Evoking memories of Mom making pastries.
Culver City may be my favorite street in LA to eat. I believe old-Americana, tree-lined Culver Blvd. is the Westside’s new Restaurant Row. One very good reason to get there is weekend brunch at City Tavern for their french toast. It’s DeathbedFood.
I minimize gluten because bread is neither friend nor vice. Cutting out bread is ‘low hanging fruit’ that makes it easier to eat DeathbedFood and stay fit. Prior to last weekend, it had been a couple of years since I’d ordered french toast. But City Tavern’s Cinnamon Brioche made me cave.
As good as it looks, it smelled better. As wafts of cinnamon permeated the outdoor patio, my man Jesse across the table thought he had cinnamon-crusted croutons in his Caesar salad. Cinnamon is DeathbedFood. My go-to snack as a child was cinnamon-sugared HomePride wheat toast followed only by Honey Maid Cinnamon Graham Crackers and milk. On special holidays, my mom would make her Swedish Tea Ring from Betty Crocker’s recipe (like this one) which was by far the best cinnamon treat I had growing up. As the sweet pastry bread baked in the oven, cinnamonized air filled the entire house. It was as if we had Yankee Cinnamon Vanilla scented candles lit in every room. I would stare at the oven hoping it would finish baking sooner. As soon as the pan was out, I’d tear a finger-burning piece off and put it into the refrigerator so that I could eat it within minutes rather than waiting a whole half hour.
When City Tavern’s french toast arrived on the table, that cinnamon smell flashed me back to the Swedish Tea Ring, memories of my mom, and graham crackers. That’s why it’s DeathbedFood.