Friday Funk

Location: Panera Bread, Newport Beach

Hours: Monday - Friday 6am - 10PM, Saturday 7am - 10pm, Sunday 7am - 7pm

Website: www.panerabread.com

Any special or seasonal items? Bread!

Welcome to the first Friday Funk! I hope you like today's choice in music, I based today's title off of the song. Friday Funk's are generally what will be happening this weekend, generally in the OC, for local attractions. This weekend is a little hectic for me, so I'm just going to mention that it is the Whale festival in Dana Point. And I'm only going to mention them because I got to design the tshirts for this year's festival. Check out the one I'm wearing! It's got no words on it so its a little blank...

Today I tried out Panera Bread. Whenever I go to Panera I always try to have an empty stomach, I love their food (even though it's pretty limiting to my special diet). The enviroment has such a great lounge feel to it, it's so open and clean that I could easily mistake it for being a five star hotel cafe. The slow and soothing music adds a great addition to all the positive posters that try to get you to relax. The one I went to was located near a hospital, and even watching the bustle of doctors meeting up with each other and rushing on, the bakery still gave me a relaxed enviroment. The customer service was nice, the workers never tried to rush your order and offered tips as well as a nutritional guide of what goes into the food.  The workers always had a smile on their face despite it was 6:30 in the morning which gave me the idea that these people actually liked their job. Personally, I wouldn't mind either, although I'd probably gain about 50 pounds from eating all their great food. 

Boy, do these guys know their coffee: I tried today was Colombia Rever del Patron, and while I'm helping myself to the cup I notice a little blurb about the coffee I was tasting. It delved into how each bean is selected and from what company, where it was roasted and even the date of when the beans were roasted. These guys have it down better than Starbucks. I think I was more taken aback by the science of today's coffee over the actual cup of coffee (which, was quite nice- smooth and earthy, no real surprises there).

Food for Thought

So Panera Bread is most famous for its pastries, and I can't blame them- they look fantastic. I tried their Mediterranean Veggie (without the feta cheese) with a side of Black Bean soup. I wish my mouth was bigger, that stuff was absolutely delish! I can easily recommend any of those items off the menu for a lunchtime special or even a light dinner. I don't think my stomach's been that happy since I first tried Natives! As for pairing it with coffee, I would not suggest to drink a cup of their hot coffe while divulging on their sandwhiches or paninis, stick with the pastries please. 

Cafe Sketches

just one sketch this time... scanner problems

So I'll be writing later today, since it is Celebrity Saturday, as soon as my special guest arrives. I'll look forward to hearing from you then!

Namaste