RESTAURANT REVIEW: Superba Food + Bread

If you’re going to eat at a restaurant with the word “bread” in the name, you know you’re going to have to be a little naughty. We tried to be good – ordering a salad and a grain bowl – until we spiraled into a world where it was de rigueur to eat bread with tantalizing toppings.

We couldn’t help but feel completely indulgent in this former auto-body shop transformed into a sun-soaked den of iniquity. Dark things are going on in that glass-walled kitchen. At the insistence of Paul Hibler (Pitfire Artisan Pizza, Superba Snack Bar – a personal fave), they are baking breads of all shapes and textures; turning chicken, leg of lamb and pineapples on a wood-fire rotisserie; whipping up meringues and forming them into Pavlovas; and generally conspiring to fatten us up in the most delicious of ways.

Superba Food + Bread is part urban park, breakfast nook, wine bar (Ashley Ragovin compiled the wine list), coffee bar (serving up “Stumptown Coffee”), and part lunch and dinner spot.

Our adventure began simply enough with my dining companion Susan ordering the Black Rice Salad – a bowl filled with sticky Forbidden Rice, rotisserie pineapple, Thai basil and cashew. She gave me a tiny bite, and it was amazing!

My Grain Bowl – topped with slow-cooked egg, pickles, collard slaw, cashew and citrus peel with an addition of chicken and avocado for extra protein – was clean, hearty eating at its best. It provided a medley of textures and flavors. Surprisingly, the citrus peel stood out as the best part.

The Pain Au Levain Toast – one with avocado, pickled Fresno chilies and radish sprouts, and the other topped with Testa (Italian head cheese), hot pepper jelly and soft herbs – would have been a perfect accompaniment to a glass of sparkling rosé on a hot summer day.

We could have turned away the double chocolate chip and walnut cookies, the drop biscuit with accompanying jar of lemon curd and the brioche brown butter sticky bun (part of the daily “fresh bake”), but we dared not offend the very friendly staff. Instead, we happily gobbled up everything and washed it down with frothy Gibraltars.

A couple Sundays later I found myself back at Superba Food + Bread, partaking in their Nightly Supper, a different offering every night of the week. On this particular night, the offering was Fried Chicken served with collard green slaw and biscuits. The chicken was incredibly moist on the inside and, you guessed it, crispy on the outside, with a bit of spicy heat.

This eatery’s reputation is already starting to spread past its Venice neighborhood as a go-to option for breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner and of course, its breads and daily “fresh bake” items.