Trendy ‘fancy toast’ to star in tasty Wichita fundraiser

Over the summer, Lela Meadow-Conner was visiting her parents at their home near Boston, and she was fascinated by the contents of her mother’s refrigerator, pantry and garden.

She just had so many fresh ingredients – herbs, vegetables, crusty breads – that Meadow-Conner, a culinary-school-trained cook whose day job is serving as the executive director of the Tallgrass Film Festival, didn’t keep in her home pantry.

She was inspired to use them and found herself suddenly on a “fancy toast” kick, piling colorful veggies, proteins and spreads onto various toasted breads.

“I just got a little carried away, I guess,” she said. “It just sort of became a hobby. Some people paint. Some people knit. Some people play tennis. I make toast.”

She got so carried away that she created an Instagram account (www.instagram.com/toastchick/) devoted entirely to hunger-inducing photos of her fancy toast creations. It has 129 followers.

She also came up with an idea that combined her two passions – fancy toast and the Tallgrass Film Festival – and organized a fancy toast and beer pairing event that happens Wednesday, Sept. 14, at Public at the Brickyard, 129 N. Rock Island. The event, called Toast to Tallgrass, will offer attendees four Tallgrass Brewery beers paired with four fancy toasts made with local ingredients. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Tallgrass Film Association, which is putting on its 14th film festival Oct. 12-16.

Fancy toast is a trend in bigger cities, where restaurants include Scandinavian-style open-faced sandwiches known as “smorrebrod” on their menus. One of the most famous examples is the The Great Northern Food Hall in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, which specializes in smorrebrod.

Meadow-Conner frequently serves her creations at happy-hour parties at her house but also has been known to serve them for breakfast, lunch or dinner, depending on their toppings. She even made one that was kid-friendly, topping it with sliced hot dogs, cherry tomatoes, pickles, banana peppers and yellow mustard.

The appeal of fancy toast is that no recipe is required. Meadow-Conner said she usually needs nothing more than her toaster oven, a cutting board, a knife and her imagination.

She’s been known to use anything from rye bread to garlic naan to vegetarian breads. She also likes the crusty breads made by Newton bakery Crust & Crumb. She toasts them in her toaster oven, often rubbing them with garlic when they’re done.

Next, she spreads on some type of soft topping: sea-salt flavored butter, cream cheese-based spreads and avocados are her favorites.

Finally, she piles on the fruits, veggies, nuts and proteins. Smoked salmon. Fried eggs. Pickled shallots. Fresh sliced tomatoes. Ideal garnishes include greens like pea shoots and herbs.

“It’s easy. You can just sort of look at what’s in your refrigerator,” she said. “You just need a piece of bread toasted and some kind of cheese or avocado or anything that gives it a soft texture. Then pile on anything that tastes good.”

Better yet, the results are as pretty as they are delicious, and as long as you use bright-colored ingredients, you can’t really mess it up.”

“It’s nice eating an open-faced sandwich and not getting all that bread,” she said. “You can really taste all the flavors more.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2016 at 1:19 PM with the headline "Trendy ‘fancy toast’ to star in tasty Wichita fundraiser."