Brunch at Dozen Bake Shop

Yesterday I finally got a chance to try Sunday Brunch at Dozen Bake Shop with a couple of friends.  The Bake Shop was nearly packed when we arrived at noon, but thankfully the line was mercifully short.  There were so many delicious things to choose from that I kind of felt a bit overwhelmed.  Eventually I narrowed it down to the Baked French Toast and the Vegan Blue Flannel Tempeh Hash.  I'd never had Tempeh before and was eager to try it, but my stomach isn't the biggest fan of fried food so I ended up going with the Baked French Toast.  At $7.49 it was about $1-$2 more than I would normally pay for french toast, but when the plate was set down in front of me I immediately realized that I was getting my money's worth.  The portion was huge, and beautiful, and unlike any other french toast I'd ever seen.
It consisted of two huge hunks of bread topped with strawberries and a dusting of powdered sugar.  It smelled amazing, and tasted just as scrumptious as it looked.  The bread was soft and chewy in the center, and nice and crisp on the edges, with a slightly sweet, slightly cinnamon, slightly eggy flavor.  It was nice and moist, and the thing that immediately struck me was how well balanced the flavors were.  It wasn't too sweet, and the tastes of egg and cinnamon were fairly subtle.  It was so delicious on its own that I could've eaten it without any maple syrup; in fact, it was so different from french toast in both appearance and texture that I think the maple syrup was the most "french toast" thing about it.  Anyway, words cannot express how amazing it was, and I was really sorry that I could only eat about 1/3 of it before I got full.  Luckily my friends helped me polish it off - food that good should not go to waste!
I despise scones and I'm not a big fan of quiche, but I couldn't refuse my friend's offer of a bite of his apricot (?) scone and goat cheese, spinach, and shallot quiche.  The scone was crumbly, soft and moist.  WTF?!?  I swear every scone I've ever had has been as dry and hard as a brick, so I was totally shocked to try one that was actually good.  Ok Dozen, now you have no excuse for making dry cupcakes.  The quiche was light and fluffy, and very well balanced; not too cheesy, not too spinachy, not overwhelmingly eggy.  Delicious!  My other friend offered me a bite of his cream cheese and berry danish, and it too was super good.  I'm not sure how to explain it, but it tasted very real.

Anyway, those of you in Pittsburgh should definitely check out brunch at Dozen Bake Shop.  I feel kind of mean saying this, but I think Dozen's brunch is significantly better than their cupcakes.  (Not that their cupcakes are by any means bad, but it's like comparing something extraordinary to something good.)  It kind of makes me wish they'd convert their Squirrel Hill location into a bake shop so I don't have to drive so far for such delicious treats.
Oh, and at some point after their grand opening they cut the price of their cookies in half to $1.  (Or maybe the cashier charged me the wrong amount when I visited on the grand opening?)  I took a look at their menu yesterday and their prices seem much more reasonable than I initially thought.  Yay!