Awards and Mentions 😍

Paninis with ingredients like farm egg, taleggio and chives have secured Toast just about every local best-sandwich award for the past decade.

Owners Billy and Kelli Cotter turn out inventive crostini (one is topped with shrimp and radicchio).

This joint is a sandwich Mecca. Hot or cold, open faced or smashed in a Panini maker, Toast basically has it all.

Daily specials are driven by what Mr. Cotter finds at local farmers’ markets. During my visit, those selections included fantastic two-bite crostini topped with a creamy mix of avocado, lemon and Grana Padano cheese, and a perfectly crisp panino with fresh asparagus, truffled cheese and fluffy, bright yellow egg, a colorful combination of contrasting textures.

Toast feels like the kind of restaurant we should have in Virginia-Highland but don't: a stylish little cafe that serves fresh, creative and quickly prepared food with panache.

The bread was a crunchy, olive oil-glossed beauty with perfect grill marks, and the slices of sausage were large, sweet, porky, and studded with fennel.