Food Digest

I needed to file some copy, so I headed to the Panera Bread in north suburban Wilmette. Got an M&M cookie and a glass of Mountain Dew. Place was pretty dead. I guess people had better things to do on a gorgeous Friday afternoon than hang out in Panera. Not the gentleman in the background reading the paper. He’s a regular. I need to introduce myself to him one of these days. I think he and I may have a lot in common.

A late lunch at Panera Bread in Wilmette, Ill. Been feeling gluttonous lately so I got the 450-calorie Asian Sesame salad. Tasty enough to make me not miss a greaseball burger-and-fry combo. 

What a day. Bagel at 7:30 a.m. on the way out the door. Six-inch sub at 1 p.m. Then, after covering the same story for more than 10 hours, I was able to leave. My first thought was to eat, naturally. I was starving. My editor’s first thought was to get my story. Which I needed to write. So I tried to kill two birds with one stone by heading to Wilmette’s Panera Bread so consume both a sandwich and free wifi. Joke was on me, though, as my work-issued laptop refused to connect. The sandwich was good, as always. Got the usual — asiago roast beef sandwich and broccoli cheddar soup. Spiced things up with a 99-cent M&M cookie for dessert. I figured I deserved it. Filed my story by 7:45 p.m., waited around to make sure it was approved by the copy desk and headed home, delirious and exhausted.

Had a need for free wifi, and a craving for a Mountain Dew and an oatmeal raisin cookie, so I went to Panera Bread in Wilmette, Ill.

Popped into Panera Bread in Skokie to make some phone calls and grab some free wifi. Oh, and to eat a roast beef sandwich and broccoli/cheddar soup. This lunch was almost late enough to call it an early dinner. Got plopped into a story mid-afternoon, so today felt more hectic than it actually was.

Chocolate chip cookie from Panera Bread in Wilmette, Ill.