neigborhood recommendation #12: fresh bread and brekkie.

i'm back with my neighborhood recommendations. i actually hesitated posting this particular one, because i am seriously worried the place will be packed and i won't be able to find a seat in the weekends. but since i do want to promote a business i believe in because keeping them in business is also to my own advantage, here goes nothing. the thing is, you people reading are not such a numerous lot that i reckon you hardly create a crowd by yerself.

i am lucky enough to live close to two small bakeries that offer fresh bread. i mentioned kakkukeisari before, but there's another one worth mentioning. although finns consume vast quantities of bread, to be perfectly honest our nutrition culture does not favor freshness or flavor. fetching a warm loaf in the morning is an everyday luxury that i treasure, but after forming the habit of eating only bakery bread, it's quite hard to go back to sealed, store-shelf alternatives, i warn you.

the place i want to recommend is called crustum. i found out about it from anu in a brief status post at facebook.

crustum is a small family business, operated by a finnish-swedish and german couple (i believe) which opened its doors late last fall. their goods are definitely german influenced and one of my favorites is the "partysonne": a sun created by approximately 30 small buns with a variety of seed toppings. nevertheless, my ultimate favorite is their spelt bread: just the perfect sourdough whiteness. they also offer a variety of sweets – continental style – which is rather refreshing.

the best part is that they sell fresh bread on sundays. yup, you can get your hands on a steamy loaf early on a sunday morning.

the title said brekkie, right?

well, in addition to the bakery, they serve a buffet breakfast every day. not exactly vegetarian friendly – if you're not really into bread – the table is filled with such a selection of cold cuts that my carb-cutting sweetie is more than enthusiastic. there's also some cheese, lax and your basic yogurt and muesli. the coffee is great and there's pink grapefruit juice, and they keep the buffet pleasantly neat. the clientele is not your stereotypical rödberga hipster posse, but reminds me of small cafes next to great bookstores in bigger cities – the atmosphere is more literary than hip, if you know what i mean... needless to say, i am there every weekend.

any brekkie favorites you want to recommend?