Moving to Seattle Area...got a bread question...

[cxt]

cxt mentioned the pugliese loaf at Essential. Does anyone know how that compares to the same pugliese loaf from that Italian bread bakery in NYC that Mario uses all the time on his show...the name escapes me but the loaves are very dark and crusty.

Oh dear, I barely remember what I ate for lunch, let alone a bread I may or may not have tasted the last time I was in the city 2 years ago! The Essential pugliese is medium dark and all their breads have a nice crust, defined as producing a healthy spray of crumbs all over the kitchen counter when you slice into them. Keep in mind that I live 30 seconds away from the main bakery so I get them right out of the oven. The ones in the grocery stores might not be quite so Optimal.

Also, Le Painier....the chocolate filled croissants.....beyond delicious!

As long as we have left the realm of strictly bread, I can also recommend the croissants at Le Fournil, just south of the University bridge.

(Sorry, messed up the quotes. Maybe Mamster will fix it?) Done! -mamster

Edited April 29, 2004 by mamster (log)

[OnlyTheBest]

Thanks for your response cxt but when I said dark and crusty I did mean only the crust. The crumb appears to be tender with lots of breath and wonderful holes....kind of creamy white

At any rate..I will be moved in soon and then I will go check it all out.

[OnlyTheBest]

OH !!!! I just remembered the name of that bakery in NYC I was talking about.

The Sullivian St. Bakery ! That's it ! That's the one that Mario uses for the pugliese bread. If you or anyone else has had their bread... how does it compare to the pugliese bread you were speaking of.

Thanks

[mildbore]

Started by the French company "Biofournil" - perhaps the largest organic bakery in the world (?). I haven't been in quite awhile, but they were doing things very traditionally when they began - including bringing bakers over from France.

I find Biofournil’s breads less interesting than the equivalents from Essential Baking. This is based on a comparison (over the last couple of weeks, not side by side) of olive breads and of a plain Biofournil loaf to Essential’s Columbia and Fremont breads. The Biofournil bread has a less developed crust and a more uniform interior texture. The taste is just a bit blander. This could just be my preference for a more rustic (Italianate?) style of bread. The lack of large holes is certainly an advantage for sandwiches, less mayo on the fingers.

Biofournil seems to be doing everything right, French bakers, French ovens, and their best approximations to French flour. They are a very large company, so perhaps this is what happens when Franz meets France. They hit the right notes but they don’t make music.

Sorry to be so late with this.

[skyflyer3]

Just came back from Portland, and now all I can think of is Ken's Artisan Bakery. I don't know how I thought I was living before I had his Country Blonde Bread. The croissants were the best I'd had outside of Paris. And there were macaroons, the real kind, with ethereal orange buttercream fillings, and toothsome fruit tarts, and the kind of baguettes that are so good you cry when the crust shatters *sigh*. Please someone tell me there's a bakery that good up here and I just don't know it - please?

Other Ken's lovers out there - think we can push for a local branch?

[little ms foodie]

I love yummy baguettes but have to say that La Panier doesn't do it for me. Seems to white bready, not very good crust IMO. However their chocolate macroons..... don't get me started! And their sandwiches... can you say ham and butter? mmmm.

So please don't shoot me but I really like the La Brea French baguette they sell at Whole Foods (I think QFC sells it too). I know this is bread from the SF region and probably a huge conglamerate likened to WallMart for bread but I really think it is awesome. We go thru it like candy!

I did just stop at Essential for a few loaves and some chocolates yesterday so I still in the bakeries too! haha!

[tighe]

So please don't shoot me but I really like the La Brea French baguette they sell at Whole Foods (I think QFC sells it too). I know this is bread from the SF region and probably a huge conglamerate likened to WallMart for bread but I really think it is awesome. We go thru it like candy!

I like the La Brea bread a lot too. I buy it at a Thriftway near my house. I"m particularly fond of their rosemary loaf. It surprises me how good it is since it gets par-baked, shipped up from California and then finished in the store.

[tsquare]

So please don't shoot me but I really like the La Brea French baguette they sell at Whole Foods (I think QFC sells it too). I know this is bread from the SF region and probably a huge conglamerate likened to WallMart for bread but I really think it is awesome. We go thru it like candy!

La Brea Bakery - the mobilization of famed Nancy Silverton's artisanal loaves - Los Angeles based, created for providing breads for the restaurant, Campanile.

a good read

[Fish]

Just came back from Portland, and now all I can think of is Ken's Artisan Bakery. I don't know how I thought I was living before I had his Country Blonde Bread. The croissants were the best I'd had outside of Paris. And there were macaroons, the real kind, with ethereal orange buttercream fillings, and toothsome fruit tarts, and the kind of baguettes that are so good you cry when the crust shatters *sigh*. Please someone tell me there's a bakery that good up here and I just don't know it - please?

Other Ken's lovers out there - think we can push for a local branch?

Mmm, Ken's ! Soooo good. I also loved the bread at Pearl Bakery - their baguettes are fabulous. I wish they'd open in Seattle. Until then, I'll have to survive with the brilliant bread at Dahlia Bakery

- S