Corner Bakery sold, yet again

Brinker International has sold Corner Bakery to "Il Fornaio", an Italian restaurant and bakery chain.

Casual-dining restaurant operator Brinker International Inc. said Monday it reached an agreement to sell its Corner Bakery Cafe chain for an undisclosed price to a partnership formed by Italian restaurant and bakery outfit Il Fornaio and New York private equity firm Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill, & Co.

Anyone familiar with Il Fornaio? I can't imagine it would be much worse than Brinker.

gleam wrote:Anyone familiar with Il Fornaio? I can't imagine it would be much worse than Brinker.

Not directly (i.e., I haven't eaten their food) but I know of them and own and have read a book on bread by the founder... Unfortunately, it's buried somewhere in my office, so I can't look up the name... Anyway, I think CB became pretty awful after it was originally sold, so this further change in ownership is quite possibly a step in the right direction.

Antonius

I'm probably such a loser, but one of my favorite places to eat is the Il Fornaio in Del Mar, CA - beautiful location and sunset views. And it's good food. Usually, though, we go to Jake's instead, as it is a sentimental favorite of my husband.

I stupidly went here this week, hoping the new owners had affected some change. Obviously, I did not give them enough time, but you all should.

-ramon

Antonius wrote:Not directly (i.e., I haven't eaten their food) but I know of them and own and have read a book on bread by the founder... Unfortunately, it's buried somewhere in my office, so I can't look up the name...

Antonious,

I believe you are referring to IL Fornaio Baking Book by Franco Galli. The Sfilatino (Italian baguette*), which uses a biga (starter) is one of my favorite breads to bake.

I'm also wild about the Cantucci Di Prato (Almond cookies from Prato) which include hazelnuts. The biscotti are twice baked and keep very well.

Do you have any favorites from the IL Forniao Baking Book?

Enjoy,
Gary

*Descriptions not directed to Antonious.

G Wiv wrote:I believe you are referring to IL Fornaio Baking Book by Franco Galli. The Sfilatino (Italian baguette*), which uses a biga (starter) is one of my favorite breads to bake.

Yes, that's the book.

Do you have any favorites from the IL Forniao Baking Book?

I still can't find it, so I can't say anything specific about what I liked about the book but in any event, I haven't tried to do any of the specific recipes as given there by Galli. But, indeed, as I remember it, my general impression of the book was positive.

Antonius

Hi,

After reading this post, I walked over to e-Bay to buy a new hardcover edition of Galli's book for under $11 including transportation.

Thanks for the lead!

I did the same thing, picking up a slightly used one from Alibris/Amazon for about $4 including transportation. Easy availability of used books is awesome.

i dated a chic who loved il fornaio... but i never allowed myself to be dragged into one

there's a constantly packed il fornaio in redondo beach, ca, right by cozymels + houston's on rosecrans i believe.

[edit]wait... i did have dessert there once.... and asked for the bread basket.. and embarrassed myself further by asking for a SECOND bread basket[/edit]

gleam wrote:Anyone familiar with Il Fornaio? I can't imagine it would be much worse than Brinker.

wood roasted pedestrian themed Tuscan food and ambience. Those fond of intrusively flavored focaccia are most likely to be pleased. Does for Northern Italian food what food chains do for hamburgers.

Big in southern CA, but to give you an idea of their competence--opened and folded at a premier location in Atlanta, a city known for being predisposed to chain food, since most everyone here hails from somewhere else.

That said, on a dark and stormy night in a strange city, at least you might could get an edible roast chicken.

Steve Drucker wrote:...
wood roasted pedestrian themed Tuscan food and ambience. Those fond of intrusively flavored focaccia are most likely to be pleased. Does for Northern Italian food what food chains do for hamburgers...

Well, Steve, I have no expectations of becoming a fan of Corner Bakery in its Il Fornaio stage but I suggested above that I do expect that the recent sale to Il Fornaio is likely a step in the right direction. But that would be so only in the sense that CB has sunk to such remarkable depths (relatively speaking) that most any change would be improvement.

Chains are generally horrible but some more so than others. With CB, there was, in my estimation a considerable drop in quality after the initial sale of the chain.

Antonius