Bread Baskets

One thing I miss right now is bread baskets.
Yes, I do have one in my cupboard somewhere and I could pull it out, line it with a napkin, and stick bread in there. Put it on the table at dinner.
I could even put in good bread, there are some good bread bakeries open here in Toronto.
That’s not my point.
What’s missing is the element of surprise and delight that a breadbasket holds, I see now.
Like if you are in a Cheesecake Factory – lucky you- the bread basket has its unique sweet whole wheat baguette and the white type too-with a little thing of salted butter of course- or if you are at Red Lobster, they bring those decadent biscuits, and at a fancy place, all bets are off: it could be anything in there from warm focaccia to salted sourdough rolls to long crispy breadsticks with sesame seeds.
You just never know for sure.
These days, we always know for sure, about everything: what’s up, what’s next, the options, the meals, the choices.
I know how very lucky and blessed we are to be healthy and have food to eat and the luxury of monotony.
But in the interest of candour in one’s own blog, I’m feeling the sameness and I even think longingly about the water main break we had in January.
It was a new problem to be solved. It was, I see now, kind of exciting, with a clear ending and back to normal.
Phrases like “a clear ending” and “back to normal” are not phrases we can hang our hats on now.
It’s more like: here is a (maybe) improving situation in which you (maybe) can open your business to return to (almost certainly reduced) revenue with a (definitely unclear) future.
I don’t like ambiguity and the pandemic is heaven for those who do.
In the blog I have had to be vague about our business plans, out of respect to our bank, our landlords, and of course the team and customers. There are so many paths and so many concerns and so much to do.
To write about it publicly is off the table.
But soon- I think- everything will be figured out, and I can start sharing it here.
In the meantime, I daydream of bread baskets – and other little bursts of joy.