Bread is often the first thing a guest tastes and the last thing they forget, so it signals how much a kitchen cares. Proper sourdough depends on a starter fed on a schedule, long fermentation and careful planning around oven time, which means someone in the brigade owns it every single day. Many kitchens bake in-house; others partner with a local bakery and say so proudly. Charging for bread is now common in the UK, and it usually works when the bread is clearly special, served with good butter, cultured or flavoured, rather than an anonymous basket.
Some guests still resent paying, so how it's offered on the floor matters. Bread is also one of the biggest sources of waste, since half-eaten slices can't be reused, so portioning, offering refills rather than piling it high and turning leftover dough or loaves into crumbs, croutons or puddings all help. Done well, a bread course can become a signature that guests talk about.
What we ask on the show
- Should restaurants charge for bread, and what makes it worth paying for?
- Who in your kitchen looks after the starter, and what happens when they're off?
- Is it a cop-out to buy bread in rather than bake it yourself?
- What's the cleverest thing you've seen a kitchen do with leftover bread?