Just visited Metropolitan Bakery in Center City Philadelphia and satisfied my artisan bread fix.

Address:  262 S. 19th Street
Ph. 215.545.6655
Hours: M-F 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Sat. & Sun 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Web site:  www.metropolitanbakery.com

They offer a great looking cookbook (haven't tried recipes yet) with nice comments from Peter Reinhart, author of Crust & Crumb, among others.  I've seen the book available on Amazon.com and will comment on recipes as I try them.

Cheers,

A. J.

I added this before but I hope this is a better place to add it this is a great bakery that deserves some attention

I live in Pittsburgh PA and we have a wonderful bakery here called Medi-Terra Bakehouse http://www.mediterrabakehouse.com/.  I very much LOVE their Mt. Athos Fire Bread it is a large loaf with a very crisp almost black crust with a dense crumb on the darker side in color and they also have what they call the Farm bread it is kind of like a rustic Italian.  The best aprt about it is they are in such a non-descript building just tucked back in the corner of an industrial park they sell their breads at a local organic farmers market and our whole foods but the best way to buy is in their small retail shop in front of the bakery.  Oh yeah they also sell a wonderful rasin bread that is excellent the picture on the website does not do it justice.

Mediterra Bakehouse -- 801 Parkway View Drive, Building 8, Pittsburgh, PA, 15205 -- 412.490.9130 (p) -- 412.490.9120 (f)

     Boulevard Bread Company is a European influenced bakery/deli located in Little Rock, AR. Specialize in hand-crafted artisan breads. Breads included are french baguettes, san francisco style sourdough, whole grain hearth loaves, and European style pastries.

(501)663-5951

Boulevard Bread Co. 

1920 N. Grant

Little Rock, Ar 72205

If you're ever in Ann Arbor, Michigan, swing by Zingermans deli for a WIDE variety of freshly baked breads. www.zingermans.com. Their farm bread makes some of the best toast I have ever had. Wonderful American style, Jewish style and European style real breads. And they are not shy about experimenting - for example, their chocolate sourdough loaf or chocolate cherry loaf (chocolate is a greatly underused addition to bread!). One can also visit the bakehouse itself, which is located on the outskirts of town.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/3384/bread-hawaiian-style

Ths was a post from last year..but if you're headed to the Big Island...

http://www.crownpointbread.net/Bakery-Store.html

This bakery in upstate New York near Lake Champlain was profiled on Gourmet Magazines PBS show.

It's in an unremarkable store front on the main drag of Crown Point.  My understanding is they use local grains and colonial era baking techniques.  The bread is coarse, heavy, and flavorful.

Definitely a must for bread lovers.