Somun Superstar
Somun Superstar is named for the wood-fired Bosnian bread made in small batches throughout the day at this bakery.
Called somun (pronounced so-moon, translating to bread in Arabic), the flatbread can be purchased in loaves, as sandwiches or in the form of smaller "snack" options.
Formerly home to a Freshii, the space is humble and oriented towards takeout, but cheery. Old photos of Sarajevo hang on the wall, though the main feature of the space is the bakery area where all bread is made and fired in full view of diners.
Made from no other ingredients than flour, water, yeast, sugar and salt in batches of about thirty loaves, dough is partitioned into balls (kind of like pizza), proofed for a very short time, and flattened by hand.
A signature crosshatch pattern that apparently originally mimicked the latticework of windows is imprinted using a metal skewer.
Fire is essential to the designation of this bread as somun. Loaves spend two short minutes in an Italian Alfa oven burning hardwood that stays hot for long periods of time, perfect for full days of baking.
The result of all this is spongy, elastic loaves with big air bubbles and a dappled char, kind of like pita but more structural, with a hint of sweetness.
Somun snacks are triangular slices of the bread spread with kajmak ($4.50, a creamy cheese), Nutella ($3.50) or kajmak and a syrupy, molasses-like plum butter.
Hot and fresh, the devourable bites practically melt in your mouth. The Classic Cevapcici sandwich ($10) is the most basic, half a flatbread opened up into a pocket and stuffed with Mrakovic beef, veal and lamb cevapi (basically juicy little charred sausages), kajmak and onions.
It's a representation of a classic Sarajevo plate in sandwich form, full of bold flavours.
The Loaded Cevapcici ($13) does include the ajvar along with the kajmak, onions and cevapi, also adding punchy pickles and hot peppers. The soft bread really cradles the hearty ingredients well, and things don't actually get too overly messy.
A Vegetariancici ($12) meatless option stuffs somun with grilled eggplant, onion, ajvar, hot peppers, pickles, and some avocado that really freshens everything up.
Bag chips are the ideal accompaniment to one of the sammies, along with a crunchy, sweet red cabbage slaw and a hot pepper (perfect for cleansing the palate between bites).
To drink, there's Ontarieau ($3.25) in grapefruit mint, strawberry and lemon ginger flavours.
As for sweet treats, there are vanilices ($7), walnut sandwich cookies with apricot jam, and shortbread cookies called gurabija ($3).
There are actually no garbage cans in Somun Superstar, because all dishes, cutlery and packaging are either compostable or recyclable.
Fareen Karim