The key to maintaining a high "artisanal" quality: baking everything fresh (yes, 3 times a day) in smaller quantities.
A fruit tart should be eaten no more than 3 hours after it comes out of the oven.
I'm tired for what passes as "patisserie": precious, pretty, tasteless, and obscenely priced. Most of the time, you walk into a sterile space without any of the butter-sugar aromas of freshly baked goods. Mr. Rigo's original "Bay Bread" boulangerie provided that rusticity that tickles the senses.
Haute patisserie has its fine place & is something to be admired--especially in France, where everything begins with the TASTE of a pastry. The beauty of the finished product is there to accent its fragrance and deliciousness.
In America, it's all about the superficial, the surface, the look of a product--hence all these ubiquitous so-called "patisseries" featuring ad nauseum, rows & rows of mousse cakes (aka in French entremets).
I think there is good at different levels, artisanal, commercial, ethnic, etc. On a recent trip to Paris, the different breads seemed too salty and I was assured I was served a reasonable quality selection. But maybe I didn't get the best.
30 years ago, the basic white loaf (baguette) was pliable, sold mainly in long, wide shapes (not ficelles), yeasty, not too salted.
The famous Poilane bread, not mentioned in this article, is still, I'm sure, very good but I could never get it fresh enough in Paris.
I like a very fresh toasted American white bread. If the quality is good, it is delicious with good butter. Same for a very good bagel, Montreal's, say. Same for a sweetish-sour German rye loaf.
When it's good it's good, never mind the categories.
30 years ago, the basic white loaf (baguette) was pliable, sold mainly in long, wide shapes (not ficelles), yeasty, not too salted.
The famous Poilane bread, not mentioned in this article, is still, I'm sure, very good but I could never get it fresh enough in Paris.
I like a very fresh toasted American white bread. If the quality is good, it is delicious with good butter. Same for a very good bagel, Montreal's, say. Same for a sweetish-sour German rye loaf.
When it's good it's good, never mind the categories.
1
I enjoyed the story and have just been staying in the Dordonge for a few weeks. In the village of Cazals there is a wonderful boulangerie opened by a young baker called Lalande. His baguettes have been awarded honors in Paris. The next nearest village has an empty boulange that had to be closed due to some of the reasons mentioned in the story. Maybe one of Mr.Rigo's future students would like to settle in Salviac. A boulange awaits a baker.
La P'tite Boulangerie is our local boulangerie in Cap Ferret (the bread is fabulous and I love the little cheese place right next door too). Outside of the summer we live just outside Paris, and in our small suburb, I can walk to three different boulangeries, all selling really fresh, excellent bread (we go for la tradition at €1.20). Just yesterday, the line went around the corner and I got bread straight from the oven. I didn't realize the local boulangerie was in decline, and certainly, personally, see no evidence for that (thankfully). I can't think of anyone who would contemplate a meal without a baguette. Anyway, merci Pascal Rigo, maybe catch up with you in Cap Ferret one day!
Happy to report that great baking is alive and well in Chamonix, where I have just queued for 10 mins at La Panière. The baked goods are absolutely amazing, and less than half the price of what I would pay back in San Francisco. It would have been informative if the article had featured local French artisan bakers, I'm sure they could use the publicity more than Monsieur Rigo.
3
I have to say, in New York I find Maison Keyser to have very good baguettes—their pastries are fine, though not exemplary—that really capture the way I think a baguette ought to taste and have the perfect texture and are just generally excellent. And they have multiple locations, which is quite convenient.
I actually grew up in Birmingham, AL, which—oddly enough—has an absolutely tremendously good French bakery called the Continental Bakery. The proprietor there spent quite a long time training in various parts of France, and they use a strain of wild yeast in their sourdough that is still the same one that she brought back from Provence some decades ago. It's a real local institution that the whole city treasures. If you're ever in Birmingham—a seriously good food city, actually, and getting better all the time—make it a point to swing by there; you won't be disappointed.
I don't know anything about the boulangerie situation in France at the moment, though my girlfriend was in Paris for two weeks in May, and, by all accounts, she and her sister had no difficulty finding excellent baked goods. But as with everything to do with France, there is always that difference between the Île-de-France region and the rest of the country, so I wish Monsieur Rigo the best of luck—I've certainly never heard of such a phenomenon as "too many great boulangeries."
I actually grew up in Birmingham, AL, which—oddly enough—has an absolutely tremendously good French bakery called the Continental Bakery. The proprietor there spent quite a long time training in various parts of France, and they use a strain of wild yeast in their sourdough that is still the same one that she brought back from Provence some decades ago. It's a real local institution that the whole city treasures. If you're ever in Birmingham—a seriously good food city, actually, and getting better all the time—make it a point to swing by there; you won't be disappointed.
I don't know anything about the boulangerie situation in France at the moment, though my girlfriend was in Paris for two weeks in May, and, by all accounts, she and her sister had no difficulty finding excellent baked goods. But as with everything to do with France, there is always that difference between the Île-de-France region and the rest of the country, so I wish Monsieur Rigo the best of luck—I've certainly never heard of such a phenomenon as "too many great boulangeries."
2
Hello. I have been baking bread in San Miguel de Allende, GTO Mexico since 1990. I have a small artisan bakery here and I would love to contact Mr. Rigo. if at all possible to discuss similar challenges in the baking profession in Mexico,
Thank you.
Thank you.
3
The main problem is that the wheat in today's product is so adulterated it is no
longer the same wheat of fifty years ago. Someone suggested that it be named
Whate instead of wheat! One has to travel to far countries to find real wheat.
longer the same wheat of fifty years ago. Someone suggested that it be named
Whate instead of wheat! One has to travel to far countries to find real wheat.
3
The ancient wheat called einkorn is more like the wheat we had before modern processes.
Green Revolution caused this!
Bread? Cake? I think we're being fed powdered cardboard these days. Sigh....
2
San Francisco's loss is France's gain!
4
2000 baguettes mixed, shaped and baked by one person in 290 square feet all in one day?
6
Ola!
Pascale!!!
Grab the pub rights to Cartier Bresson's famed AND joyous photo of an 11 or 12-year-old boy flaunting two enormous bottles of red wine as he strolls proudly home on Rue Mouffetard in 1954 to the cheers of other children...
THEN...replace the bottles with beautiful examples of your P'tite Boules! Then
find the boy-cum senior citizen of today and have that 60-year-old who actually carried them in the age of Le Grand Charles! represent your “‘Tite Boules”.
(nn vieille Parisian en South Acworth NH)
Pascale!!!
Grab the pub rights to Cartier Bresson's famed AND joyous photo of an 11 or 12-year-old boy flaunting two enormous bottles of red wine as he strolls proudly home on Rue Mouffetard in 1954 to the cheers of other children...
THEN...replace the bottles with beautiful examples of your P'tite Boules! Then
find the boy-cum senior citizen of today and have that 60-year-old who actually carried them in the age of Le Grand Charles! represent your “‘Tite Boules”.
(nn vieille Parisian en South Acworth NH)
keep up the holy work, mon frere. le pain est important! merci!
4
@ Tamarine Hautmarche Brooklyn, NY
You must have meant "ma soeur" in addressing Stephanie Strom, presumably a ♀.
You must have meant "ma soeur" in addressing Stephanie Strom, presumably a ♀.
Presumably, Tamarine's comment was adressed to the subject of the article, rather than its author.
amusedly,
david terry
amusedly,
david terry
5
The best bakery I've ever been to in the U.S. is the Berkshire Mountain Bakery in Housatonic, Massachusetts.
As divine as it is, any random bakery in France will blow it out of the water.
Astoria, NY would love to have you! Allez y!
As divine as it is, any random bakery in France will blow it out of the water.
Astoria, NY would love to have you! Allez y!
4
Where I live finding a good bakery is like a blind chicken looking for a grain of corn. Seems all the mega-super markets like Shop Rite, Wegmans, Whole Foods, Aldi and even Trader Joe's have forced them out of business. When i was a kid walking to my local bakery on a Saturday or Sunday morning to get some cinnamon swirls, cross buns or a bag of fresh baked hard rolls was routine.
5
Where I live finding a good bakery is like a blind chicken looking for a grain of corn...ditto...My fondest childhood memory is riding my bike every Saturday morning to our local downtown German bakery for fresh "french bread" and bear-claws..greeting the baker and his wife who in return warmly greeted me with warm fresh bread, a smile and a good day...I miss that saturday morning ritual so much... maybe there is hope.
1
I love anyone who loves good food and good business so I obviously love this guy.
2
A meal is not complete without bread. I miss the flavor of fresh Italian bread picked up just before dinner when I was a boy in Brooklyn.
There were plenty of bakeries around, all in basements below the store. In the winter I'd stand over the grate keeping warm in the exhaust and sucking in that smell. Sometimes I'd go in the morning for bread baked overnight and eat it with whipped butter and coffee.
It had to be eaten that day. By next day it was like a rock, proof of its wholesomeness because it had no preservatives.
There were plenty of bakeries around, all in basements below the store. In the winter I'd stand over the grate keeping warm in the exhaust and sucking in that smell. Sometimes I'd go in the morning for bread baked overnight and eat it with whipped butter and coffee.
It had to be eaten that day. By next day it was like a rock, proof of its wholesomeness because it had no preservatives.
9
We read of the same problem in Germany in the NYT a couple of years ago.
https://nyti.ms/2ucN4hv
It is sad. One of the best memories of my time living in Europe (early-mid 1980's) was going to the bakery and enjoying the wonderful fresh bread and pastries. The Brioche of France and the Brötchen of Germany are not that dissimilar.
https://nyti.ms/2ucN4hv
It is sad. One of the best memories of my time living in Europe (early-mid 1980's) was going to the bakery and enjoying the wonderful fresh bread and pastries. The Brioche of France and the Brötchen of Germany are not that dissimilar.
2
What makes the average loaf in Germany, France, Vienna so much better than what is available in the U.S? Is it the flour or the rise or both? The flour now available in the U.S. is mostly awful tasteless, even when I bake my own bread then end product is uninteresting.. Too bad Italy no longer bakes good bread. And then there is the coffee. I've given up coffee in the U.S. It's bilge.
7
This is fascinating, because something I've heard multiple times this year when speaking to French people is that the only place you can get a really good baguette or croissant these days is Japan. They lament that French bakeries just aren't good anymore, and this article finally gives me context for that.
2
'French people [say] ... the only place you can get a really good baguette or croissant these days is Japan'
I hope not - I tried a bunch in Tokyo about 6 months ago - getting closer but no cigar - if that's the best then I'll really have to make a special trip to this guy's place - as a good rustic sourdough pain is not forgotten, but must be revived.
It's not dead - it's only resting !
I hope not - I tried a bunch in Tokyo about 6 months ago - getting closer but no cigar - if that's the best then I'll really have to make a special trip to this guy's place - as a good rustic sourdough pain is not forgotten, but must be revived.
It's not dead - it's only resting !
My husband, a Spaniard, cannot stand our bread in the USA and neither can I having grown up on it. So I make our own. I try to make it like the bread we eat in Galicia. I'm not quite perfect but we like it much better (in moderation).
7
Lest anyone get the wrong idea from this article, there are still fantastic boulangeries and patisseries all over Paris. And even the ones that are chains -- where baking is done at a large central production facility -- the bread is excellent by any reasonable standard.
The everyday baguette in Paris typically sells for 80 euro cents -- comparable to a Whole Foods baguette that costs three times as much. The "artisan" baguette, the one the bakeries submit for prizes, is stunningly great, as good as the very best in New York or Frisco, and usually sells for 1.20 Euro. I don't know how they do it.
Outside of Paris, really the problem isn't bread, the problem is that so many people in France have abandoned the medieval cores of their cities and moved to the suburbs. They drive SUVs and buy their food at hypermarts. So it's not just boulangeries that are struggling, it's butchers, candy-makers, and every kind of small shop.
But still, the availability of great bread in France so far surpasses what you can get here -- there's no comparison. If France lost three quarters of its quality bakeries it would still be 10 times what the U.S. has even though France has one-fifth of the US population.
The everyday baguette in Paris typically sells for 80 euro cents -- comparable to a Whole Foods baguette that costs three times as much. The "artisan" baguette, the one the bakeries submit for prizes, is stunningly great, as good as the very best in New York or Frisco, and usually sells for 1.20 Euro. I don't know how they do it.
Outside of Paris, really the problem isn't bread, the problem is that so many people in France have abandoned the medieval cores of their cities and moved to the suburbs. They drive SUVs and buy their food at hypermarts. So it's not just boulangeries that are struggling, it's butchers, candy-makers, and every kind of small shop.
But still, the availability of great bread in France so far surpasses what you can get here -- there's no comparison. If France lost three quarters of its quality bakeries it would still be 10 times what the U.S. has even though France has one-fifth of the US population.
9
ah - thank you for restoring my hope - I was beginning to despair there.
Villages emptying with gravitation to the cities ? Hmmm - looks like a worldwide effect - France, Japan, China - for every 1 who says they prefer to live in the country, 100 people move to the city. Dream of space, live in crowd.
OK - you've saved France for me - I've saved this guy's shop on google maps - so next time I'm rental car'eering around this area, I'l deffo plan to stop in - and seek out quality patisseries (creme chantilly!) and boulangeries wherever I can.
Villages emptying with gravitation to the cities ? Hmmm - looks like a worldwide effect - France, Japan, China - for every 1 who says they prefer to live in the country, 100 people move to the city. Dream of space, live in crowd.
OK - you've saved France for me - I've saved this guy's shop on google maps - so next time I'm rental car'eering around this area, I'l deffo plan to stop in - and seek out quality patisseries (creme chantilly!) and boulangeries wherever I can.
1
It was a common everyday sight in Orleans to see a long loaf of bread sticking out of every moped and bicycle going by in the mid 60s. It was fresh, light, and crusty. It marked France as the bread champs, Italy notwithstanding.
2
I've visited Paris many times over the last 50 years so am familiar with the taste and texture of baguettes. Now I've just returned from a three-month stay in Paris, and I was disappointed by all the baguettes I tried - - even from boulangeries that called themselves artisanal. I felt the quality was definitely inferior to that of the baguettes I had in the past.
Did I go the wrong bakeries? (Never made it to Poliâne or Eric Kayser.) Are my memories inaccurate? I don't know.
Did I go the wrong bakeries? (Never made it to Poliâne or Eric Kayser.) Are my memories inaccurate? I don't know.
4
I frequently visit France for pleasure -- often twice a year -- and spend virtually all of my time out in the country. I find the claim that the quality of French bread is diminishing to be somewhat laughable. For years I have told friends that you can go to almost any gas station in France and buy better bread than you can find anywhere in the United States. An exaggeration, of course, but not far from the truth.
13
It's true. We recently did a road trip from Paris to Poitiers and I was struck by the quality of the food at the motorway rest stops -- gorgeous bread, charcuterie, cheeses and fruits. It's like being on another planet.
3
Great story, and a great effort to reboot the local bakeries in France. With regard to Starbucks, like many people who lactose intolerant, I avoided Starbucks for many years because of Starbucks' apparent indifference to the 60% of adult coffee drinkers in the USA (USA Today, 9-15-2009) who can't digest milk products and who need a readily available, palatable alternative to milk and cream, without paying extra or begging the barrista for some secret alternative hidden behind the counter. Likewise, for years the food choices at Starbucks were absolutely terrible, but now they are noticeably better, and, a result of this story, we know who to thank.
7
Mr. Rigo should practice what he preaches. He laments the closure of local bakeries caused in part by competition from mass-produced grocery store bread, while he himself employed mass production of bread for sale to large retail outlets including Costo and Trader Joes.
And the reason Mr. Rigo’s La Boulangerie shops in San Francisco each sell only about 50 baguettes daily? The bread is just not that good. One only has to look at the cult-like bread following at San Francisco's Tartine Bakery for comparison.
I am an avid baker, including baking all sourdough breads, so I am aware of the work involved in artisanal bread baking. Mr. Rigo needs to decide if his venture is going to compete on (1) quality or (2) price. He can't compete on both.
And the reason Mr. Rigo’s La Boulangerie shops in San Francisco each sell only about 50 baguettes daily? The bread is just not that good. One only has to look at the cult-like bread following at San Francisco's Tartine Bakery for comparison.
I am an avid baker, including baking all sourdough breads, so I am aware of the work involved in artisanal bread baking. Mr. Rigo needs to decide if his venture is going to compete on (1) quality or (2) price. He can't compete on both.
13
II have been baking bread for a decade now using a NYT process described some years ago that uses cast iron large pots to simulate steam oven. I have traveled all over Europe and I must admit their breads had superior flavor to the best artisan bread available in USA. Back in the sixties I worked in a Portuguese bakery part time. The owner was originally from Portugal. He imported all the oven material from the old country and the flour he used also. I asked why? He told me USA flour does not contain the same minerals which give the flavor he got from imported flour.
So when I started baking I researched and found that the soil in North America where we grow wheat does not contain the minerals as the wheat growing lands in France, Germany or southern Russia.
Last week I attempted to bake classic baguettes using King Arthur flour recipe. Not bad, I do plan to modify the starter which is important for flavor development.
So when I started baking I researched and found that the soil in North America where we grow wheat does not contain the minerals as the wheat growing lands in France, Germany or southern Russia.
Last week I attempted to bake classic baguettes using King Arthur flour recipe. Not bad, I do plan to modify the starter which is important for flavor development.
9
It's also not the flour. I lived in Vancouver in the late 70's and knew a boulanger from France who used French flour that he imported specially, believing that he could reproduce the real taste of French bread. The baguettes still didn't taste like in France. I think that the difference may have been the water. Vancouver has exceptionally soft water.
2
It could bee.
Here in USA water is tested for mineral content and most has to bee in low parts per million or lower.
Importing from France without knowing in what region it was milled one is in trouble.
Here in USA water is tested for mineral content and most has to bee in low parts per million or lower.
Importing from France without knowing in what region it was milled one is in trouble.
1
When my mother's step father moved from NY to Miami he went through hundreds of pounds of flour trying to adapt his recipe to the water. He even shipped flour down so he only had to deal with the water.
1
Perhaps I have a certain bias, but almost 10 years ago I published Pascal's first cookbook, American Boulangerie. (Now, sadly out of print but one of a kind.) It was, like Pascal, wonderful, often difficult and thoroughly authentic. It showcased his determination to use organic ingredients, to be true to his Gallic upbringing and to feature his outstanding recipes for amazing macarons, incomparable Canelé de Bordeaux and, yes glorious croissants. It is one of the cookbooks of which I am most proud. It was gloriously photographed by Paul Moore, who won a number of awards for the photos. It was, respectfully, ahead of it's time and an landmark edition that paved the way for the revival of artisan baking in the US. Pascal went on to have a varied business career with Olivier Baussan of O&Co. (Oliviers & Co.) and the Starbucks saga. (BTW, Pascal had investors in Boulange when it was sold to Stabucks so I'm sure he didn't come close to netting $100 million on the sale.) However, he always remained true to the mission of producing the most genuine and fabulous baked goods. I still remember to this day shooting the cover photo for the book at 5 AM on a sunny SF day, blocking early morning traffic outside his original bakery on Pine St. with him proudly standing in front of the shop in his everyday baker's garb of a fleece, white shorts and tennis shoes. It was pure Pascal.
23
What a wonderful, Truly wonderful anecdote, thank you for sharing it with all of the readers
3
I have that cookbook! Mostly I make the madeleines :-)
2
The NYTimes comment section is an American treasure due to comments like this. Let's hope it is preserved well into the future.
6
French flour has to be additive free by law that may be the reason.
11
Don't forget the terrific products produced by French baker Jean Yves Charon (Galaxy Desserts) and sold via Williams Sonoma Catalog and online. Delivered frozen and baked at home, always fresh, flaky and tasty.
4
I never heard in France the term "baguette des copains"--sounds to me as though your writer misheard the standard phrase "baguette de campagne" (a rustic baguette with a more floury surface that's crunchier than the regular baguette).
21
For the past nine years or so, I have also struggled to find the perfect flour and bake a baguette to match the memories I have of French baguettes from my visits. I am an amateur baker on the weekends. I am a corporate privacy lawyer by trade. Over the years my skill with baguettes has gradually improved, but I still find that no flour milled in the US is ever the same as the flour that I buy from a company that imports actual French flour from France. I believe there are differences in the wheat varieties, the growing methods, and the milling practices. I strongly identify with Mr. Rigo's quest to save the French baguette and to improve growing, milling, and baking practices of breach in the US. With the low-carb diets, people often cut out bread instead of sweets or alcohol, and I think that's because the bread they are eating is (a) not that good and (b) has sugar added because it's not that good. I think people should treat themselves to a bag of flour from France and bake with it and taste and feel the difference. Only then can they really understand what American industrial food processing has done to the average loaf of bread. I bake bread for friends and coworkers for fun and perhaps out of a sense of altruism, and they always tell me that they have never had bread like it (if they've never been to France). I tell them that its simply the ingredients.
13
I'm also in PDX & also an amateur (but passionate!) bread baker. I want to try a loaf made w/imported french flour... where do you import from? How do I get in on this coworker/friends bread train you speak of :)
7
*"growing, milling, and baking practices of *BREAD in the US."
1
Here in Northern CA we have been finding the best Parisian-style croissants (soft, buttery, sweet, fragile layers vs the hard, starchy, salty, made-for-sandwich type) from French patissiers, not from bread bakeries. Unfortunately lots of hi-quality butter and the best quality flour are expensive when labor and RE costs are also high. The best of them all is Parker Lusseau/Monterey CA: M. Lusseau has been putting out a superior product since 1996, and we've been buying them for almost a decade! I wish M. RIgo the very best of luck in his endeavor.
6
I have been to Paris. IMO, Crepe and Brioche makes the best croissants in the Bay Area - esp, the rum/ almond. They sell at farmer's markets and the head baker has decades of experience; the couple is French, if I recall correctly. For my tastes, Lusseau is OK but not as good as Crepe.
1
I think his boulangeries look good but living in the South of France and previously in the South West for over 20 years I have never found it difficult to buy great bread. However, when you can buy a baguette for 50 or 60 euro cents in a supermarket it's not difficult to understand why poorer families do. I was once in Normandy and needed bread there was an extremely long line and so I thought it must be good bread, it wasn't, it was cheap.
7
cheap beats good most times - in the race to the bottom - or mass market
but - humans being what they are - someone remembers quality - and seeks it out - and when people can afford more, and are willing to pay more, to get that better quality, all is good - again.
C'est la vie.
but - humans being what they are - someone remembers quality - and seeks it out - and when people can afford more, and are willing to pay more, to get that better quality, all is good - again.
C'est la vie.
2
When my local bakery in a small town in NNY closed, I just about cried. It was one of my favorite things about my hometown and led to a life long appreciation of good bread and good pizza (which is all about crispy dough imo).
Having said that, re:this article, the baked goods at Starbucks are still subpar. Why does every breakfast sandwich have a different type of bread with no customization? Why are the sandwiches small and overpriced? Can't buy food there, it's uniformly disappointing, even the faux french chains do it better.
Having said that, re:this article, the baked goods at Starbucks are still subpar. Why does every breakfast sandwich have a different type of bread with no customization? Why are the sandwiches small and overpriced? Can't buy food there, it's uniformly disappointing, even the faux french chains do it better.
5
While it's true that La Boulange once put out a serviceable product, the fact is that for the past ten years or so--once the chain expanded beyond a few outlets--the quality plummeted. The croissants that I once craved became insipid and no better than what one could buy frozen and bake at home. And don't even consider the quality since the windfall buyout by Starbucks--now every product is equally inedible. The $100 million buyout (yes, I'm jealous) might be one of the worst business decisions in recent history. While I am all for a revival of standards for French baking, I sincerely doubt that Mr. Rigo is the person who will be responsible for achieving this goal.
3
I am looking for the name of a French film that shows the competition between two bakers in a small French town where one baker accuses his competition of making bread with frozen dough and then selling it as fresh. One of the bakers sets up a surveillance in the night to catch the offending baker. Sound familiar?
6
I have been living in Paris constantly for the past 10 years, and episodically for 30. The bread in Paris has ALWAYS, on average, been much better than in the small provincial towns. Of course there are many exceptions, but this is true of bread, croissants, and pain au chocolat, my basic taste tests. There are fewer real bakers in Paris now than 30 years ago, but about the same as 10 years ago. The number in my neighborhood and the neighborhoods I know has held steady. It is quite enough. Whenever one baker sells out, he/she (increasingly she) does not seem to have any trouble finding a replacement. Bread styles change. Sourdough is in decline (yay! can't stand the stuff), and black/brown breads are coming in. In terms of economics, I presume the avergae bakery makes its realmoney not on bread, but on patisserie. Also, they all now sell sandwiches, made on the spot with their own bread, that are excellent, inexpensive, and doubtless have a 100% profit margin.
As for the effects of French labor laws on the one-person boulangerie - most don't apply to businesses in which only the owner and the owner's family are employed.
As for the effects of French labor laws on the one-person boulangerie - most don't apply to businesses in which only the owner and the owner's family are employed.
5
can't stand sourdough ?
interesting - I love it. You've just made me recall that I grew up enjoying acid fruits - my partner grew up enjoying very sweet tropical fruits, so if I give her a piece of fruit I like, she'll often grimace and reject it 'too sour!!!'
Tropical fruit she likes I often find too bland in its sweetness - I like a little acid to balance - so that may explain why I love sourdough (acid?) while others like you don't.
interesting - I love it. You've just made me recall that I grew up enjoying acid fruits - my partner grew up enjoying very sweet tropical fruits, so if I give her a piece of fruit I like, she'll often grimace and reject it 'too sour!!!'
Tropical fruit she likes I often find too bland in its sweetness - I like a little acid to balance - so that may explain why I love sourdough (acid?) while others like you don't.
The one thing I really missed after migrating to the US from the Netherlands is great bread. A sandwich is not a vehicle for containing lots of meat. The bread is the most important part of a sandwich.
23
Amen
What a sweet story, excuse the pun. It is so nice to see Pascal back. In arrogant San Francisco, Pascal was pilloried for selling out to Starbucks. When it didn't work out and some of the old locations started to reopen, it was a welcome sight. Giusto's has been providing a great product for along time. I hope we don't lose Mr. Rigo to France, but in a way, San Francisco never truly appreciated him. He doesn't have a beard and lots of tattoos and probably doesn't use the word BRO ever other word.
8
I live in SF and our neighborhood has one of his first bakeries. And it is beloved and the heart of the neighborhood.! We were worried when Starbucks bought it and heartbroken when we thought it was going to be closed and relieved when Pascal reopened it. Please refrain from thinking you know the opinion of everyone in San Francisco.
16
When Monsieur Pascal came to SF, the most fascinating aspect his new bakery was his POS system: a drawer where change and bills were put in willy nilly and then used to make change. Talk about old world small town.
2
In Seattle, there's a great micro bakery called Crumble & Flake. Best kougin-ammann around.
From a French guy living in San Francisco for the past 17 years, I can tell you La Boulange bread was inedible.
8
And Costco sells an incredible baguette, better than Trader Joe's, and frankly quite comparable to the award winning La Parisienne in the Vth!
Their association with LaBrea bakery?
Their association with LaBrea bakery?
3
I've traveled fairly widely in France, and usually the franchised boulangerie's bread is the worst. Like "Paul".
4
Pascal is my hero!! good luck to him.
1
I'm sitting at my desk at home in rural New England, far from any decent baguette, and my mouth is watering.
7
Ditto here in Boston. I think I can get a decent loaf of black Russian bread if I drive to the Russian import store in Brookline but it's hard to consider taking two hours out of my workday (there, back, traffic, parking) just for bread. Sigh.
Try HiRise in Cambridge.
Poilane.
2
There's a small, local boulangerie in South Wellfleet on Cape Cod that is putting out some nice baguettes and breads called PB. Don't drive by it this summer without stopping. It's got a wonderful restaurant too. Make a reso in advance.
Best food on Cape Cod.
Best food on Cape Cod.
4
I agree, Cod. When we visit Wellfleet, we get up early to buy croissants there -- delicious. A baker who was there opened a little shop on the corner in my Boston neighborhood, called Cafe Madeleine. So nice to run across the street for croissants and good baguettes! I love to bake, but not croissants, when I can get excellent ones so close by. Happiness!
6
The Cottage Street Bakery in Orleans has the best croissants I've ever tasted outside of France (not to mention pastries and home-made soups).
2
Thrilled at these shout outs to both Cafe Madeline in the South End and PB Boulangerie in Wellfleet. Wonderful, wonderful croissants that I do not see equaled anywhere else in this area. Makes me want to chuck it all and open my own La P'tite Boulangerie.
2
There is really nothing Better than a crisp, soft dough French baguette. I had no idea that they are making gluten-free in France! And buying in supermarkets.! The majority of people who eat gluten free have no allergy but it's a fad. I'm surprised that the French got so caught up in it to the decimation of Boulangeries borders on crime. Good thing I haven't been in France recently as it would be such a disappointment. I love the entire concept of what he is doing---giving back to a business that has been good to him for his hard work and re-establishing and aspect of French culture that is so important.
3
The Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington DC has among other bakery/grocery/eateries the very Italian Radici, recently made famous -- though he did not name it -- by the New York Times's very own David Brooks. That's a long story, having to do with his lunch mate being unfamiliar with Italian food, and the ruination of America, or something. For the details, read his column & the several thousand comments it ignited.
What Brooks did not recognize, though, is that Radici is what every neighborhood should have, a convenient source for bread & pastries, pastas (a killer lasagna al ragu), soups, sandwiches & deserts, all cooked on site.
What Brooks did not recognize, though, is that Radici is what every neighborhood should have, a convenient source for bread & pastries, pastas (a killer lasagna al ragu), soups, sandwiches & deserts, all cooked on site.
5
Radici doesn't bake its own bread, but it's of little matter. Washington was once a vast wasteland of mediocre bread and next to no patisserie. Now you can't swing a cat without finding excellent artisanal bread almost anywhere.
The excellent Lyons bakery sells from a stall at Union Market, but if I can't find time to get there, I can pick it up at the Korean market at the next corner from my house. Next to the Slim Jims and chewing gum.
Or great croissants from another terrific local baker at the small market at the corner in the other direction.
Bread Heaven.
The excellent Lyons bakery sells from a stall at Union Market, but if I can't find time to get there, I can pick it up at the Korean market at the next corner from my house. Next to the Slim Jims and chewing gum.
Or great croissants from another terrific local baker at the small market at the corner in the other direction.
Bread Heaven.
2
Good luck to Mr. Bolo - trying to get a large corporation to retain the integrity of the product once all rights are sold to them. Just look at what ingredients got put into, and taken out of, Kashi.
2
Bucharest, and I imagine other iof the Eastern European capitals
1
Mr Rigo - come visit us in Senegal where the small french bakeries are doing just fine!
6
Oh to be 20 again. I would be the first newly trained Boulangerie owner! We could use a few in NYC (with clean bathrooms!) xoxoxo
3
Save the baguette..!!
3
If only there was a pop star like John Cougar Mellencamp who raised the issue of the demise of the family farm in the 1980's. That saved the family farm, right? Agriculture did not become Big Ag.
Along with the family run grocery store, family run drugstore, family run clothes shop and the family run restaurant, small businesses just can't compete against the big companies.
Along with the family run grocery store, family run drugstore, family run clothes shop and the family run restaurant, small businesses just can't compete against the big companies.
6
Viva La France!
1
It takes someone of Italian origins to save French bread. Italians are the taproot of Western creativity--tutto a regola d'arte.
1
When I see the word "CHAIN" I think that all is lost. In 1956 Mr. and Mrs. Meister made white bread and oatmeal bread. That's all they sold. They made a living in a tiny store in Melrose, MA for a very long time. Progress will surely be the end of us. Oh, I forgot to mention, the bread was from Heaven!
3
ANOTHER viable industry being killed off by mega-chain "supermarkets and convenience stores" selling garbage?
3
I do not like bakeries in Indiana. Following Mr. Rigo's lead, ought I open bakeries in Ohio? Unless one wishes to eat French chauvinism, which is fine with me, and if you enjoy quality where you find it, buy a long or round at Lanci’s, Jackson Street, South Philly. Worth a drive or SEPTA ride. I drove forty miles once a week with glee for rounds.
Sadly, Lanci's has been closed for quite a while now.
I wish he would open one of his bakeries in my town.
1
i've been going to paris since 1981. i've got my 23rd visit coming up in october.
i've stayed in the 7th arr for all but one of those visits. i stay at a small two star hotel called the prince on avenue bosquet.
i've stopped in at many patisseries/boulangeries all over the city.
the quality differs, but it seems to me that the quality has improved.
there's a patisserie/boulangerie just down the street called on grenelle Les Gourmandises d'Eiffel that is superb. you'd be hard pressed to think the french have lost their way when you buy anything there.
i've been to montreal and quebec city a number times. their croissants/baguettes are good, but nothing is close to paris.
i haven't noticed a paucity of french men and women heading home after work, or during the day for that matter, carrying a baguette or two.
i've eaten great bread in many countries in, but paris&the rest of france....well, what more can i say?
i've stayed in the 7th arr for all but one of those visits. i stay at a small two star hotel called the prince on avenue bosquet.
i've stopped in at many patisseries/boulangeries all over the city.
the quality differs, but it seems to me that the quality has improved.
there's a patisserie/boulangerie just down the street called on grenelle Les Gourmandises d'Eiffel that is superb. you'd be hard pressed to think the french have lost their way when you buy anything there.
i've been to montreal and quebec city a number times. their croissants/baguettes are good, but nothing is close to paris.
i haven't noticed a paucity of french men and women heading home after work, or during the day for that matter, carrying a baguette or two.
i've eaten great bread in many countries in, but paris&the rest of france....well, what more can i say?
5
A lovely article for French bread lovers like me. The first thing I do when I'm lucky enough to visit France is go straight to a bakery and buy a baguette. I would, however, have liked to see an additional detail about the economics of bakeries, both in San Francisco and Cap Ferret: the retail cost of the products. In my experience a very good baguette can be had for less than a dollar, even in Paris. How much do they cost at La P'tite Boulangerie?
7
Such a great idea that could work for other foods too. Good on Rigo, and I wish him and the people who work with him every success!
2
America still has not mastered the art of producing a tasty baguette or croissant a la Francaise. Such baking is a part of France itself. When I lived in Paris, the morning visit to the local boulangerie was a high point in the day. One hopes that these local bakeries there can make a comeback since no one des it better.
6
What a delight to see Pascal's smiling face, & learn what he has recently been up to.
Over 20 years ago, when I was living in the SF Bay Area, my children & I stood in line @ the Palo Alto farmer's market for a couple loaves of his bread. He always made my kids laugh, & gave them a little treat. After he left that market, we'd trek to the local Trader Joe's for his bread.
We adored him, & his breads!
Best of luck to you, Pascal, in your new adventure! And how can I get a job working as a sales clerk for one of your little places in France?
Over 20 years ago, when I was living in the SF Bay Area, my children & I stood in line @ the Palo Alto farmer's market for a couple loaves of his bread. He always made my kids laugh, & gave them a little treat. After he left that market, we'd trek to the local Trader Joe's for his bread.
We adored him, & his breads!
Best of luck to you, Pascal, in your new adventure! And how can I get a job working as a sales clerk for one of your little places in France?
3
Please come to NYC, near me at West 68th Street !!!
We we love the bread in Switzerland and Germany too! French bread from a baker like this one in Ferret is fabulous but the Swiss and German's do offer a greater variety. There is also a far larger selection of whole grain, dark, seeded and other more healthful choices! I wish we had the same in the US. So often, our so called healthful choices have maple syrup, honey or some other sweetener added. Yeck!
4
Dr. Atkins came up with the idea that a low carbohydrate diet would cause weight loss. It has never been substantiated in any serious study. Let us enjoy bread again. The countries who eat most bread in the world do not have the worst obesity problem. Vive la baguette, Vive la Boulangerie Francaise.
3
nonsense. there is no baking crisis in France. go visit a dozen small towns. you'll find 2 - 3 dozen artisanal bakeries. crisis? nonsense.
2
I've lived in France and there are no small towns that have 24 to 36 bakeries.
1
I think he meant in a dozen towns you'll find 2 dozen bakeries - so 2-3 per town. But I remember driving around the hills behind Nice in the South of France a few years ago, especially stopping in each looking for a magnificent baguette or patisserie. I don't recall anything memorable from any of them.
Maybe I'm too fussy. But I have deep memories of loving the sourdough pain from Paris, and if it's really disappeared, I'm grieving - oh man ... purple funk ...
Maybe I'm too fussy. But I have deep memories of loving the sourdough pain from Paris, and if it's really disappeared, I'm grieving - oh man ... purple funk ...
Oh, what a lovely piece.
May Mr Rigo meet success in each and every corner of the baking world.
May Mr Rigo meet success in each and every corner of the baking world.
1
I hope the baker who has "everything" she needs to run what is essentially a 1 baker show is rewarded finacially for her efforts. It is sad to see the decline of the free standing bakery stores that I used to visit when growing up in NYC. I hope this is a satisfying accommodation in this era of mass produced everything.
2
I have gluten intolerant friends who can go to France and eat high-quality bread. And I'd want to know why. They have true gluten issues. One even being my wife. Some of the small bakeries even think their flour is US originated. I want to bake such bread in the US. Any suggestions?
1
Growing up in France, the local boulangerie would never miss--- right out of the oven the most delicious bread you ever tasted. If you were on foot, you never made it home with a full loaf. Mom would yell (a lot) but... it was entirely worth it.
Bon chance Pascal!
Bon chance Pascal!
5
A touch of heaven on earth is a true French baguette. Continuer, Monsieur Rigo! You will bring a touch of the sublime into the lives of many. Vive la France -- and it's bread!
2
Balthazar in SoHo has very good baguettes.
1
Quality of bread in France has increased a lot in the last thirty years after the dreadful seventies, and a lot of local boulangeries are producing very good bred and a few some excellent bread. I am afraid that this is just disguised advertisement for yet another food franchise.
4
Go, gluten, go!
3
please open a small bakery in L.A. we have La Brea Bakery but your bread looks better
We used to get good "Pan Baguette" in Lima Peru which was delivered hot by men on bicycle carts.
I miss that!
We used to get good "Pan Baguette" in Lima Peru which was delivered hot by men on bicycle carts.
I miss that!
2
The best boulangerie in Los Angeles is Clark Street Bread. It's the only one whose baguettes match those in Paris and Berkeley. You can buy them at Grand Central Market and Cape Seafood; I think there's also retail at the bakery in NoHo.
1
Once a culture has drunk the gluten-free Kool-aid there's no turning back. Sedentary lifestyles contribute far more to obesity than anything one eats or drinks, and the boo-hoo machines in America are permanently engaged at overblown volume over celiac disease. How did the human race even make it to 2017 here or in France if these substances found in our daily food are so pernicious? Good for Rigo. I will have to drive up from Bordeaux to Cap-Ferrat on my next trip to that part of France just to see how excellent his bread is.
5
I have had the good fortune to have lived with a French family on exchange in high school and have kept in touch and been able to visit once every few years ever since. The struggle of the French baker was a frequent topic of discussion, as fewer young people were apprenticing for a job that often began at 3 or 4 in the morning and went until 5 or 6 at night. All for between €1 and €1.50 per baguette. To make matters worse, there is increasing pressure to be open 7 days per week.
Kudos to Mr. Rigo for trying to flip the economics of the traditional French bakery. Smaller bakeries baking better (ie. more expensive) bread for people they know will hopefully solve some of these issues.
Kudos to Mr. Rigo for trying to flip the economics of the traditional French bakery. Smaller bakeries baking better (ie. more expensive) bread for people they know will hopefully solve some of these issues.
8
This article reminds me to appreciate - with dollars! - my neighborhood Portuguese bakery, just a few blocks away. They have great fresh bread and I go there fairly often, and I'd thought occasionally about how difficult it must be to work there on a hot summer day. But I hadn't thought much about their long-term survival. They are a local treasure and I'll make a point of going there more often!
16
Stop using US non organic saturated with Roudup wheat which will improve the quality of the bread
10
Perhaps a good harbinger of things to come. The uncompetitiveness of boulangerie can be fixed with a change in the business model. The question is. Can small family businesses be saved from large scale competition?
10
A family run Bakery Normand closed after some 33 years in business in Northampton MA. We would often make the 30 minute drive just to buy their bread. The owners shared this on their website:
Baking, as with any food related industry, is for the young, and we have grown old in this profession. We have enjoyed remarkable good health for all these years. In hindsight it is clear that we walked a razor's edge in our small, family-run business, and that any significant physical or financial setback could have knocked us off that edge and undone our entire endeavor. But despite our naivete, or maybe because of it, we endured, we prospered, and our customers, we hope, benefited.
Baking, as with any food related industry, is for the young, and we have grown old in this profession. We have enjoyed remarkable good health for all these years. In hindsight it is clear that we walked a razor's edge in our small, family-run business, and that any significant physical or financial setback could have knocked us off that edge and undone our entire endeavor. But despite our naivete, or maybe because of it, we endured, we prospered, and our customers, we hope, benefited.
25
Bakery Normand was well-loved in our area and is much missed! Its replacement, Tarte, does not have the same savoir-faire with French baked goods but is also a nice, independent bakery worth supporting.
We need this here in the US. Dayton is lucky to have a few old world bakeries, bread is the universal bond, be it a boule, croissant or naan. Nothing tastes better than a fresh loaf of bread.
17
most recent trip to france we stayed for a week in St Jean en Royan. there is a wonderful boulangerie there... every day was a treat to see the new concoctions as well as, of course, the baguettes... eaten warm on the way back to the hotel.
5
The baguette has always been a French favorite and certainly a staple. A few articles such as this one have a good chance of putting it in a position to raise prices and make it unattainable for those who enjoy it.
I spent time in France in the late 50's and the baguette was a way of life. I hope this new found notoriety doesn't further damage it.
I spent time in France in the late 50's and the baguette was a way of life. I hope this new found notoriety doesn't further damage it.
2
The price of a baguette in France is regulated to keep it affordable
7
In the US the best pain au Chocolats and croissants are made by Bridor and shipped frozen to the vendors. Frozen bread and simple pastries can be very good. It can be made quickly at different times of the day instead of once in the morning and taste wonderful. Bread and croissants can be very effectively been frozen and stocked in a freezer by the end user. Have you noticed that in restaurants throughout the US their bread is always served warmed and fresh unlike in France. I cant see any other way to eat fresh bread. Frozen then heated at the last minute.
1
In Sydney the Lüneburger chain bakery e.g. https://goo.gl/maps/TyFCTPjEV3k - sells bread which has been imported as frozen dough from Germany I believe - benefit: it looks good http://www.luneburger.com.au/bread/crusty-bread.html and offers consistent quality, something different and probably better than most other local breads - downside: when you've eaten better bread elsewhere it just doesn't satisfy.
I was just thinking - what is the appeal of fresh steam-baked crust of a good sourdough - I'm thinking umami - que ?
I was just thinking - what is the appeal of fresh steam-baked crust of a good sourdough - I'm thinking umami - que ?
Another excellent marketing piece about chain bakery and dying boulangerie artisanale. Does anyone remember Le pain quotidien? Maybe, this is another good chain of industrial bakery output.
Please, never forget that real, fragrant, daily made, baked and distributed to customers every morning bread requires harsh labor starting the previous afternoon and going on during a good part of the night before the start of the morning sale.
All the mechanical and electronic tools and frozen produces apparently cannot replace the time and work necessary to offer on sale a real bread and viennoiseries. You need on the spot, each spot, workers who are willingly available to do the harsh work and competent to make it at best.
So, i have not yet tasted this chain produces but i remain skeptic about the level of quality a bakery chain may offer to the customer. In Brooklyn, NY, you can find the best example of a single bakery of great quality, which make kosher produces. Obviously, this is not a chain and it is the exception which confirms the rule of a general loss of quality in the bakery industry all over the USA and EU.
Please, never forget that real, fragrant, daily made, baked and distributed to customers every morning bread requires harsh labor starting the previous afternoon and going on during a good part of the night before the start of the morning sale.
All the mechanical and electronic tools and frozen produces apparently cannot replace the time and work necessary to offer on sale a real bread and viennoiseries. You need on the spot, each spot, workers who are willingly available to do the harsh work and competent to make it at best.
So, i have not yet tasted this chain produces but i remain skeptic about the level of quality a bakery chain may offer to the customer. In Brooklyn, NY, you can find the best example of a single bakery of great quality, which make kosher produces. Obviously, this is not a chain and it is the exception which confirms the rule of a general loss of quality in the bakery industry all over the USA and EU.
10
I live in a French village of 350 people without a bakery, but, as I understand it, by law, the municipality is obliged to offer access to a "daily bread" source, long considered a life-sustaining staple along with water. Consequently, a bread truck - supplied by a good bakery in nearby Gisors, a city of 10,000 people - makes the rounds of all of the surrounding villages, selling three kinds of breads and a few pastries every day. Special orders are placed by phone. On the other hand, the neighboring village of 600 people does have a bakery and it is struggling mightily. The boulanger and his wife have not been on vacation for five years. Their truck broke down this year, last year it was the oven, etc. The economics are against them. So, Mr. Rigo, please check out Dangu, Eure. They need your expertise to survive.
21
If I recall those pastries and bread brought by trucks daily were very low quality.
2
I just love Wonder Bread. I just can't get enough of it. I tried to duplicate the recipe at home, but the results are never quite satisfactory. I also love Oscar Mayer bologna and Kraft cheese product sealed in individual cellophane wrappers. Washing it all down with a glass of Kool-Ade is absolute perfection. All my friends and acquaintances, however, eschew the manufactured products for the artisanal. As a result, they're all fat and drink too much. So on the whole I prefer the chemicals and the preservatives. I realise I'm headed for Gerbers baby food because my teeth are going, but I say "C'est la vie!"
30
Thanks, Ed. It's been too long since I've laughed out loud.
2
Most of these comments are about the virtues of French bread, either in France or in American, or about the commenters' ability to make great bread at home. The article, however, was about a Frenchman's artisinal and then commercial success in San Francisco, and his wish to bring his acumen home. I'm afraid M. Rigo had been away too long: a one-person boulangerie would never work in France after the shine of do-it-all-yourself has tarnished. Vacations? Arrets de travail? French labor laws? And while many boulangeries had become mediocre in the past 10 years, the recrudence of interest in traditional baking, smaller local sourcing and businesses, and working with the hand over the past few years has brought back good,honest and diverse breads, and boulangeries run by motivated, honest and diverse young people. In Paris, a baguette costs between €1 and €1.30, depending on the flours used. You have to sell a lot of bread to pay expenses, taxes, and salaries (even if it's only one).
24
Thanks, for your wonderful thought on the baguette,
I'm very much into the French culture and it's civilization, but
I was unaware of the fact, that is based on the flour quality used,on its making, please advise.
Last time, I was in France, a native French citizen told me the baguette is no longer made by native French citizens, but mostly by Immigrants who gets up really early to bake the baguette, once the French native would not get up that early to bake it.
I'm very much into the French culture and it's civilization, but
I was unaware of the fact, that is based on the flour quality used,on its making, please advise.
Last time, I was in France, a native French citizen told me the baguette is no longer made by native French citizens, but mostly by Immigrants who gets up really early to bake the baguette, once the French native would not get up that early to bake it.
5
The flour, the procedure, and the "hand" all play a part in perceived quality. As do the weather (a humid day will kill a baguette!), the eater's preference, and the freshness. Some flours (organic, different sorts of milling procedures, gluten quantities, etc) are more or less expensive which affect the price. I've lived in Paris for over 30 years (I'm an immigrant) and can vouch for the diversity of bakers in France, including French. All of the foods trades have been "rediscovered" by the younger French population and they are indeed leading the way to a food-culture renaissance. And we welcome anyone who wants to rise early enough to work with them.
23
The way the issue is presented here, no doubt based on the way that Mr. Rigo must have explained it, is that the decline in the the local boulangerie is because people no longer care for quality bread and are instead buying their bread at supermarkets that are of a much lesser quality.
However it is hard to believe that these are the only 2 options available for bread in France. In many other countries, including those who have a very long tradition of eating quality bread, the bread is not produced by small bakeries for sale in those stores.
Rather there are bakeries that are expert and producing high quality bread which they then distribute early in the morning to groceries and supermarkets to be sold there. And it is extremely difficult to believe that in a country like France supermarkets and grocery stores do not have fresh quality bread that had been baked and delivered that same day from bakeries that sell their bread through supermarkets and grocery stores.
Simply put it does not seem credible that in a country with the food traditions such as France, a country with a population of 60 million no less, people would have any difficulty finding high quality freshly baked bread.
However it is hard to believe that these are the only 2 options available for bread in France. In many other countries, including those who have a very long tradition of eating quality bread, the bread is not produced by small bakeries for sale in those stores.
Rather there are bakeries that are expert and producing high quality bread which they then distribute early in the morning to groceries and supermarkets to be sold there. And it is extremely difficult to believe that in a country like France supermarkets and grocery stores do not have fresh quality bread that had been baked and delivered that same day from bakeries that sell their bread through supermarkets and grocery stores.
Simply put it does not seem credible that in a country with the food traditions such as France, a country with a population of 60 million no less, people would have any difficulty finding high quality freshly baked bread.
5
You'd think that, but the reality is actually closer to what Mr. Rigo explains. France may be the country of great, artisan baking, but it is also an agro-industrial behemoth. The whole cereal value chain, from large cereal growers who benefitted hugely from EU agricultural subsidies (PAC) to supermarkets and industrial chain bakeries that try to mimic the style and appearance of their independent counterparts, is actually one of volume over value. Many independent bakers have trouble sourcing quality cereals, and that's just one of the problems they face in a context of declining small towns and labor market hurdles. Big cities like Paris or Lyon, as well as tourist hot-spots like Cap-Ferret are expected to house at least one premium bakery, but sadly this reality does not apply to all French towns and cities. Still, I'm totally behind Mr Rigo's project, and hope to see more of his bakeries opening soon!
17
Everything is relative. Poor quality bread in French supermarkets is still light years better than US supermarket industrial bread
6
[[I'm totally behind Mr Rigo's project, and hope to see more of his bakeries opening soon!]]
At the very least, he'll re-open shuttered shops, put some tradesmen to work refitting the shops and train some young people in running their own businesses.
Let's say a 20-something kid catches a break and runs a bakery for 20 years and raises a family before selling the shop to the next generation of bakers.
Wonderful.
At the very least, he'll re-open shuttered shops, put some tradesmen to work refitting the shops and train some young people in running their own businesses.
Let's say a 20-something kid catches a break and runs a bakery for 20 years and raises a family before selling the shop to the next generation of bakers.
Wonderful.
3
Just the right thing.
3
Must get in a plug for Avenue Breads in Bellingham, Washington, an artisanal, locally-owned bakery whose loaves usually are on the list for any special occasion, and are available in supermarkets too, a great convenience! Our region also is very fortunate to have a genuine bagel producer, The Bagelry, founded in the early 1980s by New York transplants. Both bakeries have been busy and highly successful parts of the community from the day they opened.
1
Nova Bakery in Charlotte, N.C., turns out wonderful bread.
1
Some years ago bakeries where bread is made and baked on the premises fought to be called artisan boulangeries, which distinguished them from industrial dough pre-made and defrosted in the neighborhood oven, which was only a slight improvement over the baguette in a plastic shell form the supermarket. There have always been bad and indifferent bakeries in France, and if anything quality has actually rebounded in recent years. thanks to efforts to keep consumers aware. The writer assumes the french have adapted low carb diets. but I see little evidence of that. A baguette is a fragile form, lasting only a few hours in a state of perfection, it will not survive travel. While Rigo's model may be great for the US, Industrial-artisanal in France seems a sad celebration.I agree this article feels like publi-journalism.
8
Putting bakeries into small towns which no longer have them, is laudable. Starting a chain to put bakeries into mini-malls and the 10th arrondissement is however just a run-of-the-mill business, and one wonders how the NYT got snowed to make a story of it.
19
I was thinking the same thing. The article talks about small artisanal baking yet the Bay Area business model depended on selling into large box stores like Trader Joes in order to scale and support the small square foot operations.
So I am not sure how, in the final analysis, this is really an improvement from what might currently be on the market.
Also, as a previous writer has mentioned, the amount of baguettes that would need to be sold to cover the overhead in an expensive area is quite high and if the customers are seasonal or decrease during inclement weather, this would be a real problem with cash flows.
Will be interesting to see how this all plays out!
So I am not sure how, in the final analysis, this is really an improvement from what might currently be on the market.
Also, as a previous writer has mentioned, the amount of baguettes that would need to be sold to cover the overhead in an expensive area is quite high and if the customers are seasonal or decrease during inclement weather, this would be a real problem with cash flows.
Will be interesting to see how this all plays out!
2
I don't understand the obsession about French bread. I lived in France, Switzerland and Germany and I got the best bread in Germany. There are about 300 different varieties of bread what means for every taste and occasion there is the ideal bread. It seems to be that Germany's food culture isn't 'cool' enough to get mentioned in the NYT.
30
I hear you! It's especially frustrating to get a steady and easily available supply of dark or rye breads here in the Bay Area. They are around but nowhere as ubiquitous as the French/Italian/sourdough options.
3
I lived in the Bay area for a couple of years in my 20s, and one of the things I missed terribly were breads -- I come from the Midwest, an area with lots of Jewish and Eastern European bakeries, and was raised on chewy rye breads and pumpernickel. My maternal grandfather was a master baker, though he died when I was four -- but I am sure I cut my teeth on his Jewish rye with seeds.
I thought such breads were sold everywhere, and was astonished they were all but unknown in Northern California -- at least, in the 70s. Maybe things have changed.
What they did have there were their own LOCAL breads -- sourdough -- and I grew to love it. They don't have real sourdough breads in the Midwest, not like that. I learned that breads is one of foods that is very regional and tied to the culture of the local people -- Italians and French have their light crispy breads -- Eastern Europeans have dense chewy breads -- they are all very delicious to me! But I don't know of anyplace where you can get ALL types of breads (and rolls, pastries, cookies, cakes etc.) in the SAME AREA and at affordable prices.
Chi chi breads -- super-expensive bakeries -- places that are out of the way or have bankers hours -- not much use to ordinary customers!
I thought such breads were sold everywhere, and was astonished they were all but unknown in Northern California -- at least, in the 70s. Maybe things have changed.
What they did have there were their own LOCAL breads -- sourdough -- and I grew to love it. They don't have real sourdough breads in the Midwest, not like that. I learned that breads is one of foods that is very regional and tied to the culture of the local people -- Italians and French have their light crispy breads -- Eastern Europeans have dense chewy breads -- they are all very delicious to me! But I don't know of anyplace where you can get ALL types of breads (and rolls, pastries, cookies, cakes etc.) in the SAME AREA and at affordable prices.
Chi chi breads -- super-expensive bakeries -- places that are out of the way or have bankers hours -- not much use to ordinary customers!
2
German food culture isn't varied enough to be celebrated. Bread is their best, most varied food product in my experience.
And the nutrality of fresh baguettes goes better with different foods and cheese.
And the nutrality of fresh baguettes goes better with different foods and cheese.
2
Allons-y!
I love nothing more than a beautiful rustic sourdough french baguette.
Even Tokyo - with its plethora of Michelin restaurants is bending over backwards with French-style bakeries trying to capture the essence. I sought them out last trip - some are getting closer - but not there yet !
I used to drive across Sydney every week - a 90 minute round trip - salivating at the thought of my favourite San Francisco sourdough bread (akin to a French baguette) which I loved and bought regularly - alas that has gone.
So if you are going to the trouble of making the real thing - I'll put it on my list of places to go out of my way to visit - next time I'm in France ! Merci Bien !
I love nothing more than a beautiful rustic sourdough french baguette.
Even Tokyo - with its plethora of Michelin restaurants is bending over backwards with French-style bakeries trying to capture the essence. I sought them out last trip - some are getting closer - but not there yet !
I used to drive across Sydney every week - a 90 minute round trip - salivating at the thought of my favourite San Francisco sourdough bread (akin to a French baguette) which I loved and bought regularly - alas that has gone.
So if you are going to the trouble of making the real thing - I'll put it on my list of places to go out of my way to visit - next time I'm in France ! Merci Bien !
9
What is better in life than a fresh baguette, cheese, and champagne on a Paris bench beside the Seine. Vive La France!
27
Red wine instead of champagne ;)
4
Better is a baguette with cheese and cured or smoked ham. :-))
2
What is better is to replace the champagne with a good Côtes du Rhone and sit in a sunny spot overlooking the Mediterranean a dozen miles east of Marseille!
2
I bake my own bread. I use a KitchenAid grinder to grind wheat or rye. My favorite is a sourdough German rye, landsbrott. It takes 3 days, but minimal personal time until the third day day, one needs 3 hrs for kneed, rise,proof,bake. I make a double batch and freeze 3 loaves and have one to eat.
Plenty of good books to take you through the process.
Plenty of good books to take you through the process.
12
wow sounds fun
I spent a wonderful weekend at San Francisco Baking Institute learning how to make baguettes. Now I make my own and I think they are better than any commercial ones around. SFBI is run by Michele Suas, a French baker, who knows and loves his craft.
Also.I am sorry to hear that the ridiculous gluten free (for non celiacs) has reached France. People are missing out is one of the delights of life.
Also.I am sorry to hear that the ridiculous gluten free (for non celiacs) has reached France. People are missing out is one of the delights of life.
27
Yes the gluten free fad has reached Europe - just returned from Sicily and was shocked to see gluten free pizza and pasta options. I mean... really?
I'd wager my life savings that in five years this fad will be in the dust bin.
I'd wager my life savings that in five years this fad will be in the dust bin.
3
@ Anna Jane California
As long as your baguettes are crusty on the outside, but alveolar, soft and easily eviscerable on the inside, you have mastered the art.
As to your comment about gluten-free: if I am not mistaken, the Pope has banned its use in communion.
As long as your baguettes are crusty on the outside, but alveolar, soft and easily eviscerable on the inside, you have mastered the art.
As to your comment about gluten-free: if I am not mistaken, the Pope has banned its use in communion.
I know that statistics don't lie, but nevertheless there is a renaissance in French bread baking that has been going on for awhile. Not every boulangerie is great, but there are so many good ones, many being run by young boulangers. Just this Spring we stayed in a small village (<1,000 people) in the French countryside, and the little boulangerie was one of the best I've ever been to. It was run by a young baker with generally one counter person (maybe his wife some days). Every morning for a week (except on the one closing day) I'd make the 5 minute walk to pick up breakfast, and then we'd often go back later in the day for pastries. Everything -- baguettes, other breads, croissants, pastries, brioche- was outstanding. EWe found many other outstanding boulangeries on the trip, as well as in past trips, but this one stood out.
14
French style baguettes are nice.. But there's nothing better than a fresh, warm slice of San Francisco sourdough smeared with whipped butter and glass of Pinot.
9
SF sourdough can be good, but it can't compare to a great French baguette or Pain de Campagne. And whipped butter isn't real butter, nor does Pinot Whatever belong with any of that.
12
Rob: As a 6th generation San Franciscan, recently moved, I don't recall there were any rules about what wine was allowed with what food. Generally, red wine with steak and roast; white wine with fish and chicken. But, if you liked Pinot, you could drink it with any food you chose. There were a few Pinots so good you did not need to order a meal, just the wine with appetizers. I'm not sure why you think whipped butter isn't real butter; it is. Usually the best sourdough didn't need anything - some cheese maybe. There are no food rules - no wine rules - I spent a lot of time in France; baguettes are wonderful, but so are crepes, and just about anything found in a good French bakery. The French are serious about wine, and forgiving about most everything else.
7
The best sourdough came from bakeries where the salt in the air was also on the walls. The walls were never washed. Boudins was a classic French bakery.
1
We had the best market between New York and Chicago in the West Point of Akron, Ohio (so said the NYT and WSJ).
The owner paid a tidy sum for an oven just to make French bread.
Those were the days.
The owner paid a tidy sum for an oven just to make French bread.
Those were the days.
8
You say "had", as if it went out of business -- so I checked, and Akron's (uber-pricey) West Point Market is still very much alive and in business.
It's about 30 minutes from me, and they have some tasty stuff, but its crazy expensive for the Midwest.
It's about 30 minutes from me, and they have some tasty stuff, but its crazy expensive for the Midwest.
2
Marooned up here, I miss Margot Patisserie on West 74 Street in the Ansonia building - best of the best French breads, amazing soups and pastries...
7
Yeah, similarly marooned in Charlotte NC. --- Can't wait for my Twilight Zone Snaks Machine to arrive.
1
If you are looking for baguettes in Maine, the Standard Bakery in Portland and Boulangerie in Kennebunk rival the best loaves I've had in France, but get there early or reserve the day before.
9
Support of food artisans on both sides of the Atlantic is a worthy enterprise, and I believe that the inclusion of whole grains and "slow"techniques need to be supported by consumers for these models to be successful. Taste, texture and smell, in the end, ultimately determine great bread, along with artisans who care about their product. I have never seen my French son-in-law purchase a fresh loaf of bread in the US without smelling it first. This is a habit developed from growing up in France and buying the daily loaves from the local boulangerie. I hope these new local bakeries thrive.
As someone who has stopped at Poilane on the way to CDG to return home, I am clearly willing to go a ways for great bread. I have lived in NYC, the Hudson Valley, the Berkshires and the San Francisco Bay Area (my current home), and I thoroughly agree with the comment that the best bread in the US is being made at Standard Baking in Portland, Maine. Small and local, dedicated to quality.
As someone who has stopped at Poilane on the way to CDG to return home, I am clearly willing to go a ways for great bread. I have lived in NYC, the Hudson Valley, the Berkshires and the San Francisco Bay Area (my current home), and I thoroughly agree with the comment that the best bread in the US is being made at Standard Baking in Portland, Maine. Small and local, dedicated to quality.
4
Getting a baguette at Standard is rarely a problem, since they bring them out all day long. Their baguettes are pretty good, although only in the middle of all the baguettes I've had in France. I will have to check out Boulangerie, though, when I'm down that way.
1
We used to have cheese and baguettes Christmas Eve with our good neighbor. Who was from Paris. I used to get them from a chain store whose headquarters were in Rochester, NY. He thought they were wonderful. Maybe it was the wine. But recently when we try them, they just seem flat. I know that they are mixing dough in a central location then shipping it to the local stores. We do have one local grocery store that will produce some breads from scratch and the quality is much better.
Does anyone remember Katz's Bakery in Liberty, NY? Gone now, but they had really good rye breads.
Does anyone remember Katz's Bakery in Liberty, NY? Gone now, but they had really good rye breads.
6
Ah yes, Katz's Bakery was heaven. I wish someone would open a old-school Jewish bakery in New York. Rye bread, with or without seeds, danish rings, butter cookies...
11
The store "Tom" referred to in Rochester, NY, would be Wegmans. They are an expanding family (privately owned) chain now in 6 states, with over 90 stores (www.wegmans.com for locations & other info). They are building a store in Brooklyn. Every year they rate highly as one of the top 100 firms in the country to work for.
They have recently introduced more dark specialty breads with unusual ingredients, sold in sliced half loafs. As for cheese, they now have their own ripening, temperature controlled "caves". But they have cut back to practically nothing with reduced fat cheeses, supposedly because they weren't selling. :-(
They have recently introduced more dark specialty breads with unusual ingredients, sold in sliced half loafs. As for cheese, they now have their own ripening, temperature controlled "caves". But they have cut back to practically nothing with reduced fat cheeses, supposedly because they weren't selling. :-(
3
@ Chris:
Orwasher's on East 78th off 2nd, and 81st and Amsterdam fit the bill.
https://www.orwashers.com
Orwasher's on East 78th off 2nd, and 81st and Amsterdam fit the bill.
https://www.orwashers.com
It is ridiculously easy to bake good bread at home from scratch. If I could figure it out, anyone can.
You don't need the pizza stone and the spray bottle etc. etc. etc. I bake gorgeous crusty loaves in pyrex loaf pans (big, medium and small so I can bite into the first loaf at once!). If people weren't scared away by "artisanal" recipes that take a week to finish, they'd do what I do, too.
You don't need the pizza stone and the spray bottle etc. etc. etc. I bake gorgeous crusty loaves in pyrex loaf pans (big, medium and small so I can bite into the first loaf at once!). If people weren't scared away by "artisanal" recipes that take a week to finish, they'd do what I do, too.
21
Your recipe please!
2
Good for you! Some of us maybe just want to do other things with the small amount of free time we have. AND we want to eat good bread, so we buy it. I could do without the hint of condescension.
1
Chris: I use apple cider vinegar (1/4 cup per 4 cups of flour) to proof the yeast; use one tsp.of Diamond Kosher salt per cup of flour; just enough water to make a kneadable dough (this is not no-knead bread but it doesn't require the strength of ten to knead it); grease the bowl with vegetable oil and turn the dough in it to coat; cover and let rise 3 hours; shape into loaves and put into parchment-lined glass loaf pans; let rise again until doubled; use your fingers and a cup with water to wet the top of the loaves; bake at 440 F for about 30 minutes.
Once the bread is no longer fresh, it makes great toast; toasted cheese sandwiches, croutons for soup, etc.
Once the bread is no longer fresh, it makes great toast; toasted cheese sandwiches, croutons for soup, etc.
2
Having recently returned from a visit to Paris with my wife in June of 2017, after last visiting in August 2016, and discovering the closing of two boulangeries in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter of the 6th arrondissement (near Hôtel Danube, our hotel of choice), this is definitely a problem!
I hope that disruptive actions like this are able to maintain (or expand) the local, delicious bakery products in France!
Vive la Baguette!
Best,
--Keith
@KeithDPatch
I hope that disruptive actions like this are able to maintain (or expand) the local, delicious bakery products in France!
Vive la Baguette!
Best,
--Keith
@KeithDPatch
16
Stayed at that hotel and bought bread locally, and other great stuff. And you could eat late. Found wonderful baked goods in small towns in France, and fresh produce etc.
2
Yes, it's a great hotel in a great location in a great neighborhood. Still many good food choices within walking distance. And the Musée du Louvre is just a short walk directly across the Seine!
Best,
--Keith
@KeithDPatch
Best,
--Keith
@KeithDPatch
San Francisco has a good number of bakeries rivaling French bakeries and we also have baking schools that are producing excellent bakers. Just so you can have a taste of it try Jane the bakery. The best baguette in San Francisco, flaky croissants and a big variety of brioches. You won't be disappointed.
6
you are 100% correct on your assessment -- the Jane baguette is outstanding when I first tasted it I nearly wept -- yes I know that makes me sound twee and oh so SF-- but really it is THAT good and the points at the end mon dieu!!
Loved this article. Loved Boulange and was sad to see it close. Great to hear what Rigo is up to and it sounds smart. Sure, there are plenty of places in France where the bread is still excellent, but there are also a lot of places where it has become hard to find. Being smart about business and passionate about bread is a good combination, and Rigo is clearly both of those things.
23
Wonderful to hear. The demise of the small boulangerie across Provence over the past couple of decades really took a lot out of the great French food experience... for what is wonderful French cheese and wine without an excellent piece of baguette? Or morning coffee without the croissant "I'm on holiday" calorie splurge? Some of these were family business with no kids interested to continue the family business and bakers lifestyle.
In SF, the pre-Starbuck years of La Boulange Pascal and his bakers turned out breads and French pastries that were only rivaled later by Tartine.
Good luck with the apprentice to owner concept and business model. Let us eat bread and cake made in the wonderful tradition!
In SF, the pre-Starbuck years of La Boulange Pascal and his bakers turned out breads and French pastries that were only rivaled later by Tartine.
Good luck with the apprentice to owner concept and business model. Let us eat bread and cake made in the wonderful tradition!
34
The author and Pascal fail to grasp that rural France, which comprises about 90% of the country, is nothing like San Francisco. I am a French citizen and just returned from a two-week trip to the countryside to visit family in Oise and Aisne. It is true that the boulangeries are dying off but I would argue it is a result of the overall economy and the fact that the next generation doesn't want anything to do with the traditional rural French village culture and lifestyle and are instead living in cities. I was so saddened to drive through town after town with every single business boarded up. I had to travel 30 minutes to find an open restaurant. Who is going to buy a baguette when no one lives in town?
92
Bringing the City to Rural Areas, is being planned, especially in the USA. If the electoral part of the election won't change, then the land will change to cityscape. Farming and Factories will be a thing of the past. Jobs improve. The same thing will happen in France.
4
He's clearly chosen his locations carefully, not just plonked them down any old place. I imagine if you look carefully there are plenty of locations that could still support his business model.
1
The fake-French "La Boulange" products sold at Starbucks are inedible compared to baked goods found in French hyperrmarkets, let alone the authentic bakeries that still abound.
96
Yes, but the original La Boulange (pre-Starbucks) was phenomenal. I say that as somebody who lived in France and worked at a boulangerie.
23
They changed dramatically after being bought by Starbucks. Used to go to the neighborhood Boulange in Cole Valley - they were wonderful back then.
2
I still feel the loss every time I walk by the La Boulange empty storefront on Sutter St. Starbucks, no surprise, couldn't maintain the quality of the original cafe.
1
The deterioration in the quality of French bakeries is far from recent. I moved from Germany to France 15 years ago and was quite shocked how awful the baguette, croissant, boule.. in many places. For my money, the quality of German bakeries is the very best in the West and if you live in Strasbourg or otherwise near the border cross over to Germany for your bread needs. Sorry, France...which is near perfect in most other respects!
30
@sbr - so true and very sad about the baguettes. I want to check out Pascal Rigo! In my childhood in the 70's and through the 1990's? French baguettes were so good. Crusty, chewy, flavorful...je ne sais quois. Other french loaves were divine. German bread has always been very different but i also think it's superior. That crust! It makes multigrain sound like wonderbread compared to Vollkornbrot and many more amazing nutrient laden staples. FWIW i moved to the USA at 18 months old and promptly refused to eat the bread after having formative experience in Germany. My incredible family drove around Philly looking for real crusty bread for me! Bread snob since birth!
6
As a Frenchman who lived abroad for decades I was pleasantly surprised when I finally resettled in my home country to find out that French bread had drastically improved over the last thirty years. Everywhere today and particularly in open markets one can find excellent whole-cereal organic bread that is ten times better than the ordinary white-wheat baguette of my childhood!
76
William Gaillard, If French bread has improved in France over the last 30 years, Mr Rigo must be aiming to Make French Bread Great Again by taking it backward.
As someone who lives in San Francisco when Mr Rigo first started La Boulange, I always thought his baguette was mediocre. Some other breads he made were good, but so were his competitors'. His croissants were far above average at the time, but nothing like Laduree. Now B patisserie and Arsicault Bakery can easily outclass his baked goods.
I did like Mr Rigo's restaurants, which he had several back then along with bakeries. Pity that he shut them down to focus on bakery.
As someone who lives in San Francisco when Mr Rigo first started La Boulange, I always thought his baguette was mediocre. Some other breads he made were good, but so were his competitors'. His croissants were far above average at the time, but nothing like Laduree. Now B patisserie and Arsicault Bakery can easily outclass his baked goods.
I did like Mr Rigo's restaurants, which he had several back then along with bakeries. Pity that he shut them down to focus on bakery.
Bravo! This is awesome. I wish I could get bread like this in my upstate rural ghetto.
8
where in upstate NY, Catskill, Hudson do I find crusty baguettes or croissants. We have nothing here.... really..........
9
Bread Alone makes incredibly authentic European-style breads and has storefronts in Woodstock and Kingston (among a couple other towns, check their website!)
6
Learn how to bake your own. Buy a good-quality mold for around $100, a marble slab and ceramic bowl to make clean-up as easy as possible, and you are ready. The learning curve is very short, and within a week you will be baking wonderful, fresh bread. Don't forget to have fun.
24
Use King Arthur bread flour.. It makes a huge difference! IMO bread is bread.. You can make your own sour dough started and at the beginning unless you are making baguettes you don't need a 100$ mold, marble slab or ceramic bowl... and there's the Bittman recipe on line for no knead bread... but you will need a Dutch oven for that.
Everyone should do croissant once--mine with Pillsbury flour when bit shattered into flakes and blew away. So amazing. Brioche can be the base for Baba au rhum
Everyone should do croissant once--mine with Pillsbury flour when bit shattered into flakes and blew away. So amazing. Brioche can be the base for Baba au rhum
2
Interesting to see what Pascal Rigo is doing with the $100M he received from the sale of La Boulange to Starbucks. We were pleased to see that six of the former locations of La Boulange are now La Boulangerie de San Francisco, not owned by Starbucks. Their croissants are good, but not the best in town. For that, my choices would be Tartine and Arsicault.
14
How lucky San Francisco is to have choices between Tartine and La Boulange. I'm in the 'burbs now and have yet to try Arsicault. The peninsula is a desert for a quality bakery. I agree that each bakery had their 'bests'. My Saturday morning routine once included a stop at his Pine Street bakery to pick up gougeres. It was a sad day when Starbuck's bought his bakeries but glad to see that he is reviving his business here in the Bay Area and also back in France.
The best croissants may currently be found in Los Altos @ Voyageur du Temps.
1
For my money Arsicault is tops for croissants in SF. Tartine is great but I noticed there can be "inconsistencies" sometimes with their baked goods.
You are my hero, Pascal Rigo.
9
Haha, the Times's been lured by the marketing pitch of that guy. Actually bakery has made huge further progress in the last two decades in France, fueled by the Poilane and then by many flour companies pushing ranges upwards.
Most French people would tell you the quality and diversity of baguettes we have is way better than 20 years ago.
Most French people would tell you the quality and diversity of baguettes we have is way better than 20 years ago.
90
I couldn't agree more, the marketing pitch is very well done here. Living in Bordeaux, good bread is very easy to find, my bakery is right around the corner and has very good bread, supplies also the restaurants around and is ran by very nice hardworking people not working with big mills.
Being familiar with the place, rescuing Cap Ferret from bad bakeries is somewhat laughable but sadly none of the other bakeries have the same press relations.
Unfortunately, striking a deal with Biocoop will mean that the local artisanal bakeries already supplying it would have to close due to competition from this new chain...
Being familiar with the place, rescuing Cap Ferret from bad bakeries is somewhat laughable but sadly none of the other bakeries have the same press relations.
Unfortunately, striking a deal with Biocoop will mean that the local artisanal bakeries already supplying it would have to close due to competition from this new chain...
12
I just returned from visits to Tours, Strasbourg, and Binic--I found excellent 'tradition' baguettes at several boulangeries. Paris, as well, has yet to disappoint when it comes to their bread selections. Given the paucity of decent baguettes in NYC (although Sullivan Bakery and Erik Kayser are very good options), eating bread and cheese with wine in France is still incomparable.
5
Would you make some Strausbourg recommendations? I'll be there end of the month--Merci
I wish Mr. Rigo much success. What traditions you do not pass on becomes completely lost and the great human experience is further diminished.
I only wish Mr. Rigo will also open up a training school for bakers in the US and also allowing them to open boulangeries with similar financial assistance. A lot of American tourists go nuts going to French boulangeries and patisseries in France. We can have those similar experiences here toowith just a little help.
I only wish Mr. Rigo will also open up a training school for bakers in the US and also allowing them to open boulangeries with similar financial assistance. A lot of American tourists go nuts going to French boulangeries and patisseries in France. We can have those similar experiences here toowith just a little help.
54
Nice to see this passion in a world where people want everything faster, quicker and cheaper. The crap that passes as bread in most places is a tragedy, I have come to appreciate traditional French thoughts on food, including baking, and I am glad someone is thinking how to preserve good bread. I would bet that the stores he sold to Starbucks are now selling crap full of industrial yeast, flour made from who knows what, loaded with salt and commercial oil and sugar, all claiming to be artenisal. The good news I think is if people get a taste of the real thing, supermarket bread will find a much more limited market.
44
A similar passion for pure and simple artisanal breads and pastries is driving bakers in the U.S. Putting out the best products this side of France are the likes of Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson, Marco Bianco, and here in Illinois, Ellen King of Hewn, and Dusan and Carissa Katic of Katic Breads. And supplying them with quality flours are smaller-scale artisanal growers of heritage grains such as Turkey Red and Warthog wheats, Einkorn and Emmer, as well as rye, spelt, buckwheat and other grains. People are buying these bakers' wares because they are "good" -- good ingredients, grown in a good way, and made into bread with intelligence, skill, love, and care -- naturally delicious!
16
I wish him luck but I've resorted to DIY. Pizza stone, spray bottle of water, bread flour, yeast, water, a touch of dried malt extract and an oven that reaches 440F. I always have a supply of frozen bread doughs awaiting their their destiny of a thaw and slow rise in the refrigerator.
16
What does the dried malt extract do, please? Can it be used in all breads? Thank you.
2
Go to the web site of King Arthur Flour. Their extensive catalog will help you to know some of the auxiliary ingredients. They also have a help log & blog; and classes at their Vermont location. They just opened another location in Washington state.
You can't go wrong with any of Peter Reinhart's books. "Bread Bakers Apprentice" might be a good place to start. He also has a web site. Fantastic teacher who teaches at Johnson & Wales part of the year.
You can't go wrong with any of Peter Reinhart's books. "Bread Bakers Apprentice" might be a good place to start. He also has a web site. Fantastic teacher who teaches at Johnson & Wales part of the year.
3
Lucky man, go man go!
6
What's wrong with good old american white bread?
Nothing just the taste, the texture, the list of ingredients.
32
Yes, but it is very easy to make a sandwich with. And it doesn't go stale in two days. And you can cut shapes out of it with a cookie cutter. Not to mention it pairs perfectly with American cheese.
3
It's boring. Last time I made a sandwich with two slices of Wonderbread. The result was to scratch off the glue that formed on the roof of my mouth.
My homemade bread stays fresh for 3 or 4 days. Perfect for sandwiches for lunch. After a week it starts to harden. It is still usable for bread pudding or bread crumbs and the like. It can sit in the bread box for 2 weeks and still no sign of mold.
Old fashioned white bread is itself hardly old fashioned. It's a 20th century invention which, along with Red Delicious apples and other forms of food made generic, caters to speed and convenience and cost. Not to full enjoyment, attention to making food or quality.
My homemade bread stays fresh for 3 or 4 days. Perfect for sandwiches for lunch. After a week it starts to harden. It is still usable for bread pudding or bread crumbs and the like. It can sit in the bread box for 2 weeks and still no sign of mold.
Old fashioned white bread is itself hardly old fashioned. It's a 20th century invention which, along with Red Delicious apples and other forms of food made generic, caters to speed and convenience and cost. Not to full enjoyment, attention to making food or quality.
12
Bravo Pascal! Et Félicitations. Nice to see you in the Times!
9
GOD BLESS THIS MAN!
THE WORLD NEEDS HIM.
THE WORLD NEEDS HIM.
9
Wonderful! "Frenchness" can't be kept down. It rises again and again.
I divide my time between the USA and a small stone cottage in a seaside village on the Atlantic coast of France. There are several fantastic bakeries in my village, and the best pastry shop I've ever experienced. I sit there once a week, enjoying outstanding coffee and a pastry to die for.
I don't know what's going on in Paris or France's other big cities. But fabulous, full-gluten baking is alive and well in my neck of the woods.
I divide my time between the USA and a small stone cottage in a seaside village on the Atlantic coast of France. There are several fantastic bakeries in my village, and the best pastry shop I've ever experienced. I sit there once a week, enjoying outstanding coffee and a pastry to die for.
I don't know what's going on in Paris or France's other big cities. But fabulous, full-gluten baking is alive and well in my neck of the woods.
37
What town or is that a secret?
2
There is a series of 30 volumes on French history, entitled (in translation) "The Thirty Days that have made France". A saying adds to the 30 days the four products: wine, cheese, baguette of bread, and cured or smoked ham of a wild boar.
Best wishes to Mr. Rigo, even if his abstention from coffee is a distinctly non-French trend.
Best wishes to Mr. Rigo, even if his abstention from coffee is a distinctly non-French trend.
8
A French counter-revolutionary emerges to face "un pain blanc."
1
A real baguette with good cheese is heavenly! Does he do sourdough, as well?
10
I don’t drink coffee,” he said. “I have too much energy as it is.”--- How are you getting this energy? Bread ingredient? Just curious.
2
@Kim re "i have too much energy, no coffee"-how does he get the energy?
I would guess PASSION. His passion and life's mission is bread!
I would guess PASSION. His passion and life's mission is bread!
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