The Garden Of Eatin’

Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: 2018/06 - June

This month’s Laurel Restaurant Review takes us to Bake My Day, a little sunburst at the far end of Wright Square in Highlands.

“Wait a second, Luke,” you’re saying, “didn’t you review that place three years ago?! Aren’t there plenty of places out there that you haven’t gotten to yet, places deserving of attention?! Why has Bake My Day jumped the queue? What sort of scam is Laurel running here?! And why are we calling it Laurel , when everyone knows it’s The Laurel!”

Let me answer this in two ways. First of all, why are you yelling? This is a restaurant review. If you really feel the need to get riled up about something, go to Donna’s Rant on page 136.

I suppose you may be reading this in a doctor’s waiting room and you’re a little nervous, or at Highlands Automotive while they’re installing a new muffler and you’re bored stupid.

If so, grab a cup of coffee and see if you don’t feel better about this.

(In fact, hold on to that coffee suggestion and we’ll come back to it later on.)

Secondly, we’re visiting Bake My Day again because it has a new owner and a sparkling new menu. And since there are so few breakfast/lunch places in the Plateau Restaurant Ecosystem, a new player automatically deserves some attention.

It’s good for all of us that Bake My Day gets it right.

Join me back in my fourth grade health class and hear Mrs. Finnermann tell us about how breakfast is the most important meal of the day. She’ll mention things called carbohydrates and how they fuel our little bodies for all the activities that lie ahead.

Of course, she’s right. It turns out Mrs. Finnermann is always right. But years later, it’ll occur to me that breakfast is important for other, equally valid, psychological reasons. It’s the opportunity to set the emotional tone for the day.

Bake My Day’s sunny walls and carefullycurated artwork make the place glow, a natural reflection of a pristine Highlands day, or a beacon on those equally possible rainy days.

That subtle boost of sunshine is reinforced by the greeting you receive from server Amanda. She pinballs around the Dining Room with a relentless cheerfulness and the wisecracking wisdom you’d find in decades of Hollywood portrayals of diner dolls.

Though you may be there for only one meal, strike up a relationship with Amanda. It’ll set a good tone for your day.

But the menu is equally important, and it’s here that Bake My Day shines.

I ordered the Southern Buttermilk Banana Pancakes and they were a psychic passport to Costa Rica, redolent of the tropics and the perfect tonic for what was shaping up to be the fourth day of rain and gloom.

My Sweetie ordered a supremely overstuffed Western Omelet and it arrived with a perfect balance of Bell Peppers and Swiss Cheese.

I’d tell you more about our meal, but we’ve run out of space. You’re the one who got fussy at the start!

Did you hold onto that coffee suggestion from earlier in this review? Because this is one more area where Bake My Day shines. Tricia is pretty Taliban when it comes to a good cup of Joe and she’s left four-star restaurants grumbling about their coffee. This place’s house blend passes the Tricia Test. Finally, let me mention that Bake My Day offers a full complement of pastries. Crème Brûlée Tartlets, Croissants of every shading, and Chocolate Eclairs, among others.

It’s those Eclairs I want to mention here. When Pope Clement IV declared in 1266 that the indulgent creations of man were imbued with sin, I suspect that he was somehow talking about these pastries. Holy Smoke, they’re sinfully good. They’ll tempt you in all the good ways and if, like me, you pick up a half-dozen for friends and colleagues, you’ll be amply rewarded. For me, it’s Laurel Employee of the Month.

As we go to press, Bake My Day was rolling out its Lunch Menu. I plan to sample it, whether on Laurel’s dime or not. I hope you’ll join me.

Bake My Day is located at 137 Main Street in Wright Square, Downtown Highlands.