Water is a major component of bread. The water outside SF will make bread quite different from that made in SF. So don't get your hopes up that Tartine breads elsewhere will be the same as at home. Or for those who do not think Tartine's bread is anything great, maybe you have something to look forward to.
2
Sure - but each regions levain is unique and 'makes' the bread as far as I am concerned. I lived away from the SF area for over 23 years and only purchased 'sourdough' on the Southern east coast once. However, I could make a very passable starter of wild yeast.
1
...I meant no harm. I most truly did not.
But I had to grow bigger. So bigger I got.
I biggered my factory. I biggered my roads.
I biggered my wagons. I biggered the loads...
But I had to grow bigger. So bigger I got.
I biggered my factory. I biggered my roads.
I biggered my wagons. I biggered the loads...
I can obsess on food as much as anyone; I've been obsessed with food all my life, way before it was fashionable. And I have enjoyed Blue Bottle Coffee and bread from Tartine when I lived in San Francisco for 3 years. It's good bread and good coffee...very good. But the level of obsession of foodies today boarders on psychotic mania. We are talking about bread and coffee people - it's not heroin. The hype has become so stupidly freakish it makes me crave Wonder Bread and Folgers.
12
I agree with you completely. People seem to be tripping over themselves looking to line up for the next hype-du-jour. I would even say that there's a well worn formula for creating such hype: make a "limited amount" of something that's really good, sell-out quickly and get people to have-to-have-it. Like the Cronut, like the Cabbage Patch Dolls, like......etc.
3
The best way to experience Tatine bread is down the street at Delfina where every night they walk over a still warm batch which you can enjoy with Delfina's sublime pasta.
4
All good news for those of us who love their breads and coffee. Pleased that all this good stuff can be shared with others. You can't go wrong with their bread pudding with seasonal fruit.
Personally, a mid day visit is always best if you want to avoid some of the crowds. But never bring a newspaper or a good book, it's just too small and too busy.
Personally, a mid day visit is always best if you want to avoid some of the crowds. But never bring a newspaper or a good book, it's just too small and too busy.
1
Definitely worth waiting for. It's too bad their valuation isn't done like their tech startup neighbors. With their proven product and fanatical user base, they would be worth $100 billion.
1
We went on a recent trip to SF. The Morning Bun and the gougere were delicious - I can still taste them in my mind. I echo the Not In Brooklyn sentiment, because I am (mostly) all about me. :-D
2
Tartine is a good bakery. But, there's a reason that Poilâne has not ringed the globe with cookie cutter shops. The European ideal, which is still the model for most of our culinary efforts, recognizes the importance of scale, the limitations of reality.
Alfred Peet started his shop on Vine Street in Berkeley in 1966, and years later, after he'd sold the chain, said that he wished he's never expanded. There's an intimacy to creatively pursuing an ideal which is at odds with American style branding and expansion.
It's totally un-hip to talk of price in foodie circles, but this is bread, right? A $5 small baguette which you can almost never actually acquire anyway, is really a minor blessing for Brooklyn, or anywhere else. Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery in Napa manages to make a more authentically French baguette for half the price. And, while 10 Euro is steep for a full Poilâne loaf, it will feed a large family.
Rather than this brand fetishization I'd prefer a thousand locally owned and operated bakeries dotting the landscape, as France still find possible.
Alfred Peet started his shop on Vine Street in Berkeley in 1966, and years later, after he'd sold the chain, said that he wished he's never expanded. There's an intimacy to creatively pursuing an ideal which is at odds with American style branding and expansion.
It's totally un-hip to talk of price in foodie circles, but this is bread, right? A $5 small baguette which you can almost never actually acquire anyway, is really a minor blessing for Brooklyn, or anywhere else. Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery in Napa manages to make a more authentically French baguette for half the price. And, while 10 Euro is steep for a full Poilâne loaf, it will feed a large family.
Rather than this brand fetishization I'd prefer a thousand locally owned and operated bakeries dotting the landscape, as France still find possible.
13
Or more people discovering the pleasure of making their own--maybe sourdough--bread?
And lucky are those who can get to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, where there are three superb old line Italian bakeries within few blocks of each other. Heaven.
Anytime I am in the Bay Area, I make at least one trip to Tartine because it is simply the best bakery outside of France. As such, I have some apprehension about this expansion. It is great to think that Tartine will now be in NYC, but I pray that the quality that is Tartine's hallmark does not get watered down. I especially urge them not to mess with the croissants and the prosciutto and arugula sandwich, both of which are perfection.
As for the original bakery itself, I urge Tartine to reconsider its plans to remodel the 18th and Guerrero location. Part of the charm of Tartine is its basic, somewhat rough around the edges feel. The last thing the world needs is yet another overly designed, modernist place full of sleek lines and no character.
As for the original bakery itself, I urge Tartine to reconsider its plans to remodel the 18th and Guerrero location. Part of the charm of Tartine is its basic, somewhat rough around the edges feel. The last thing the world needs is yet another overly designed, modernist place full of sleek lines and no character.
8
Its all so fussy. I have argued about this phenomenon at length and stand by my theory that all this fussiness correlates to the empowerment vacuum plaguing an entire generation of young people who lived through 9/11 as kids, then one after another boom/bust cycle which passed over them like an indifferent storm. They retreat into an expensive but accessible perfectionism of clothing and small plates and placid still waters, but what they wait for and long for is to plug into something more like a mighty Mississippi of opportunity. As opposed to nibbling their pricey snacks in the pencil-thin shadow of another oligarchs' luxury apartment building.
10
I'm guessing you have never had a loaf of Tartine bread Mia. I've known Chad and Liz since they were selling their bread and pastry at farmers' markets. There is nothing fussy about them or what they do. You may have a point in general, but these are two people who have worked their butts off to make amazing and unfussy food for twenty years and I am totally pysched that more people will now be able to enjoy it.
3
Rainy day forgiven, this is the best news! We started baking bread because we couldn't find decent bread since moving to the city. We'll still bake our own bread to share but every celebration will include Tartine. mmmm bread pudding and grilled cheezes.
2
If one wants tasty, cheap, no preservatives bread, simple.. just flour, water, salt and yeast, you just can't beat home made bread. I can make an artisanal sourdough all wheat bread loaf weighing 4-5 pounds for about $3, which is the cost of one 3 ounce croissant, at a not so upscale city coffee cafe'.
3
Tartine's breads are very good but the breads at the recently opened Manresa Bread in Los Gatos, CA are a strong competitor.
1
Oy, this just all sounds bad. Blue Bottle wil turn into another Starbucks offering mass produced fbaked goods by a company that used to be good befoer it went mass. This news saddens me.
Ah, don't be sad. After Tartine and Blue Bottle go corporate, there will be new bakers and new coffee roasters with great new ideas and recipes. We will enjoy the fruits of their excitement and love for breads and coffees, until they, eventually, also sell out. Then again, some companies intentionally stay small, with no desire to expand. Berkeley's Chez Panisse and The Cheese Board , for example.
To those of you (Bittman, Pollan) who have declared Tartines bread the best you've ever had, let me ask you this: Ever have Poilane's miche right after it came out of the oven? No doubt, I'm sure you have and you'll never find anything better, as every baker on Earth has tried to replicate it and thus we witness the tsunami of miche breads available now. But that doesn't draw the attention like it used to, as everyone knows this. Therefore new, completely frivolous declarations must be made to appease the ever growing sea of lemmings lining up for your next discovery. Robertson's bread is over-rated, but not any more so than Bourdons in the Berkshires, whom he paints as some type of Yoda-like teacher that all must pass under. I imagine the NY branch of Tartine will be in W-burg, where all those who want to believe the hype will pay it's rent.
4
ummm, you don't want to eat a miche straight out of the oven. It isn't ready yet. And Poilâne is very good bread, but many bakers make breads as good or better, whether miche or no. What's good is the revival of time-intensive long ferment techniques allied with good strains of wheat adroitly milled. And that's happening a lot and Tartine wasn't the first but has done an admirable job of spreading the word.
1
No, I don't mean directly from the oven. I'm talking after an hour or so. Like buying it around 5 in the afternoon. Yes, I'm well aware that the crumb has to set and the flavors mellow, that's the currently en vogue position to take, but in doing so you're all just following the herd and accepting this as universal. But that's what makes Poilane truly unique, the acidity of the crust & it's unrivalled crispness. Longer fermentation has become trivial now, we automatically believe that a 5 hour ferment pales in comparison to a 36 hour. What's next? A 100 hour ferment? That would automatically be better, right? Perhaps you don't want to eat a miche directly out of the oven, but then why are there lines out the door at dinnertime at Poilane's shop? Are they buying the bread for some future use?
By the way, isn't Tartines bread baked in the afternoon to be sold only after 4:30pm? "fresh bread for dinner, toast in the morning" is what their website recommends. I imagine many people buy it still somewhat warm and eat some on their way home, warm, no?
Old-time New Yorkers really aren't into waiting on long lines for new fads, but on my last visit to SF two years ago I went to Tartine and did just that. Twice.
(Just not in hipster Brooklyn, please.)
(Just not in hipster Brooklyn, please.)
2
But we already have a Tartine Cafe and Bakery in the West Village -- an outstanding local place with great food, reasonable prices and long lines! This could get confusing!
6
Best bread? Try Perreca's in Schenectady NY. Tartine may be great. But bread is a function of the environment in which it is created. Perreca's: One location and one brick oven since 1914. Perfect.
David Engel - Having lived in the Capital District many years and also in San Francisco for 7 years I can tell you Perreca's is good bread but it is not in the same conversation as Tartine's.
3
I would be beside myself with joy if Zachary's Pizza (from Berkeley) would open in New York.
4
Is there comparable deep dish within the greater NYC vicinity?
I hope the answers to David of Maryland's questions are worker-positive, because Tartine's gougere and frangipani tart should come here immediately if they are!
Very American move. Create corporate brands, expand and conquer the world.
5
New York, you can have them. Tartine - good but not the best. Blue Bottle - meh!
6
Cary Fleisher - I would take Acme's pain au levain before any of Tartine's bread in a heartbeat but would gladly eat either whenever available. To say Tartine isn't the 'best' is highly subjective anyway. We'll just have to agree to disagree about Blue Bottle.
2
How much does Tartine pay its workers? Living Wage? $15 hour minimum? What about benefits? Paid Sick Leave?
8
San Francisco law is very good on all of these issues. When it opens locations elsewhere, we'll see . . . .
2
Consistently excellent, from cult favorites to standards to new items, it's no wonder the line at Tartine always stretches down the block. I have to time a visit just right, in between the morning opening rush and the tourists to enjoy a morning bun, and take home a lunch treat. We've all been anxiously watching the new site being built at Heath Ceramics. I'm sure the baking perfection will transfer there seamlessly - let's just hope the line is less "competitive." For those coming from out of the neighborhood, parking will likely be more difficult, however. The only time I've seen Chad look even a bit frustrated is searching for parking on 18th Street - I suspect he'll get a reserved spot at the new site.
I live a few blocks away from Tartine and it is, without a doubt, the best bakery in San Francisco. There are a few that are close to the top of the list, but Tartine is definitely at the very top, in my opinion. Now, having said that, the parking is practically impossible! When you say that parking will likely be more difficult at the Heath site, I can't imagine it any worse than at the present location. If it weren't for the parking and the long lines at the bakery, I would go more often.
1
I used to live around the corner from Tartine... sigh... it IS fabulous. So is Blue Bottle coffee.
Would it be nuts to plead for them to open in DC? Pretty pretty please?
Would it be nuts to plead for them to open in DC? Pretty pretty please?
7
Yes, how about Boston/Cambridge also?
1
St. Louis is a bread wasteland waiting for salvation.
3
I read this story and was GLAD no mention of it opening in my fine city. Overpriced sandwiches, cult lines for bread. We HAVE great bakeries and bread here already. I'm sorry you haven't found them. I don't need some trendy hyper-priced chain from San Francisco coming in and telling me what is cool to spend my money on.
2