Panera Bread, 730 Northwest Highway, Fox River Grove, Illinois

I've been a fan since I first ate at the Saint Louis Bread Company on Delmar Boulevard in St. Louis in 1986. Some of the best Sunday mornings I can remember were spent sitting outside down the street from my apartment in the Central West End on Maryland Avenue, eating a bagel and following the Cardinals in the Post-Dispatch in the early 1990s. I know the company has undergone many changes since then, but the neighborhood spirit and the quality of the food has not changed. Panera Bread Company has made artisanal breads available almost everywhere. My current favorite spot is just a few blocks from my house in The Grove.

This morning, I ordered my usual Panera Bread breakfast--Light Roast Coffee (sugar and skim), Asagio Cheese Bagel (Chive and Onion Cream Cheese Spread), and Fresh Fruit (watermelon). Panera's Asiago Cheese Bagel is a good reason to get up on Saturday morning. But here's the thing: Panera has stopped serving Sundried Tomato Cream Cheese Spread. So, I'm stuck with the Chive and Onion, which isn't bad, but it's not Sundried Tomato, the real reason to get up early. Frankly, I put cream cheese in the same category as coffee--one of those things that on it's own isn't very good but, with just enough other stuff like sugar and milk or sundried tomatoes, is motivating. I put Coke in that category, too, so cream cheese is in very good company.

What's hands-down the best thing about my local Panera is the community spirit. I spent three hours in my corner, listening to music and working at my computer without a single interruption or suggestion that I had overstayed my welcome. Often, they call me by my name. They always say hello. There have been many weekends when I've worked through breakfast and lunch there. Sometimes, one or two other people from my office come in. Often my wife and son.

The scoring for this breakfast begins with the entree, which is the bagel and cream cheese ($2.59) and doesn't include add-ons. But, I can't get my mind off what I'm missing at Panera--Sundried Tomato Cream Cheese Spread (50 Penalty Pennies). I really enjoyed my watermelon chunks this morning. They were very sweet and juicy, but they cost $1.99 for about a cup of them. The mark-up's just too high for me on this even though I know they have to pay the good people who cubed and packaged my fruit (100 Penalty Pennies). It's still August, and they didn't have to ship my fruit from far to get the very best.

The Bottom Line:  $2.59 + .50 + 1.00 = $4.09

This is about as close to a scoring a Perfect $4.00 as any restaurant has ever come, and I couldn't be happier that it goes to a place like Panera, a great neighborhood spot and business with a conscience.

Wildberry Pancakes and Cafe, 1383 North Meacham, Schaumburg, Illinois

Is 11:00 Sunday morning the best or the worst time to go out for breakfast? I had eaten breakfast early and technically this would be lunch for me, but Debbie and Shelby were heading toward blood-sugar level personal record lows with moods to match. I was, of course, my normal, cheery self. While I parked the car, they checked in and were told the wait was 45 minutes to an hour. After a terse mobile-to-mobile discussion of options, we decided to stay. I parked the car two spaces away from any other car.

While we waited to be called to our table, we sat outside in the sun, and I bet Shelby a dollar that Debbie would move the car after she got the keys from me and went to get her sunglasses. We moved inside when it got too hot, and the wait seemed much shorter than 45 minutes. They sell Intelligentsia coffee at a counter in the waiting area for those who are in need of mood elevation. I offered to buy a cup, but got no takers.

The three of us were seated at a table for four near the front of the restaurant, which is huge, so I didn't really get to see what the rest of the place looked like. But, if it's anything like the dining room to the left of the hospitality area where we sat, the restaurant is bright and well appointed.



WB Signature Berry Bliss Pancakes

I ordered the WB Signature Berry Bliss Pancakes ($8.99) to match my cheery mood, a side order of extra-thick applewood smoked bacon, and a small orange juice. A serving is five buttermilk pancakes cooked with whole blue berries, stacked with berry mascarpone cheese, and topped with vanilla creme anglaise, fresh berries, and powdered sugar. The dish is engineered to deliver big flavors, but the berries were a little too jejune for me, and I'm just not a fan of powdered sugar on my pancakes. I don't want to say bland because they were tart, just not quite full-flavored, and I haven't ever before had the chance to bust out the word jejune.

The bacon was very good, but again not quite what I expected. I've learned since I visited Wildberry that they like to pair sweet and savory flavors, and that's a food philosophy to which I whole-heartedly subscribe. But, when the bacon is described as extra-thick, I'm expecting something thick--fatback, pork belly, lardons. I'm from the South. As always, no one should trust my opinion of coffee. I judge it on whether or not they have enough raw sugar and milk. At Wildberry, no for the sugar and yes for the milk.

Our server was a gentleman and a pro. Serving our breakfast was not his first trip to the table, and his expertise was evident. My wife did remark, and I agree, that he was waiting on too many tables to be very attentive to special interests or questions. However, when my wife asked about the roast of the coffee, he returned quickly, albeit harried, to our table with an answer. It was Sunday morning after all.

We left the restaurant satisfied and walked to our car. With some cursing at a driver and cramped maneuvering of the car, my wife drove out of the parking lot. I told Shelby that he owed me a dollar.

If you'd like to see a really good review of the restaurant, watch this clip from "Chicago's Best" by Brittney Payton, my former student. Yes, that Payton.

Certainly no reason to add any Penalty Pennies in place that works hard to get every detail of breakfast exactly right, and any place that's as welcoming to Brittney as Wildberry deserves a few Perk Pennies. We'll call them Payton Pennies today in her honor. It's important to note that Wildberry Pancakes and Cafe serves an upscale breakfast with all the perquisites of a big, well-run restaurant, and that may keep them from reaching a Perfect $4.00 on our scale, but that should never keep customers away.

The Bottom Line: $8.99 - .50 = $8.49

Traveling is a fool's paradise.

P4B has had visitors from Russia, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Egypt, Brazil, Guam, India, Germany. Even India, Singapore, and Indonesia. Mexico and Canada, too, but they're just visits from the neighbors, globally speaking.

When I surf other blogs, they have to grab my attention in about seven seconds before I click onto the next one, so I figure that's the equivalent of P4B spending seven seconds in Latvia.

Emerson may have feared being stalked in Naples and Rome by the giant of his unrelentingly stern, sad self, but P4B spent seven seconds in Latvia, and I'm good with that.

Where next? 100 in 365 spent seven seconds in Egypt!

So, P4B, forget Emerson, pack your e-trunk, embrace your friends, embark on the Cyber Sea, and wake up intoxicated with sights and suggestions. Maybe I'll go out for breakfast.