What’s a great lunchtime treat? Whole Grain Goodness and NO MAYO in our new BLAT. We’re bakin’ bacon at Bread and Cocoa and serving it up on our delicious multigrain organic whole wheat bread. Not yet convinced? Read on.

We’re slicing the Applewood Smoked Bacon to our own specification: thick-cut and juicy, and then baking it on a grate so the fat drains away, leaving behind thick and crispy strips. We serve it up with sliced avocado, lettuce, tomato and our secret homemade Avocado sandwich spread. This sandwich is soooo delicious you may want to feel guilty for no reason other than to feel guilty — but we say don’t. No need to feel guilty. Just enjoy it and all its healthful goodness!

As we ring in a new year here at Bread and Cocoa, Chef/Owner Ed DeMasi is busy in the kitchen with his new love of baking. Ed is one of those guys who just has to stay busy learning new things and creating delicious food for his patrons.

“I interviewed several bakers to create our cookies and breads,” he says. “And it was in that process that I began to read a lot about baking. One day, I just went and grabbed some ingredients and began baking cookies. It took weeks to get my chocolate chip cookies just the way I wanted them — slightly crispy, yet chewy. I loved it.”

With a good dose of inspiration, an old dog can learn new tricks. Ed’s chocolate chip cookies have been praised on Yelp and the blogopshere. His cookies are full of 70% dark semi sweet chocolate and, yes, they are crispy on the outside outside and chewy on the inside — just the way he likes them.

It gets better: another recent daily staple here at Bread and Cocoa is Ed’s multigrain bread. Baked in the Café every day, it’s a wonderful sandwich bread, slightly sweet with honey and very healthful with brown rice, organic whole wheat, added wheat bran and, yes, the perfect crust for a sandwich. Dig in!

2011 brought several changes to our Café experience. First and foremost, we removed all of the refrigerated cases from the back wall. Why? Because Chef/Owner Ed DeMasi wanted to offer fresher products. The change actually began two years ago, but when there were so many layoffs in the neighborhood, Ed opted for a period of wait-and-see how this will all pan out.

Now, with a more optimistic outlook, fresh Grab-and-Go sandwiches are prepared 5 times throughout the day and can be purchased right at the register. And, we offer made to order gourmet sandwiches. Along with the change came the addition of a free green salad on the side of all whole gourmet sandwiches or, if you prefer soup, you can substitute the vegetable soup of the day for only $1.50 in place of the side salad.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be blogging about the Bread and Cocoa experience. Stay tuned!