dare anyone who has jumped on the gluten-free bandwagon (without a doctor’s note) to eat at High Street on Market and still call himself gluten-intolerant. You don’t stand a chance. Know why? Because chef Eli Kulp basically built this restaurant around head baker Alex Bois’s superstar bread program. Let’s start with the breakfast sandwiches, specifically the Forager: seared king oyster mushrooms, braised kale, fried egg, Swiss cheese, and black trumpet mushroom mayo piled on one of Bois’s cloudlike kaiser rolls. Hell, put a tofu burger and vegan “cheese” on one of those things and I would still—greedily!—order it again. The black squid-ink bialy stuffed with smoked whitefish may sound questionable, but I promise it will be something you crave for weeks afterward. Abstinence won’t be any easier at lunch. The “Best Grilled Cheese Ever,” served on house-made roasted potato bread, delivers on its inflated claim. And no dinner here would be complete without more of Bois’s signature loaves: levain with vegetable ash, anadama miche (made with molasses and cracked corn), and buckwheat cherry, to name a few. If, at this point, you are wondering if the No. 2 restaurant on this year’s list got here on its dough alone, the answer is—unequivocally and emphatically—a very carby yes.
Arrive by 1 P.M. to score a loaf to take home.
Anadama Miche (far left)
Locally milled flour, cracked corn, and cornmeal lend layers of texture to this molasses-tinged American classic.
Buckwheat Cherry (top right) ____ Buckwheat flour from New York State and toasted buckwheat provide an earthy backdrop for plump cherries.
Ancient Grains (left middle) ____ This seeded loaf is studded with nutty whole grains and boasts a crackly-chewy, almost burnt crust.
New World Rye (right middle) ____ Pennsylvania-grown rye is milled to order; the resulting flour gives this naturally fermented bread unbelievable flavor.
Vegetable Ash Levain (bottom left) ____ High Street’s veggie scraps are charred, then ground to ash and folded into this slightly smoky-tasting sourdough loaf.