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| - Given the bipolar nature of the reviews, Bread and Salt has been crying out to me for an unbiased evaluation. Although I wasn't super keen on the idea of paying $4 for a slice of toast, I couldn't deny the visual appeal of the photos, so I decided to give it a try "for reviewing purposes," as I always say.
I stopped by Bread and Salt at 11:15 on Sat. morning. Unlike some other reviewers, I had no issues with attitude from the employees--upon walking in, I was greeted in a prompt and friendly manner by the guy working the counter. I ordered the toast with ricotta and honey to eat there, and the guy helping me asked me my name and told me he'd bring it out to me.
My toast came out in under 5 min., and looked exactly as the user photos on Yelp led me to believe it would, with crusty bread about 1" thick sliced diagonally and a generous topping of seasoned ricotta and honey. Starting from the cut edges, the bread was substantial without being dense and had a very pleasant malty flavor, and the toppings added a nice mouthfeel and flavor. However, as I approached the crust, the bread was rather burnt and stiff, making it challenging to bite and giving it an unpleasant, overly charred flavor on the edges. While I realize that this type of bread is rather crusty by nature, the heat needs to be better regulated when making toast so that it doesn't come out unevenly toasted.
Although I appreciate the amount of thought and effort that the owner has put into his product, I strongly suggest that he rethink his price point and business model, as it is turning off a lot of (potential) customers. Many competitors in the area offer a product of similar quality for 1/2 of the price--even for the ones geared towards high end, organic/artisan bread (e.g., Great Harvest, Loafers). If you count the more conventional bread bakeries (e.g., Mancini's, Bread Works, Sanchioli's), they're even closer proximally and their prices are even lower. And come on, if you're going to charge $6/loaf, at least have the decency to accept credit cards as payment (this is coming from a person who usually carries cash)--it's just cheap for vendors of high-end products not to do so, and is inconvenient for most customers.
Whenever I make a purchase, I always ask myself whether it was worth whatever I paid for it. While the non-burnt parts of the toast were very good to excellent, I simply can't justify paying that kind of money on the regular (or even on occasion) for this product. Thus, this is a one-and-done experience for me, and I will continue to support other bakeries like those I listed above offering a similar quality product to satisfy my high-quality bread needs. Moreover, I can't justify trying the pizza when there are many other artisan pizza places in PGH that offer excellent quality pies for what you'd spend for two slices here. 3.5 stars.
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