Barbara with Boulangerie la Niçoise’s loaf.
Gina with Thea’s sourdough
This year saw breads from Brooklyn, Bologna, the south of France, London, Paris, upstate New York, Santiago de Chile and San Francisco.
Sourdough Boule, ACQ Bread, Brooklyn (Jan)
Joy with ACQ’s sourdough boule in Fort Greene Park
New York’s bread game is better this past year than it ever has been, but I maintain that my favorite bread in New York is still ACQ’s sourdough. I typically get their pullman but this time I got the boule instead.
Both their sourdough boule and pullman are $12 for a medium-sized, medium-dense loaf.
Pane di Segale, Il Forno di Calzolari, Bologna, Italy (Jan)
Bing with Il Forno di Calzolari’s rye
A local Bologna chain, Il Forni di Calzolari makes sourdough breads in the classic Italian style where the crust isn’t made very dark. However, the bread itself is very tasty.
€3,35 for a half loaf of medium-sized, dense, rye bread.
Il Forno di Calzolari has several locations in Bologna. I bought mine at Via Marchesana, 4b, 40124 Bologna BO
Sourdough, Crave, Brooklyn, New York (Jan)
Crave Sourdough in Bed-Stuy is one of my favorite breads in New York. I’m never clear about their hours so unfortunately I didn’t manage to take a photo this year. ¡Qué horror!
Crave Sourdough is at 187 Skillman St, Brooklyn, NY 11205
Sourdough Pullman, She Wolf Bakery, Brooklyn, New York (Feb)
She Wolf Bakery’s sourdough pullman is easily available and is a decent bread that works in a pinch. It’s definitely not special and increasingly I have started wondering if it’s indeed naturally leavened.
$8 for a large loaf.
I sometimes buy my loaf at Eastern District at 90 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217, but they’re also available at Fort Greene Park Greenmarket
Black Pepper-Fontina-Polenta Sourdough, Winner on Franklin, Brooklyn, New York (Feb)
Winner is perhaps better for their sandwiches than their breads, but their breads are entirely serviceable. This here is their black pepper fontina bread, nothing too exciting to see here, but nice with some good butter.
This was from Winner on Franklin at 747 Franklin Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Soudough, Boulangerie la Niçoise, Nice (Mar)
Bing with Boulangerie la Niçoise’s loaf.
The crust was beautiful, but the inside wasn’t as moist as I had hoped. Nonetheless, it was tasty for what it was.
€7 for a medium-sized loaf
Boulangerie la Niçoise is at 21 Rue Gubernatis, 06000 Nice, France
Le Villefranchois, Le pétrin bio, Villefrance-sur-mer, Côte d'Azur (Mar)
Le pétrin bio is an unassuming little boulangerie in the tiny village of Villefrance-sur-mer in the Côte d'Azur. I happened upon it when I went out for an aimless walk, happily coming home to a fragrant loaf of sourdough.
€9 for a large, dense loaf.
Le pétrin bio is at 8 Av. du Maréchal Foch, 06230 Villefranche-sur-Mer, France
Sourdough, Little Duck The Picklery, London (May)
They don’t sell their loaves, but one of my favorite sourdoughs in London is from Little Duck The Picklery in Dalston.
The bread and butter plate £4,5
Little Duck The Picklery is in east London’s Dalston at 68 Dalston Ln, London E8 3AH, United Kingdom
Sourdough, Dusty Knuckle Bread, London (May)
Dusty Knuckle is a staple of mine when I’m in East London. I typically like going their in the mornings for their sausage roll and a coffee. Their breads are equally good. When in London I’m more likely to eat it with good butter than EVOO.
Dusty Knuckle is in London’s Dalston (although they seem to have a couple other locations) at Abbot St, London E8 3DP, United Kingdom
Pain Maison Aux Blés Anciens, Les Résistants Épicerie-Cave, Paris (May)
We shopped for groceries a few times near Canal St Martin. Their sourdough is made from ancient wheat flour from Chaillois Farm.
€10/kg.
Les Résistants Épicerie-Cave is at 29 Rue du Château d'Eau, 75010 Paris, France
Sourdough, Ten Belles Bread, Paris (May)
Emily with Ten Belles’ sourdough
Ten Belles started out as a specialty coffee shop, but now serves both coffee and bread. Very high quality sourdough with a fantastic crust. The crumb could have been moister, but it was good for a couple days anyway!
We got our loaf at Ten Belles’ Paris 11 location at 17-19 R. Bréguet, 75011 Paris, France
Rouge de Roc, Sain Boulangerie, Paris (May)
My friend Tori told me about Sain Boulangerie. They use organic, heirloom grains in their breads, and their Rouge de Roc was extremely flavorful. I enjoyed it plain with good butter.
Sain Boulangerie is at 13 Rue Alibert, 75010 Paris, France near Canal St. Martin
Miche, LMNOP Bakery, Katonah, NY (Sep)
We stopped by LMNOP thanks to my friend Peter’s recommendation. A large, dense loaf of the miche is $22.
Sourdough, La Popular – Pizza y Pan, Santiago, Chile (Oct)
La Popular Pizza y Pan is a small Santiago bakery with a few location sprinkled throughout the city.
A medium-sized pan loaf of their whole wheat sourdough was 4,500 CLP or around $4.9. I often ate a slice of their bread with peanut butter and small-batch orange marmalade. Sometimes I had a slice for lunch with some extremely fantastic Chilean EVOO.
I typically got my loaves at their Bilbao location at Francisco Bilbao 2793, 7510895 Providencia, Región Metropolitana, Chile
Sourdough, Thea, Brooklyn, NY (Oct, Nov)
Gina with Thea’s sourdough
Typically I’ll wander into a new bakery making sourdough breads and I expect the bread to be alright, and most often that’s the case. Other times, rarely, I bite into a bread like the one here from Thea and I’m surprised, impressed and unexpectedly transported into bread heaven.
Thea’s sourdough is very fragrant, very moist, very chewy and very flavorful. The crust isn’t too caramelized but it is very crusty and flavorful. It was so flavorful that I couldn’t quite strike the right balance with my Italian Muraglia Frutatto Intenso olive oil. Is this one of my favorite new breads in New York? Indeed it is!
$13 for a medium-sized loaf.
Sourdough, Claud, New York, NY (Oct)
Claud is a fantastic little restaurant with a food menu that complements their lovely wine selection. I was really happy to see that their homemade sourdough game was A+. They don’t sell their breads, but our server was kind enough to offer me a loaf to take home.
Nice crust, chewy, paired great with good EVOO.
Wholewheat Sourdough, Radio Bakery, Brooklyn, NY (Nov)
Leo with Radio Bakery’s whole wheat sourdough
I hadn’t realized how popular Radio Bakery is until Leo and I decided to stop by one weekend morning. The line stretched to the end of multiple blocks, it moved swiftly, and I was ultimately able to get a loaf of their whole wheat sourdough. Similar to Thea, I wasn’t expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised with how good this loaf is.
$10 for a medium sized loaf.
Dark Mountain Rye, Josey Baker Bread, San Francisco, CA (DeC)
Jeremy with Josey Baker Bread’s Dark Mountain Rye
I normally prefer just getting a country loaf, but decided to try this Dark Mountain Rye for a change. It has the same complexity in texture and crust as all of the other JBB breads, but the bread itself is so flavorful and dense that it overpowers some of those qualities.
Fantastic bread still, and I ate this with almond-hazelnut spread for breakfast for a few days.
$9,50 for a dense, small loaf.
I usually get my JBB breads from The Mill at 736 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117
Whole Wheat Wonder, Josey Baker Bread, San Francisco, CA (Dec)
Josey Baker Bread sourdough loaf with Bellweather Farms Ricotta, Seka Hills EVOO, and prosciutto
To date, my favorite bread in the world comes from Josey Baker Bread. Any of their breads are fantastic. but I usually rotate between the country and the whole wheat wonder (which is really a whole what loaf pan version of the country).
My favorite way to eat this was for breakfast: toasted, with some salted butter, Riverview Orchard Almond Hazelnut Butter topped with Frog Hollow Farm’s incredible Navel Orange Marmalade.
$9,50 for a dense, medium-sized loaf.
I usually get my JBB breads from The Mill at 736 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117
