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Jul 12
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Only the Best for a Brown Bag Sandwich: Lyon Bakery, Kings of DC Bread

By BBBlog

It’s important to us at Brown Bag to use fresh, local, natural ingredients and local suppliers, whenever possible, and we’re are lucky to be headquartered in a city like Washington, DC, where there is an abundance of diversity and quality when it comes to food.  One of our favorite food suppliers in DC is the Lyon Bakery.

If you haven’t tried Lyon, you’re missing out.  Founded in 2000 by three friends, each equally committed to and skilled in the art of making gourmet bread, it has grown into a thriving business that serves hotels, government organizations, leading restaurants, gourmet delis, culinary service groups and catering services.  Brown Bag chose Lyon to supply our breads because we share the same ideas about the kind of food we want to serve.  Lyon Bakery doesn’t just serve some of the best bread in DC (and lots of it—take a look at their variety), they are committed to making all-natural artisan bread with no artificial additives or preservatives.  In addition to their commitment to using only the BEST ingredients, here’s one of the things we love most about Lyon Bakery, their personal definition of the word artisan:

 

Artisan:

ar· ti· san [ahr-tuh-zuh n]

Using as few automated processes as possible, and with great care and attention to detail, here at Lyon our bakers use traditional methods of hand-molding our products. Many of our breads come in different shapes and sizes – as rolls, baguettes and loaves. As each piece of bread is hand-crafted, it leaves Lyon Bakery with an invisible stamp from the baker that created it.

 

In a Yelp review online, one loyal customer explains that after eating two baskets of pre-dinner bread at a local DC restaurant, he asked the server where he could get more of the delicious bread he’d just eaten, only to be told that the company, Lyon Bakery, only sells wholesale direct to restaurants—no retail.  He was disappointed, to say the least.  In the review he says that he’d decided that he’d just have to keep going back to the restaurant where he’d discovered Lyon’s breads in the first place—such was his devotion.  Luckily, he stumbled upon a Lyon Bakery stand at Union Station!  Too bad he didn’t know that Brown Bag has been just as loyally devoted to Lyon Bakery for quite a while now—and we have 6 locations all over the greater DC area!  That’s a lot of opportunities to eat great bread!

At Brown Bag, we take our sandwiches seriously, so when it came to choosing the perfect breads, we were thrilled to discover Lyon Bakery!  Come in, order up a sandwich your way or try one of our Brown Bag creations, and try DC’s best bread wrapped around your favorite, fresh Brown Bag ingredients.  You won’t be sorry!

Published July 12, 2013

Jun 27
Love0

Think it’s Just You and Brown Bag Looking to Buy Local?

By BBBlog

It’s not!  The Mambo Track Annual Natural and Organic Product Survey for 2013 shows an increase in: spending on organics, sourcing food products, seeking out non-GMO, and buying sustainable ‘Farm to Table’ food products that can be traced back to the area they live in by health and eco-conscious shoppers.  Happily, it looks like healthy consumers are checking more than just ingredients on the label.

Of those surveyed 7 in 10 sourced products by reading package labels or in-store signage, while 6 in 10 checked out brand or product websites to get more info on their origins.  Looking for what you want locally is reaching beyond produce, as well.  Seafood buyers report looking for eco-seafood labels and Wild Seafood Certifications on their seafood picks.  “Eco shoppers have moved beyond ingredient lists and are now focused on tracing the source of their food supply from Non-GMO to locally/regionally produced and Fair Trade. Sustainable meat/poultry and seafood is gaining interest due to third-party certifications and heightened media coverage,” says Karen Herther, co-founder of Market LOHAS leading the Mambo Track Research.

Taste, nutrition and ingredients were reported to be important factors when choosing a brand, but lest you think price concerns have gone out the window, let us set you straight: Healthy, cost-conscious consumers are sticking closely with store and private label brand natural and organic products, and coupons are holding strong with 8 in 10 respondents saying that they will continue or increase their coupon usage in the next year.

Seven in ten or more respondents report buying their natural and organic products at conventional supermarkets, local health food stores, Whole Foods, and regional specialty food outlets, and that’s good news!  It’s heartening to see that more and more mainstream supermarkets are beginning to stock natural and organic products, and we can only imagine that as the number of consumers buying these items increases, it will become easier and easier to find the natural and organic products that you want at your local grocery store.  Dare we dream that prices on these items may come down?

Brown Bag is committed to healthy eating and locally-sourced products whenever they are available.  The closer to home you find your food, the smaller your carbon footprint, the more good your do for your community and your planet.  We agree completely with the statement, “Think globally, act locally.”  Won’t you join us?  Check your labels; research the companies whose products you buy; head over to your local farmer’s market and support local growers!  Come see us at Brown Bag where we’ve done all of this work for you, and enjoy your lunch or breakfast knowing that your meal is as healthy as it is eco-friendly.

 

Jun 19
Love0

Eating What’s Now with Brown Bag: Summer 2013 Edition

By BBBlog

This is our favorite time of year for an “Eating What’s Now” blog!  Why?  Because there’s so much fresh produce in-season right now!  Summer is the absolute best time of year for produce in the DC area!  Brown Bag uses fresh, local produce whenever possible, so we say, “Bring on summer!”

Here’s a list of produce that’s in-season, by month.  Take a look, then hit your local farmer’s market for the best fruits and veggies in DC!

[column-group] [column]

June

Blueberries
Cherries
Raspberries
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Asparagus
Beans (Snap)
Beets
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Corn
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Okra
Onions
Peas
Potatoes
Summer Squash
Turnips
[/column] [column]

July

Blackberries
Blueberries
Melons
Cherries
Peaches
Plums
Raspberries
Beans (Snap)
Beets broccoli
Cauliflower
Corn
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Okra
Onions
Peas
Peppers
Potatoes
Summer Squash
Tomatoes
[/column] [column]

August

Apples
Blackberries
Blueberries
Figs
Grapes
Melons
Peaches
Pears
Plums
Raspberries
Beans (Snap and Lima)
Corn
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Okra
Onions
Peppers
Potatoes
Summer squash
Winter squash
Tomatoes
[/column] [/column-group]

Why would you want to eat pumpkin in July?  It’s like eating watermelon in January!  You can try it, but we promise it won’t taste as good when you eat it out of season.  Take a cue from your ancestors, and eat what’s growing right now—nothing will taste better. When you eat local, you’re not only supporting your local farmers and economy, but you have the benefit of actually knowing where your food came from.  You don’t have to eat peaches from Chile when peaches are coming in right now in Virginia, Maryland and DC!  When it comes to fruits and veggies, other countries have different rules and regulations regarding things like pesticides.  Even if you don’t eat organic produce, that’s worth thinking about.  Some produce is more likely than others to retain pesticide residue.  We’ve talked about it before:  As a general rule, watch out for tree fruits, leafy greens and berries because they tend to have more pesticide residue than other fruits and vegetables.  But if you’re buying from a country with laws that are even less strict than the US on pesticide regulation, then what are you eating?  Organic or not, those peaches grown up the street are generally a safer bet (and better for the environment to boot!).

So, whip up some fruit salads, strawberry shortcake and fruit pies!  Make skewers of squash, zucchini, potatoes and peppers and grill them with a touch of olive oil!  Boil some corn and have a Maryland-style crab feast!  Layer fresh mozzarella with basil on tomatoes from the garden with balsamic vinegar!  Make a fresh salsa before your cilantro bolts with the heat!  And take it all outside for dinner al fresco!  Have a picnic.  Enjoy all the health and freshness that summer has to offer before the warm weather fades into another winter.

And if you have a minute, let us know:  What’s your favorite farmer’s market?

Jun 13
Love0

I Do Not Think That Means What You Think it Means, Part 2

By BBBlog

Last week, we talked about how some seemingly easy-to-understand words were being stretched too far, things like “all natural,” “high protein,” “zero trans fat,” and “low carb.”  Unfortunately, Brown Baggers, there are more buzz words to be wary of, so get ready.

It seems like the words “sugar free” and “no sugar added” would be good things, right?  It would seem so because we could all watch our sugar intake more closely, right?  Sure, but unfortunately sugar free and no sugar added usually mean that artificial sweeteners and/or man-made sugar alcohols were added instead.  Artificial sweeteners can adversely affect the digestive systems of people with sensitive stomachs and have a host of other negative attributes to boot, so adding them to your food instead of sugar isn’t the healthiest idea.  Stick with natural sugar, or better yet natural sweeteners like honey, agave nectar, and maple syrup (to name a few), and just cut down on your sugar intake.

Think foods that say “high fiber” will give you that boost in fighting heart disease and keeping the digestive system moving?  They might, but the side effects might not be what you’re looking for.  Most of the time, foods with added fiber are using chicory root fiber, polydextrose, and oat fiber, or what are called “functional fibers,”  which are actually fibers, but they may make you bloated and gassy and don’t have the same full effects as those fibers which occur naturally in food.  If you just make sure to work in your fruits, veggies, beans and whole grains every day, you’ll more than likely get plenty of fiber without “adding.”

Gluten-free is very important to people with Celiac disease or wheat/gluten allergy, but others have taken up the banner of the gluten-free diet as well, and so market shelves all over are full of foods proclaiming that they are gluten free.  And guess what?  They are!  By law, foods that are labeled “gluten free” may not contain any gluten or wheat, so in this case, you’re getting just what you’re told.  What they don’t tell you is that what these foods lack in gluten, they make up for in calories.  You’d do better to get your gluten-free foods the natural way—by eating foods like, rice, sweet potatoes and quinoa (to name a few) that naturally contain no gluten.

What can you take away from all of this?  Be wary.  Read labels.  Most importantly, if you only want to eat food that is what it purports to be, then stick to the basics:  fruits, veggies, nuts, fish, poultry, etc.  For the healthiest diet, keep your processed foods to a minimum.  Come see us at Brown Bag for breakfast or lunch or both!  When you eat with us, you always get just what you asked for!

Published June 13, 2013