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| The Cavalier |
Brown Bag
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The luxury of a seated, leisurely morning meal being unrealistic for the vast majority of potential breakfasters, the first and most important of our daily repasts exists within a culture driven by convenience and speed. Breakfast in many cases is eaten on the go, carry-out style. While these constraints often result in breakfasts that are substandard, if not skipped altogether, they tend also to bring out the best in those with the creativity and ambition to go above and beyond. In downtown D.C., an area littered with second-rate, generic sandwich shops, and where many of these abbreviated morning meals are taken, the options for breakfast sandwiches more inspired than the hackneyed egg and cheese are depressingly few and far between. One of the few that does quick convenient right is Brown Bag, a six-location chain of local breakfast and lunch spots that, like Corner Bakery, manages to do big business in office catering without tasting like office catering. Among their elevated breakfast sandwich offering is The Cavalier, the twentieth entry in our month-long September Sunrise Sandwich Spree. Stacked high with folded scrambled egg, sweet Virginia ham, tomato and swiss, The Cavalier is available on your choice of bread, bagel, English muffin, wrap or croissant. As a sandwich it’s more than the sum of its parts, but the real achievement is that Brown Bag resists the shortcuts that befall the bulk of the downtown chains while turning out superior food. Let’s face it: We’d all prefer a stack of blueberry pancakes and bottomless Bloody Marys seven days a week. But back in the real world, The Cavalier is a shining example of what is possible when thought and care meet efficiency and execution.