Restaurant review: Bad Wolf Bakery

Published 12:00 am Friday, February 27, 2015

The opening of a new breakfast-and-lunch cafe can bring a measure of delight along with high expectations to Bend, a city that loves its morning meals.

When the Bad Wolf Bakery & Bistro began welcoming diners in mid-November, it attracted many former patrons of the popular Alpenglow Cafe, a local institution that closed in August. Bad Wolf has even assumed the former Alpenglow space in the Columbia Bank building at Newport Avenue and Wall Street.

But Red Riding Hood must still be hiding her basket of goodies, because the Bad Wolf has a way to go before it will achieve a similar level of success.

There’s potential here. But on three separate visits, I’ve found both food and service to be inconsistent. What’s more, the uber-urban ambiance seems out of place in a community where outdoor culture rules the roost.

I didn’t check out Bad Wolf when it first opened, waiting until February to sample its offerings.

Urban feel

Despite a full-wall mural-map of Bend’s streets on Bad Wolf’s east wall, the atmosphere feels more Portland chic than Central Oregon cool. Decor is black-on-black with accents of gray. Industrial-themed sketches in coffee and beer by local artist Karen Eland adorn the west wall, while a full wall of windows looks across the patio toward Newport Avenue.

Patrons order at the counter, where a line may sometimes form when an attendant is being too chatty. Through a windowed rear wall of porcelain bricks is the small kitchen. Orders are delivered to tables; but guests must get their own silverware, napkins and water from a self-service counter, where they also bus dishes after dining. A small bar prepares mimosas, bloody Marys and other morning beverages.

A limited selection of house-made pastries, including scones and muffins, is on display beside the cash register. But this is a bakery that doesn’t make its own bread: The menu proudly lets diners know that toasted striata comes from the Village Baker.

First breakfast

It seemed as though we waited forever for our first breakfasts to be delivered. And when they did arrive, they were only okay.

My breakfast burrito had two scrambled eggs with pork sausage, country potatoes, caramelized onions and Tillamook pepper-jack cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla. But it was a thick tortilla, and it was grilled and served in two halves. I like a thin, warm (not grilled) tortilla. It’s a personal preference, and I won’t get a burrito here again.

My dining companion chose “Grandma’s” traditional eggs Benedict. Poached eggs were served with grilled ham atop a toasted English muffin, accompanied by country potatoes with onions. The menu boasted of “scratch-made” Hollandaise sauce, but there was far too little of this lemony addition. When she asked for some on the side, she was provided a cup of thick gravy that tasted more like mustard than Hollandaise.

Morning return

Our second breakfast was more successful, perhaps in part because my companion started it with a blood-orange mimosa, sugar on its rim. And our caffe lattes were better prepared than they had been on our first visit.

I kept my food order simple with a “Build Your Own” option — two eggs, over-easy, with sausage and grilled striata. The meat came in patty form; it had good flavor and a spicy edge.

My friend ordered the Bad Wolf’s “What Big Eyes You Have” waffles. Four plump quarters were sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with sides of whipped cream and warm (and truly tasty) blueberry jam. Her only frustration was that a small pitcher of syrup contained a popular commercial brand rather than pure maple syrup, widely available but more expensive.

For the record, the breakfast menu also includes “What a Big Mouth You Have” bananas Foster french toast and “What Big Teeth You Have” chicken-fried steak.

Midday meal

We actually preferred the lunch selections, on a single visit, to our breakfasts. Both of us had salads and a sandwich; I also had a cup of soup.

From two daily choices, I opted for spinach bisque over minestrone. The rich but otherwise unremarkable soup was fully blended, a dark green in color.

My “Kale Mary” salad — crisp, curly kale with roasted beets, candied almonds and mild pepper-jack — really hit the spot. It was dressed with house-made apple vinaigrette.

My companion’s house salad comprised baby greens, cucumber, tomatoes and croutons (from toasted day-old rolls), tossed in a creamy and peppery garlic dressing. Tarragon seasoning gave it a flavor similar to Green Goddess dressing, making her doubt that she had been given the ranch dressing that she had actually requested.

But she found her ham-and-apple-chutney grilled-cheese sandwich to be “really good,” in her words. The chunky chutney accompanied thinly sliced house-smoked ham, caramelized onions and Tillamook cheddar on striata, which was grilled a little too long: It had become unnecessarily crusty.

My roast turkey sandwich offered slices of bird stacked atop pickled red onion, a well-peppered slice of tomato and fresh salad greens, dressed on one side with aioli, on the other with a sun-dried tomato-and-basil pesto spread. The lightly grilled bakery bread had a nice black sesame-seed crust.

I will look forward to returning to Bad Wolf a few months hence to see how the bistro is shaping up.

— Reporter: janderson@bendbulletin.com