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Ascend Prime Steak & Sushi pastry chef Christina Larson believes that bread is important to any meal since it sets the entire tone for what’s yet to come. “It’s usually the first thing you eat,” she points out.

“It can either be a delicious, thoughtful bite to get the guest excited for the rest of the meal or an afterthought.”

For this talented chef, a thoughtful bread service indicates that a restaurant is dedicated to excellence for the entirety of the dining experience, and not only focused on the main dish.

At Ascend, where Larson’s been a member of the culinary team since June 2024, breads help elevate both standard weekly brunch rituals and special occasions. She enjoys getting to be creative with ingredients and menu ideas in her role and appreciates the balance between repetition of tasks and the way each day can feel different from the last one.

“In much of pastry, each task is constantly repeated to produce a consistent product,” Larson explains. “This makes sense in my mind. That being said, each day offers new and different challenges and solutions which keeps it interesting and engaging.”

When it comes to springtime brunch breads, guests dining at the restaurant 31 floors above downtown Bellevue are delighted with a seasonal rotation of pillowy pastries and breads, in addition to dishes like the Tempura Lobster Roll Sandwich on sesame seed roll or the Dungeness Crab Avocado Crostino Benedict with togarashi truffle toast.

For general brunch bread enjoyment, Larson makes three suggestions. She first mentions focaccia, since this is such a simple, forgiving recipe for a brunch. It can be a fun way to showcase spring flavors without too much fuss.

Secondly, she highlights biscuits, which she finds to be such a comforting option. They can be served sweet with jam and cream, savory with cheese and herbs, or other complementary ingredients. “Both are delicious, and most people won’t say no to a warm biscuit,” Larson says.

Lastly, Larson is a fan of any sort of twisted roll. “Whether it’s a braided challah or filled babka loaf or an individual twisted knot,” she says, “this bread option offers a wide variety of filling options and is visually beautiful in appearance. It’s great if you want to impress a group.”

Though brunch bread options are endless, Larson picked these three because of their versatility in flavors, which makes serving them appealing for a variety of reasons, too.

“Focaccia is so good served simply with fresh herbs and flaky salt, but you could add any herbs, spices, cheese, etc., depending on the flavor you’re going for,” she says.

As for biscuits, she really enjoys them served warm with butter and jam, but you could also go the savory route and use them as a base on which to build a breakfast sandwich or an eggs Benedict.

“For a twisted roll, I have used miso sesame and cardamom for fillings before, and we are currently making a sweet, black sesame-filled bun for brunch service right now,” she adds. “I would have fun with the filling flavors because the presentation is always impressive.”

So how does a venue like Ascend elevate its bread service, every day but especially during brunch hours in the budding spring season? Larson says they strive to offer guests items that they like and are excited about — then adding an interesting and often unexpected twist. Right now, for example, their weekend brunch bread service includes dashi parmesan puffs, black sesame buns and ube buns.

“Whether you like sweet, savory, salty, chewy,” she says, “there is a taste for every palate there, but with interesting, unexpected flavors like dashi, nori and ube.”

-Originally published at Seattle Times