Bagatelle, they had croissants, ciabatta bread, baguettes, and a wide variety other assorted pastries. If their baked goods menu is anything like the lunch and dinner menu I can only assume that it is rather dynamic and changes day-to-day. Similar to N and J’s, Bagatelle also offers bags of pita chips, cheeses, and seasonings. To sum it all up, Bagatelle offers a random assortment of good food, breads, and pastries at reasonable prices and they can even make you a wedding cake.

Baugatelle’s Daily Specials

<a href="http://“>

Jeanne’s Cafe-Wichita KS (Two Words: Coconut Pancakes)

In search of some late Sunday morning delight, we decided to try out a College Hill favorite, Jeanne’s Cafe. Jeanne’s is located at Douglas and Oliver just down the sidewalk from Watermark bookstore. This is a solid little neighborhood eatery that appears to have quite the regular following. Jeanne’s has your typical diner fare breakfast and lunch choices. Eggs, pancakes, french toast, burgers, sandwiches, and daily specials.

As we walked in, I noticed that Eggs Benny(Eggs Benedict) was gloriously displayed on  the chalkboard. I knew it was going to take something quite marvelous on their regular menu to sway me away from the perfect combination of eggs, muffins, ham, and hollandaise. Surprisingly enough I found some competition in the form of coconut pancakes. Typically I lean towards pure, unadulterated pancakes, but I just can’t pass up things with coconut in it. So I took the plunge and ordered up some hotcakes.  Steph opted for one of the popular favorites, French Toast.

The pancakes were good, but what really set them over the top was the shredded coconut that was grilled into the bottom of each one. It may sound like a strange combination, but it was most excellent. Steph’s thick cut French Toast was good as well.

If you are looking for a no frills cafe that offers some good home cooking Jeanne’s is your place. Who knows, you may try some of the those delightful pancakes and become a regular for life.

The Donut Whole-Wichita KS

If there is one thing Americans love it is donuts. In fact donuts even have their own day on the second of June each year. The great thing about donuts is the variety of flavors you can get them in. And no one knows variety like the Donut Whole on east Douglas. I had the chance to try out the Donut Whole last Friday after attending a riveting performance of “The Ugly Duckling” with my mom and three year old niece.

The Donut Whole is part donut store, part coffeehouse, but also includes a small art gallery and stage. The art changes each month with Final Friday and they have different bands perform on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. This is not your typical donut shop and in turn they do not serve your typical donuts.  According to their website, all of their donuts are made from scratch using locally sourced ingredients. I guarantee that Krispy Kreme cannot claim this, in fact their batter is made in North Carolina. The Donut Whole also offers over twenty-five varieties of cake donuts each day. Phil and I have visited the Donut Whole once or twice before but we seem to hit it after a large crowd and several types of donuts are missing. This time though I hit the jackpot.

I was able to try the cherry cordial which is a chocolate donut with a chocolate and cherry icing. It was dang tasty. My niece ordered the Homer J. She is an avid fan of the Simpsons. Actually she probably went after it since it was pink with sprinkles. I was able to steal of a bite of hers (got yelled at for it) and kind of liked it better than mine. The icing had a strawberry taste to it. My mom ordered the Rainbow which had chocolate icing with sprinkles. She enjoyed it immensely. The crowning achievement of this visit however, was the chance we had to finally try one of their famous Maple Bacon donuts. These guys are topped with maple icing and bits of bacon. Phil was quite pleased to find one at home waiting for him. That donut is freaking fantastic people! A little bit of savory with a lot of sweet, and it completely works. The bacon is not overwhelming and the whole thing just feels like Easter morning breakfast as a kid.

I know it maybe difficult to give up the overly sweet and stomach churning Krispy Kreme (not to mention they have several more stores), but let’s not only support a local restaurant but one that only buys local ingredients. This is pretty rare even for chain free. And just a FYI: drive-thru is open 24 hours a day.

http://www.thedonutwhole.com/

<a href="http://“>

The Good Egg and Doc Green’s- Wichita KS

We have been slacking on our blog lately so I decided to blog about our two recent Sunday lunches. What is funny about both of these places is that both have several locations in one other state and then have one or two locations in Wichita. The Good Egg has lots of locations in Arizona but Wichita is the only location outside of the Grand Canyon State. Doc Green’s has several locations in Georgia but only two in Wichita. So I have decided that we can blog about these two places since they are not chains outside of one state.

Starting with the Good Egg. The Good Egg is located in Bradley Fair close to 21st and Rock Road. It is known mainly for its breakfast items but also serves lunch as well. We have been many times with my family due to their love of  tasty a breakfast. I have tried several items including their chocolate chip pancakes (twice the size of your head so don’t order too many), the Yogurt and Granola (Yogi), and the Three Cheese Omelette. This past time I ordered the Omelette and was rather disappointed. The eggs were a bit overdone and a tad rubbery. I think I will stick with the pancakes or the Yogi from now on. The pancakes like I mentioned are absolutely huge and packed with chocolate chips so only order if you have a sweet craving. The Yogi is a nice light option but can also hit the sweet spot with the yogurt. Phil ordered the Huevos Rancheros. Since he didn’t even offer to let me try some, I am going to guess he enjoyed them. It must be said that the Beacon and the Anchor have a better breakfast but the Good Egg is closer to our church and house.

Today we went to Doc Green’s. They are located at the Waterfront close to 13th and Webb. They are known for their creative salads and healthy menu options. I tend to always order the Dr. Beeks with chicken tenders. It is a sweeter salad with feta cheese, craisins, and candied walnuts. The portions are huge and the salad is very filling. I was bad this time and also ordered a piece of carrot cake. The carrot cake was freshly made and pretty good. Not as good as from a bakery (Thinking of You comes to mind) but still tasty. I ate the whole piece. So here are two tasty options for lunch or brunch in Wichita.

The Anchor Pt. II- Wichita KS (Brunchtastic)

Over the weekend we had the pleasure of checking out The Anchor’s infamous brunch. There is only one word to describe this wonderful occasion: Brunchtastic. My spell checker believes this is not a word, but I assure you if we all start to use the word it will soon become part of the King’s English. The Anchor offers a brunch menu till noon on the weekends and perhaps even during the week. But who has brunch during the week? Maybe weird people who work at 4pm in the afternoon and can enjoy a nice brunch at 11am on a Tuesday.

Once I gazed at the menu I knew they weren’t messing around. This was one hardcore brunch. I was torn between several choices, but ultimately at my friend’s urging I went with the Eggs Bennie (or Eggs Benedict for those of you who aren’t real close to our boy Benedict). The Anchor’s twist on this dish was switching out a nice slice of pork loin for the typical ham. I’m going to allow this because they are switching out one pork product for another. Had they switched the ham with chicken there would have been one disgruntled patron on that morning.  Being an individual with a severe pancake dependency I also ordered one of those bad boys on the side. Surprise, surprise I was not disappointed with my order. The Eggs Bennie was damn good. The biscuits were fresh, the egg runny, and the pork, while a touch overdone was still moist. The pancake was exceptional as well. Almost as good as IHOP! Actually I would say that The Anchor and The Beacon have the best pancakes in the city. The pancake came with a delicious berry butter as well.

My better half and her ravenous sweet tooth went with some cream filled grilled toast thing. I can’t recall the name, but it had something to do with a Nun. Good Lord it was delicious, but only in small quantities. It packed a sweet punch like none other. And just in case you needed to finish off your arteries it came with a side of butter. We decided that perhaps it needed an egg or some fruit to augment the sweetness.

If you have not been to The Anchor for brunch you really need to go. Their menu is impressive and full of unique dishes to try. Now if you can’t handle The Anchor experience by all means go to Jimmy’s Egg, but remember you will have to live with that for the rest of your un-brunchtastic life.

The Beacon(A beacon of breakfasty deliciousness)

Sunday we paid a visit to the The Beacon restaurant before I had to report to work. The Beacon has long been a cornerstone of the Wichita dining scene located just west of Douglas and Washington. It was our first time there and we were not disappointed.

The Beacon is your typical diner with typical diner food, but they are best known for their breakfast which is served all day everyday. Do note that they are only open till 2 or 3 in the afternoon, so if you get a B&G (biscuits and gravy)  craving at 10pm on a Tuesday night you will have to look elsewhere unfortunately. As you walk into The Beacon you are met with a whiff of air that is still trying to adjust to Kansas’ new smoking ban. Thank the Lord they finally passed this ban. It makes people with The Asthma, like myself, much more inclined to frequent establishments that were once smoke-filled dens of cancer. Anyway they still have the always trendy ceiling fan air filter combo which now just helps to soak up the sweet smell of hot cakes in the morning. The walls are adorned with nautical and maritime pictures and painting. Apparently some of them are for sale for what seemed to us to be steep prices, but I’m sure if you take one home it doubles as a hashbrown scented air freshener.

On to the main event, which is typically the food, at least on this blog. I had a strong, unrelenting desire for sweet buttery pancakes on this particular morning, which is no different from the other 6 days of the week.  Yes I am a total pancake whore. I ordered the regular plain pancakes and a couple of eggs sunnyside-up. I’m not sure if it was the fact that I was rather hungary or that I always make pancakes with reduced fat bisquick  that clouded my judgement, but these pancakes were absolutely awesome. They were the perfect combination of sweetness and texture that one looks for in a world-class hot cake. The eggs were also perfectly done. Now I know there are some of you non-believers out there thinking that American breakfast fare is so simple that a drugged mule could produce a good omelette, but that is not true. I would have to say in my rather unprofessional opinion The Beacon dominates The Good Egg and Jimmy’s Egg as far as their pancakes are concerned. It is a simple meal, but sometimes those are the easiest to screw up.

Stephanie ordered a short stack of chocolate chip pancakes. It was half chocolate and half pancake which is exactly the way it should be. I prefer my chocolate chip pancakes plain and was happy to eat them minus the syrup since they are already so sweet. I also ordered a side of hashbrowns to cut into the sweetness. These were cooked perfectly. The outside nice and brown and crisp with the potatoes inside nice and soft. They don’t have much seasoning on them so be prepared to use salt or if you like ketchup.

The other great thing about the Beacon are the prices. We were shocked when we got our total for 5 adults at the end of breakfast. We spent around $40 including the tip. This is a great little place to hit up when you need a break from the chain breakfast places.