Death to the Automatic Bread Basket

Today I met my friend Andrea for lunch at a local spot that is attached to a bakery.  I know that bread is their primary business, but I want to suggest something that many may find heresy — the death of the automatic breadbasket.

Many people have grown accustomed to getting “free bread” when they go to a restaurant that is a step or two up from fast food.  But we all know that nothing is free, especially for the restaurant serving it.  I, for one should not eat bread, so with the blessing of my dining companion, when our server brought our salads and the bread basket we sent it away before it could hit the table.  It was certainly a savings in calories to both of us. 

I got to thinking about how much bread was wasted by those who have the resolve not to eat every choice offering as well as how many unwanted calories were consumed by weak willed bread lovers.  I also considered how much of the cost of the salad I ordered did my unwanted bread represent?  I wish it were my choice whether to order bread and not automatically part of my lunch, especially a salad.

As a supporter of Food Banks the idea that bread comes to a table and then regardless if anyone even touched it must be thrown away after I leave, for sanitation purposes, makes me crazy.  If you have a restaurant, consider asking customers if they would like bread and don’t just give it to everyone robotically.  Giving people bread to eat before their meal certainly must cut in on the amount of food a customer orders that they are paying for.  I would think you are a lot more likely to sell an appetizer and heaven bless, maybe even a dessert, if people have not eaten an unlimited supply of bread.

Not being faced with warm, fresh bread and rich creamy butter helps me enjoy my meals out, lean that I can make them.  I know that many people can afford the luxury of eating bread, so by all means have it, but let’s be asked first.  Even better, don’t put the cost of the bread into my meal and if someone wants it let him or her pay for it.  Giving it for “free” cheapens its value.  The person who baked all that yummy bread should feel proud and having baskets left uneaten and then discarded would make me mad if I was that baker.