toast paninoteca

Anchoring downtown Durham's resurgence is the restaurant scene. Restaurants such as Piedmont and Rue Cler feature inspired dishes and often use local ingredients exclusively. But what is lacking is a casual venue for quick and good food-. Enter Toast.

Toast Paninoteca, open since February, succeeds as simple sandwich shop. The restaurant offers four categories of sandwiches: panini, tramezzini (a cold sandwich on white bread), bruschetta and crostini. All come in a variety of options and cost between five and six dollars, except the crostini, which rings in at $1.50.

With words like mortadella and caponata adorning the menu, Italian cuisine is a clear influence, but owners Bill and Kelli Cotter creatively play with these Italian flavors. A highlight is the goat cheese, honey and black pepper crostini, a blend of savory, sweet and the kick of the cracked pepper.

Salads and two soups are also offered. A recent visit featured local squash soup and an eggplant-and-red pepper puree. Both exemplified a fine level of spice but let the fresh, natural vegetable flavor shine.

Toast also has a small selection of Italian wines and local microbrews.

Despite its small size, the restaurant has an abundance of charm and a local flavor that no Panera could match.