Comedian James Acaster goes in-depth into the subject of bread in the brand new comedy show James Acaster's Findings which you can hear on Radio 4 from 23:00 on Tuesday 26 March. Here, he discusses a new concept for eating out, inspired by the complimentary bread basket found in most restaurants.
Many people mistrust bread due to its role (no pun intended) in restaurants; being sent out first in a basket before the 'proper food' arrives, then being eaten by everyone and usually filling people up so that they have no room for the meal they've actually paid for.
Nathaniel (left) and James testing out bread
I personally don't see why this is seen as being such a bad thing. As a bread fan I think filling up on bread is a fantastic way to spend an evening. In fact, it's this whole debate that gave me the idea for the 'Bread Restaurant'.
It's exactly what you think it is: nothing but baskets of bread, one after the other, while you chat to your friends. That way once you've filled up on bread you won't mind because all you could've eaten anyway was more bread. Plus you get that great pre-meal feeling all night long; all the anticipation without any of the disappointment.
I would also like to open a 'Poppadom Restaurant' for the exact same reasons.
I've done some basic market research and there is one major stumbling block with the 'Bread Restaurant', and that's that most people expect the pre meal bread to be free - if all I serve is pre-meal bread then I'm looking at losing a lot of money. I will of course charge for the drinks but it turns out that all I've done there is open a pub that weirdly provides free bread to customers, which may not be as popular an idea.
As my assistant Nathaniel [Metcalfe] put it, "No one ever gets sloshed in a bakery."
That said, I still think the 'Bread Restaurant' will be a success. And the 'Poppadom Restaurant'. And my idea for a third restaurant focussing on the end of the meal as oppose to the beginning - that's right, a restaurant that only sells coffee; a 'Coffee Restaurant'. Although, Nathaniel thinks something similar may already exist.
For more bread-based musings on brioche, bagels and anti-bread propaganda, listen to James Acaster's Findings
