metropolitan

[mrbigjas]

several times in the last couple of months, i've gotten a terrible baguette from metropolitan, the most recent being yesterday. i mean, take a look at this thing:

i know my pics aren't great, but i just snapped them real quick just now and my camera doesn't have a 'halogen' white balance setting. but see the shine on the bread? that's not my camera doing that--it really looks that way. see how pale it is? look at the third pic--see how the outside is practically the same color as the inside?

now, leaving aside the fact that it was crushed/bent at one spot and they shouldn't have sold it to me (i didn't notice till i was in the car on the way home--although if they had cooked it enough it wouldn't have bent in the first place, because it would have a decent crust on it), this is not a good baguette. this is emphatically not the bread that, when i got back from paris having eaten bread at several award-winning bakeries, i said, this bakery is as good as any of theirs, and was only overstating mildly. this thing tasted all right once i baked a piece of it for another ten minutes, but unbaked the texture is like the supermarket 'baguettes' you get at the a&p up in lycoming county where my grandparents live.

so anyway, does anyone know what's up? is this just several glitchy coincidences that i can ignore, or is metropolitan just getting too big for good quality control? i'm no professional baker, but i can see that that loaf ain't done yet.

[Andrew Fenton]

Dude, that sucks. I haven't had any bad bread from them (I also rarely buy baguettes), but still, a little worrying.

Maybe you should give them a call and complain? Seriously: if they're having problems with quality control- and several bad loaves indicates a real problem- they should hear about it. And maybe give you an explanation.

[shinyboots]

I work for Metropolitan at one of their branches. I do believe that they are having some quality control problems because of the enormous amount of expanding they are doing..(or have done)

[KatieLoeb]

Interesting. We use Metropolitan for many of the breads at Rouge and there haven't been any problems with the quality control for the commercial accounts (or at least this account). I wonder of the breads for the retail stores comes from a different source than the bagged deliveries we get every morning. Do the retail shops bake their own breads at each location, or does it all come from the same huge commercial bakery on Marlborough Street?

Shinyboots, you're on...

And welcome to eGullet and the PA forum. Nice to have you here.

[shinyboots]

Interesting.  We use Metropolitan for many of the breads at Rouge and there haven't been any problems with the quality control for the commercial accounts (or at least this account).  I wonder of the breads for the retail stores comes from a different source than the bagged deliveries we get every morning.  Do the retail shops bake their own breads at each location, or does it all come from the same huge commercial bakery on Marlborough Street?

Shinyboots, you're on...

And welcome to eGullet and the PA forum.  Nice to have you here.

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Actually, my comment was directly in reference to the baguettes (which the customers have complained incessently about a few times at a branch in Ardmore). The breads at Metro are the best around (Lebus is too overprocessed), believe me you, but I think that a few "new baker's" mistakes have gotten customers upset recently.

All the breads (I'm pretty damn sure) are baked in New Liberties(where you mentioned)... it sure is a lot...

About Rouge (whats ure position?) Do they use Metro bread for the hamburger buns?

Edited September 11, 2004 by shinyboots (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Actually, my comment was directly in reference to the baguettes (which the customers have complained incessently about a few times at a branch in Ardmore). The breads at Metro are the best around (Lebus is too overprocessed), believe me you, but I think that a few "new baker's" mistakes have gotten customers upset recently.

All the breads (I'm pretty damn sure) are baked in New Liberties(where you mentioned)... it sure is a lot...

About Rouge (whats ure position?) Do they use Metro bread for the hamburger buns?

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OK - so everything is baked at the Northern Liberties plant. When you say "new baker's mistakes" are you taking about a new head baker? Do the folks that used to own Metropolitan (James and Wendy) still own it? I know they're preparing to open their new restaurant at the site of the old Novelty on 3rd Street so I'm guessing they're tied up with that project.

We use the Metropolitan breads for almost everything - dinner rolls, raisin bread for the cheese plates, sandwich breads, baguettes, brunch breads, etc. We do get our hamburger buns from another small bakery.

My position at Rouge is in my signature. I'm the Controller and the Beverage Director. Basically I deal with the bookkeeping, finances, payroll, human resources, etc. AND select and order all the wine, liquor and beer.

[mrbigjas]

Actually, my comment was directly in reference to the baguettes (which the customers have complained incessently about a few times at a branch in Ardmore). The breads at Metro are the best around (Lebus is too overprocessed), believe me you, but I think that a few "new baker's" mistakes have gotten customers upset recently.

that's a bummer. maybe i'll send a letter over with these pics and ask them what's up. wish they had an e-mail 'contact us' on their site.

i'll be sure to take a look at the baguettes before buying them next time, that's for sure. (the last few loaves of bread have been great--it's just the baguettes that have had this problem)

welcome to the forum, shinyboots. thanks for your comments.

[shinyboots]

Just a quick reply...

first, duh...."Controller/Wine & Spirits Muse, Rouge Restaurant" didnt bother to look at the by line....

2nd...James and Wendy ares still #1s, but they definitely tied up with opening the new restaurant, an undertaking which is very difficult of course, even for industry vets...Im looking forward to seeing how far they take the project (in terms of depth of menu)

[mrbigjas]

went back to the same store today and got this:

now THAT'S more like it.

conclusion: for the next while i'm going to have to ask to see the baguettes before buying one. but they're still making good ones.

[MarketStEl]

Okay, the quality control appears to be back to normal.

But it appears the owners want to expand their bakery business without having to be so deeply involved in the day-to-day stuff at the retail end.

I see that their 1114 Pine Street location (their first retail shop, IIRC) is currently closed for remodeling and will reopen as the second *franchised* Metropolitan Bakery store.

[Holly Moore]

Okay, the quality control appears to be back to normal.

But it appears the owners want to expand their bakery business without having to be so deeply involved in the day-to-day stuff at the retail end.

I see that their 1114 Pine Street location (their first retail shop, IIRC) is currently closed for remodeling and will reopen as the second *franchised* Metropolitan Bakery store.

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I'm pretty sure Metropolitan's first retail shop is the one on 19th, off Rittenhouse Square.

I'm a whole wheat bread regular, and with one exception (big air pockets within) the quality has been consistantly excellent. Also a big fan of their salmon and dill spread.

[mrbigjas]

i like their small country white loaf. i use it for everything. and i haven't had a bad one of them yet. i do love a baguette though.

also they carry some great butters there.

[rlibkind]

About a year and a half ago we did a taste test of baguettes at the Saturday Morning Breakfast Club, and Metropolitan was the winner, hands down.

I picked up a baguette today, and there's been no dimunition in quality. I tend to pick one up every couple of weeks at the Reading Terminal Market stand.

[Lisa1349]

I've noticed that the baguettes we get to retail every Sunday are always a bit different. Different bakers on duty, I guess. To me, Eli's Traditional European Stick is more like what a baguette should be. I will photograph and post.

[MarketStEl]

BTW, folks, the 1114 Pine Street store is open again. Haven't gone in yet to see whether the coffee and beverages is an improvement over the hummus and Maytag blue cheese.

[Andrew Fenton]

Update, five months later: I just bought a baguette (at the 2nd and Market store) and thought of this thread.

The baguette was fine: light, crusty, slightly browned. Maybe a little more brown than an ideal baguette would be, actually, but definitely better than the underbaked monstrosity that kicked off this thread. My guess is that that was an artifact of Farmicia's opening. So there you go, then.

[mrbigjas]

i bought one a couple days ago that was fine, too. in fact, they've been consistently good enough lately that i haven't asked to see them before buying them. cool.

[bakerboy]

Hate to be late on this thread but i managed the metropolitan bakery for a few years. i made, shaped and baked a zillion of those baguettes and heres the rub; Its a constant bitch fest with the baguettes. I like them dark and crispy, but thats ME. Accounts were always bitching. some want them dark, crispy. Some want them not so dark but not too light. Others don't want to see any color at all..or its overdone/burnt. Accounts that want to use them for sandwiches don't want the ends tapered to a point, they want them rounded so they can get four nice sandwiches from a single baguette without having to throw out the "burnt" ends. Personally, the crispy ends are the best part to me.

So thats the deal. Its the same in any shop. Its just really hard to please everyone all the time, but thats what you gotta do. And the bitches are legitimate for the most part, people want what they want.

So it comes down shaping them properly, knowing how many bags you need, to whom their going to, and try to bake accordingly. Now, you bust your ass and bake everything right but the packers get there and don't pay attention to the bread their packing and indiscrimintley pack the product(grab and go), your work could be for nothing.

Let not forget that it very simply could have been the the oven guy just didn't give a shit and only wanted to get'em in and get 'em out. Its a challenge to find someone to work that 7pm to 3am shift .

[Behemoth]

Edited: Whoops, read too fast. Here's the part that still makes sense:

I really miss Metropolitain bread. We have a decent baker where I live now, but nowhere near the variety. Most of all, I really really really miss the grape, rosemary and goat cheese focaccia on Saturdays. I am planning to try replicating it, since it doesn't look like I'll be moving back to philly anytime soon. Any chance you could tell me if the grapes go on before or after the second proofing?

Edited February 27, 2005 by Behemoth (log)

[bakerboy]

Just let a peice of risen focaccia dough rest for 15min, stud with grapes, goat cheese, and rosemary, drizzle some olive oit and sprinkle with some raw sugar. give 15 or 20 min. rest and bake. Its quite nice, like you said. A few Anise seeds are nice too.

[Behemoth]

Just let a peice of risen focaccia dough rest for 15min, stud with grapes, goat cheese, and rosemary, drizzle some olive oit and sprinkle with some raw sugar.  give 15 or 20 min. rest and bake.  Its quite nice, like you said.  A few Anise seeds are nice too.

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Awesome. Thank you!

[Andrew Fenton]

Hey bakerboy,

Thanks for the behind the scene look at Metropolitan; interesting stuff. I had no idea that they customized their baguettes for different customers. Where do those sold in the stores fit into that schema?

[bakerboy]

Andrew: We tried NOT to customize baguettes if at all possible....because it was a real pain. We tride to bake consistently, walk that fine (ever changing) line. For the most part, if the drivers had been working their route for any amount of time, they KNEW who wanted what. They KNEW that if they take the nice crispy brown baguettes (or whatever loaf) to "X" sandwich shop...they're gonna scream. So they would go through and find "light" colored baguettes. After all was packed (retail and wholesale) the remaining bread that was left, and there was almost always bread left because you always made a little extra in case someone messes up, was divided up and sent to the retail shops.

So if they had a really bad night or they were training someone new on the ovens, the bread that was left and divided up for the retail shops could be less that stellar.

I've see alot worse that Mrbigjas' baguette. that bag was underdone and someone picked it up by the end and it bent in the middle. The crust had not set enough for it to crack and THEN bend. But the "shine" mrbigjas spoke of was done on purpose. The deck ovens are steam injected which helps set and give a nice shine on the loaf.

[mrbigjas]

thanks for the info bakerboy. i guess i'm one who likes them browner and crisp on the outside.

that second one that i posted the next day was more like what i expect to find when i'm at metropolitan. i eat a couple a week, and they're almost always like that--just right. a metropolitan baguette with good butter and a little salt is seriously one of my favorite things in the world, so you can see why i was trying to figure out what happened when i got those funky ones in november.