It’s been just a little more than a year, but the word is getting out – the food at Breaking Bread Café & Catering is pretty darn good.
Breaking Bread, 1210 W. Broadway Ave., is unique in that it’s owned and operated by a nonprofit, Appetite for Change. Appetite for Change seeks to reframe the way people in urban areas think about food. In addition to Breaking Bread, the nonprofit runs Kindred Kitchen that is next door to Breaking Bread and provides kitchen space to food trucks and caterers. Appetite for Change also operates several urban farms in and around North Minneapolis. Those farms serve as a resource for the food that ends up on plates at Breaking Bread.
More and more that food is ending up in the mouths and stomachs of a growing customer base. Open Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. and starting July 30 open on weekends from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. with the exception of July 30, when the restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. during FLOW Art Crawl, Breaking Bread offers a flavorful breakfast and lunch menu in a relaxed, casual setting. The location even has an outdoor dining area, something not normally seen in North Minneapolis.
But the restaurant would be nothing without the food, and that food is the creation of executive chef Lachelle Cunningham. Cunningham, who came to Breaking Bread through her catering business, Chelle’s Kitchen, said the success of Breaking Bread is humbling.
“It’s kind of surreal,” said Cunningham. “But this is just the tip of the iceberg. This (alternative dining options) is the direction where we should be going in North Minneapolis.”
Some of the tastes that the café offers include jerk shrimp and cheese grits, vegan breakfast tacos, a variety of salads, sandwiches and the popular chicken and waffles. It was the chicken and waffles that diner Tammy Crockett ordered on a trip back to the restaurant, this time bringing her husband, Derrick Crockett.
“I like the chicken and waffles and the cheese grits. The cheese grits are my favorite,” said Tammy Crockett.
For his first time, Derrick Crockett ordered the Northside Breakfast, a traditional two eggs, meat and toast dish. He said having the café in the neighborhood is a welcomed addition.
“Being on the Northside, it’s always good to have something positive going on,” said Derrick Crockett. “Being in here makes you feel as if you’re in a different space.”
The staff at the café stands out as much as the food does. On multiple visits to the café the staff was friendly, knowledgeable and attentive. According to Cunningham, Breaking Bread employs 90 percent of its workers from North Minneapolis.
“In our staff I feel like I’m grooming the next generation of chefs and leaders,” said Cunningham.
On a sunny Friday morning Anna Ruelle of Northeast Minneapolis made her way over to the café, something she said she does often after trying it out the first time when she saw it on Groupon.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, this place is so delicious … and affordable,’” said Ruelle, who said she dines at the spot almost weekly. “We keep coming back … and back.”
