The keys to making savory, open-faced toast from scratch

Welcome to Clubhouse Eats, where we celebrate the game’s most delectable food and drink. Hope you brought your appetite.

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While visiting Primland Resort earlier this summer, I sat down for lunch at the Laurel Bar and took a gander at the menu. Mulling over the burger or the crispy chicken sandwich, I was struggling to make a decision. Fortunately, my server swooped in and saved the day. “The open-faced mushroom toast is one of the best things we serve,” she says. “It’s very popular.”

Vegetarian isn’t usually my thing — though I do like all vegetables — and I’ve rarely been excited by the prospect of an open-faced toast. Even still, I had to admit, its description did sound good: sautéed mushrooms, black garlic aioli, farmer’s cheese, onion, and a sunny-side-up egg.

Let’s do it.

On first bite, I was instantly glad that I did. A wonderful mashup of different types of flavors, be it sweet, sour, bitter, and savory, the toast was layered and satisfying. “All of the items in the dish are pretty bright in their own way, and they dance nicely together,” Sean Maloney, Primland’s executive chef, told me afterward.

Inspired by that experience, I was soon researching other delectable savory toasts presented on menus at golf resorts and clubs across the country. More importantly, I asked the chefs at those clubs and resorts to share their best advice for creating compelling savory toasts from scratch. Here, I present their collective guidance; consider this your can’t-miss roadmap to exceptional, open-faced toasts.

Starting from Scratch

Whenever Maloney contemplates a new savory toast, he always begins with the bread — it’s perhaps the most important ingredient of the dish, and he’s not alone for thinking that. Geoffrey Lichtenberger, the executive chef at Rossa Kitchen and Patio at McDowell Mountain Golf Club, serves an open-faced sandwich loaded with indulgent ingredients, such as crispy soppressata, balsamic onions, and truffle oil. Yet, he says the toasted focaccia is one of the key components, and choosing the bread is all about how you envision you — or someone else — eating the finished product. “Is this going to be a fork-and-knife affair, where a softer bread is acceptable?” he asks. “If you want to be able to pick it up and eat one-handed, you might need a sturdier bread.”

Kimberly Backman, the executive chef at Omni Tucson National Resort & Spa, concurs. “Use your favorite type of bread,” she says. “It’s the foundation of the toast and will absolutely make a difference. Quality bread should be the number one ingredient.”

Favorite Ingredients

Don’t make the mistake of thinking a good savory toast is restricted to only certain ingredients. “You can ‘toastify’ most of your favorite foods,” Maloney acknowledges. “It can be a very fun game to play.”

In particular, the chef often incorporates all sorts of dips, and he loves contrasting them with crispy components, whether that’s wasabi peas, garlic chips, sesame sticks, or crispy shallots. “Just raid the bulk foods section,” he says. “And get out to your local farmer’s market and find the most beautiful, flavorful, local products you can.”

Lichtenberger leans heavily on aiolis and good quality mayonnaise, the latter of which he adores. “It is one of, if not, the most versatile condiments out there,” he says, “and it adds so much in terms of flavor and texture.”

Emily Brubaker, the executive at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, also focuses on texture when she incorporates cheese, preferring soft styles such as Neufchatel, goat cheese, or brie. “A schmear of brie, sliced grapes, chives, and pecans with a little drizzled honey is definitely a treat,” she reveals. “Or an herb goat cheese with sliced beets, orange segments, and walnuts.”

Best Advice

Brubaker may often incorporate a soft, spreadable cheese, but it plays a role beyond just texture or flavor. “A spread is key because it’s what protects the toasted bread from getting too soggy,” she says. A toast that stays crunchy maintains its integrity.

As it turns out, how you toast your bread also can make a difference. Just ask Chef Backman, who reveals her secret weapon: always toasting the bread in butter. “It will add an extra richness that helps elevate your toast,” she says. “After that, whatever additional toppings you choose to place on the toast will just be enhanced.”

Lichtenberger likes to think about making the dish for someone else — even if he’s the only person eating it. “Personally, I find more joy in cooking for others than for myself,” he acknowledges, “and I find myself stretching my imagination more when cooking for others.”

No matter who you’re cooking it for, don’t second-guess your initial ideas. In the estimation of Greg Lopez, executive chef at Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa, that’s the most important first rule when it comes to conceptualizing savory toasts. “Throughout almost every culture, humans have been putting food on top of cooked bread for centuries,” he says. “Our instincts are designed for this, so trust them and have fun!”

Common Mistakes

The only real mistake you can make as you’re experimenting with new savory toasts comes down to a matter of quantity — both in the number of components that you combine together and how much of those components you use. Chef Maloney likes to think of Coco Chanel’s number one rule of fashion: Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off. “At some point,” he says, “we need to get out of our own way to let food be.”

For Chef Lopez, it’s a matter of ratios. “The toppings should only comprise 30 to 40 percent of the completed toast,” he instructs. “Think thin but noticeable layers of toppings so that you get a good crunch of bread enhanced by the rest of the ingredients. If your layer of toppings is the same height as the thickness of the bread, you’ve gone too far.”