Bread and Bruschetta

The Dish: bread and bruschetta, complimentary at .

What’s Inside: at the entrance to the main dining room is a little table with a 90-pound wheel of Grana Padana (an aged hard cheese with a grainy texture, similar to Parmigiano-Reggiano), a very large freshly baked foccacia bread and bruschetta. This is the spot where the waiters assemble a delicious appetizer for all the diners at Davenport.

With the exception of the Grana Padana, which is imported from Italy, all the ingredients are housemade. Italian bread is sliced and brushed on both sides with olive oil and garlic. It is perfectly toasted (you have to hear the bread crunch, says co-owner Lino Ferreira). On top of the toast is the fresh bruschetta made of tomato, red onion, garlic, basil, olive oil and salt and pepper. Topping that are large flakes of the cheese, scraped out from the wheel.

The foccacia is served with butter but we preferred olive oil.

How’s It Taste: the flavors and textures of the bruschetta work beautifully together to create a sensory experience: the garlic has bite, the bruschetta is moist and zingy, the cheese adds depth and that graininess. The crunch of the toasted bread adds another dimension of sound and crispness.

The foccacia, which is baked fresh (sometimes twice a day), is soft but dense with a light crust. We loved it with the extra virgin olive oil.

Sides: this is a good way to start off the meal.