Our Daily Show Interview! Mardi Graw Fun & Hot Sandwiches at Comfort Cuisine
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ALTON - Lori Bregenzer loves food.
That’s why she decided to open Comfort Cuisine at 4 East Broadway in Alton, a kitchen that sells takeaway homecooked meals that people can heat and eat. Bregenzer has a lot of projects in the oven, and she is excited to serve up Mardi Gras specials and a new podcast in the coming weeks.
“I’m always, always thinking about food,” Bregenzer said. “I wake up thinking about what I’m going to eat for dinner tonight. So it’s kind of a natural thing for me.”
Comfort Cuisine opened last year to provide homecooked meals to the Riverbend region. Community members can stop by and pick up that week’s entree to take home, reheat and enjoy.
Bregenzer also offers lunchbox options, a weekly sandwich special that is perfect for the busy worker or on-the-go family. Lunchboxes come with either potato chips or salad and “a taste of dessert.”
She recently started serving reheatable breakfast items, from pulled pork breakfast burritos to sausage breakfast casserole and overnight oats. She makes a point to always provide a vegetarian option, and she is looking into the possibility of selling hot sandwiches in the future.
Bregenzer considers her food to be a healthier, homecooked alternative to fast food. She said her goal is to “evoke food memories,” and she relies on her own memories of homecooked meals and baked-with-love desserts to guide her menus.
As the Riverbend region prepares for Mardi Gras, Bregenzer has a special plan for next week’s meals. Customers can enjoy gumbo ya-ya, red beans and rice, Cajun potato soup and more Mardi Gras favorites. Her lunchbox specials include muffuletta or chicken bacon ranch sandwiches.
“I love the holidays,” she explained. “Next week is Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday. That's the type of food that I love to cook and I love to eat. So I’m really excited about the gumbo and the red beans and rice that I’m making for next week.”
Bregenzer also offers “Catered Comfort,” catered meals for up to 20 people, and she is happy to make custom desserts for parties or events. She encourages people to reach out to her at (618) 353-0200 or by emailing Lolly@ComfortCuisine.biz to learn more.
To preorder a meal, click here or visit the official Comfort Cuisine website for more information about their menus and ordering options. You can also check out recipes and episodes from Bregenzer’s new podcast, “A Seasoned Friendship,” that she hosts with Robert Meyers-Lussier. Each 30-minute podcast episode covers a different category of food.
“Bob and I have very similar backgrounds in that we both have been and are trainers, so to educate people kind of comes naturally,” Bregenzer said. “We love to talk about food. We could get on the phone and talk for a couple of hours. One of us said, ‘This would be a good podcast,’ so we decided to put it together.”
Looking ahead, Bregenzer hopes to expand her offerings. She is proud of the work she has done to create a thriving business in downtown Alton. She hopes to welcome more people to Comfort Cuisine in the coming weeks as her breakfast options and hot sandwiches take off, and she is eager to serve Mardi Gras favorites in the next few days.
You can visit the official Comfort Cuisine Facebook page for more information about Bregenzer’s business, podcast, food and more.
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