March 18, 2009 - 5:17pm
visiting San Francisco!
My wife and I are flying to California to visit friends at the end of March, and one of our stops is San Francisco! We won't be there for long, so I was hoping to get a few ideas on essential artisan baking destinations. Where can I get the most bang for my buck? Would a stop at SFBI be a good choice? Or are there some smaller bakeries that would be just sinful to miss?
I can't wait!
Eric
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Acme and Boudin are necessary stops if you want to try the real SF Sourdough (you can get starter at acme as well, but that is another topic altogether). Acme has really great bread.
In my opinion, you have to have some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. Pier 39 is fun to walk around and the sea lions hang out there (Boudin's is close to there too).
Thorough Bread is SFBI's retail store: 248 Church St
Bay Bread has several locations around the city: http://www.baybread.com/pine.php
I'm going to be in SF next week and I emailed SFBI to see if I could come to the school to buy a banneton and a lame. They couldn't have been nicer and offered to give us a tour as well. They don't sell bread there (see info on their retail outlet above), but if you "hit us at the right time there might be bread around to taste".
It's not in the city-proper but close by in South San Francisco (which is it's own separate city, as I understand it) and on Google Maps it looks like an industrial park area. STill, I am excited about seeing it (hope I can somehow get the 16 year old excited about this "detour" as well).
It is close to the San Francisco airport. So if you are flying into there, that is a bonus.