WaPo food critic Tom Sietsema may be the D.C. area’s most fervent watchdog when it comes to the complimentary bread basket—-a longtime staple of the dinner table now seemingly on the decline amid a sputtering economy. No big surprise, then, that the non-complimentary baked goods at the newly opened District Commons recently caught his attention. “You pay $2 for bread here,” the critic notes in last week’s “First Bite” column. But, at least in this case, the discerning connoisseur seems content with the doughy markup: “the brown pretzel loaf, hot from the flames and served with mustard dip, is worth it,” he declares.

Not everyone agrees. The pretzel loaf’s considerable price tag was the subject of some intense debate at the bar when Y&H first visited chef Jeff Tunks‘ newest eatery in Foggy Bottom on opening night.

What do you think? Is two bucks too much to pay for pre-dinner carb-loading?

Photo by Chris Shott