Last week, I was invited by Au Bon Pain once again to "break bread" with them & attend a special preview of their upcoming menu items for spring. I've stated before that ABP for decades has been one of my favorite go-to places in the Boston area for fast casual breakfast & lunch items, so I was eager to see what was new!

First up was the delicious breakfast items which for me also easily doubled as dessert :) The simply cinnamony sweet monkey bread was really fun to eat with its pull-apart ease & finger-licking stickiness. I swear up until about a year ago, I never even heard the term monkey bread, now I read it all over the place! It apparently got its funny name from looking like a monkey's fist ^_^

My absolute favorite however was the CroisBun! Forget the Cronut...welcome ABP's take on the flaky croissant but baked in a muffin tin! This was was topped with just a *hint* of strawberry jam, whipped cream & fresh straweberries. It was light & sweet perfection! I will DEFINITELY be returning for this one!

Next up were the lunch items...their new salads! ABP pride themselves on making the shift over to completely antibiotic & hormone free proteins in their fresh, bright & colorful salads. The lobster salad would be a given here in the New England area as we're heading soon into fresh lobster season :) The Farm Stand steak salad will be served medium-rare as standard, but if you want a little more done, they will finish off in the oven for you! Like Burger King (but a million times better), you can have it your way! The turkey salad with fresh grapes was a delight & I love the noodles in the Asian chicken salad.

On to the sandwiches! I'll admit the lobster salad sandwich would be pretty indulgent for me for lunch, but served on ABP's flaky croissant & just a light accompaniment of greens, the lobster really shines!

My favorite of the sandwiches however was the sirloin & Asiago sandwich! I love a steak sandwich that's *not* the usual Philly cheesesteak. Again, the steak comes standard medium rare & that hearty cheesy taste of Asiago on the crunchy bread is all the steak needs! The entire tasting was topped off by what ABP does best...their signature cookies! Simple chocolate chip is always my favorite & these do not disappoint with the perfect balance of chewy & crispy, plus *plenty* of chocolate!

Some of these delicious goodies are already available, but look for the new spring items coming April 27th!