Probably not like any other you've had around town, our breads are made using European methods that date back hundreds of years. Long, cool fermentation (12-48 hours) gives the bread wonderful flavor, and a texture stands up to your teeth — very different than the cottony bread you often find these days. It also acts as a natural preservative, keeping the bread fresh for several days, while allowing us to use only flour, water, yeast, and salt in the dough.
We sample many of our breads at the shop, so feel free to come in and try them out.
Semolina
Our first bread! It has a golden yellow color, not from egg, but from the flour that goes into it — 100% durum, just like our pasta. The crumb is tight-grained, dense but not heavy, and is wonderfully chewy. It's terrific for sandwiches or sopping up sauce, and, if soaked overnight, makes a cake-like French toast. This bread lasts several days placed cut-side down on the counter.
Focaccia
The dough for our focaccia is over 48 hours in the making. The result? A bread that has a nice balance between the taste of the dough and the taste of the toppings. You can typically find 6 varieties in the shop daily, though we do occasionally get creative!
Baguette
This is not your typical French baguette, although there is a guy in Paris who makes them like this. A very wet dough makes them crustier and a bit chewier. Slicing into one will also reveal large, irregular air holes, one of the signatures of great bread. At the Shop, we prefer to rip them apart by hand!
Ciabatta
Ciabatta is a bread from the Lake Como region of Northern Italy, but can now be found almost everywhere. Rectangular, relatively flat, and coated with flour, our version is slightly crusty with an airy, chewy interior. It's perfect on its own, it can be cut into slices for dipping or bruschetta, or can be halved lengthwise and grilled for panini. It also stays fresh for several days.
Country White (Sourdough)
People often think that sourdough breads are sour — that's why we call ours a Country White! Sourdough just means bread made with a starter, not commercial yeast. It can be sour, if you prefer, but we don't prefer. Ours is dark brown, thick crusted, and hearty. You'll notice a slight tang, but only if you're looking for it. Awesome for sandwiches, soup, dipping, toast, even grilled, we've eaten it toasted on its 7th day.
Whole Wheat
This is a whole-wheat version of our Country White bread. We use about 30% whole wheat flour; any more than that, we've found, makes a very heavy, unappealing loaf. A touch heartier than our Country White, it also has, to our taste, something of a roasted flavor. Be warned — this is not your supermarket Whole Wheat!
Semolina
Focaccia
Baguette
Ciabatta
Thursday and Saturday
Country White (Sourdough)
Friday
Whole Wheat
