Roman Candle

By Martin Cizmar

3377 SE Division St., 971-302-6605, romancandlebaking.com. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.

To whom do we attribute the local explosion of fancy toast? We don't have the paperwork to prove it, but it seems likely Stumptown founder Duane Sorenson gets credit for taking note of the trend, which is rumored to have started in San Francisco. While there are critics—one Jezebel author wrote that "the trend of Artisanal motherfucking Toast" reaches "an incomprehensible level of pretentiousness"—they probably haven't had the No. 2 at this clean, bright Division Street cafe-slash-pizzeria. An inch-thick slice of hearty super-grain bread gets another inch of avocado. It's a pretty much perfect stack of fresh green fruit fat sparked by a spritz of lemon juice and a few Mama Lil's sweet-hot peppers. Ignore the haters: I'm not sure I could make this for cheaper than $7 at home, and I know I couldn't make it better.

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