It’s a long-running argument between restaurant owners and restaurant writers: Is it fair to write about a restaurant when it just opened? “We’re still working out the kinks!” they’ll argue.
“Did you charge me full price?” is my response. My theory is that new restaurants should be judged from the point they open their doors and charge full-price. I’ve always said that if I opened a new restaurant, I as the owner would visit every table, thank people for coming in so early, and then take 15% off of their bill.
As a diner, you assume a little bit of risk coming in during that first month, so I think you should get a break on the price.
Look, I avoid the whole controversy by not typically going to a place that just opened—I like to give it a couple weeks. But I happened to walk into Angel Food Bakery & Coffee Bar on its official first opening day. AND THEY GAVE ME TWO COUPONS TO COME BACK!
It’s brilliant. One is for a free donut during June, the other is for 50% off the “craziest, most hilarious birthday candle you will EVER see.”
Legendary breakfast spot Hell’s Kitchen opened Angel Food Bakery just upstairs (get it—Hell is in the basement, Angel Food is on the main level). The space is cool, the service was extremely slow (they had signs up apologizing, which I appreciated), and the pastries I tried were good, not great.
But it was the first day.
I really loved the carrot cake scone—a nice, soft scone with gobs of cream cheese frosting on top. It was fantastic and I can’t wait to have another. The coconut curry donut intrigued me—nice coconut slices on top of a decent donut with a little shake of curry on top. I actually would have preferred a more aggressive curry note. I saw it on top, but didn’t really taste it.
The chocolate croissant was fluffy, but the chocolate inside was a fairly hard chunk. The Peace Coffee was delicious ($2.25 for 16 oz.).
I think the price points for this downtown place are really good (the donut was $1.50, the scone $2.50, croissant $2.75), and it is so nice to have a convenient place to grab a freshly baked loaf of bread to take home. I’m excited about Angel Food, and excited to go back. My wife’s birthday is next week—she’s getting a hilarious candle at 50% off.
Angel Food Bakery & Coffee Bar
86 S. 9th Street, Mpls.
angelfoodmn.com
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