For me it is Sourdough with Clam Chowder in it.

For suburban east coasters, Wegmans has the best selection of bread I've ever seen, so I'm glad I live 5 miles away from one. Costco breads are good, too.

As far as chains go Wegmans, Costco and Panera all have fairly nice quality bread.

MisterNice

Nothing better than a still warm loaf of La Brea multi-grain with a slice of sharp cheddar or slathered with butter. That woman who started the bakery must me rolling in dough (OMG, where do I come up with these? :D)! BTW, she was a judge on Top Chef Just Desserts this past week.

Panera makes a tasty baguette.

“Tuscan Bread” from the Black Crow Bakery in Litchfield Maine
(Please note my posting here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/423...s;results_list )
Two medium thick (1/3”) slices of this Artisan Bread,
Several slices (total of 3 oz.) of ‘Abraham’s German Prosciutto (Schwarzwaelder Schinken)
Two ounces ‘Dodonis’ brand Greek Feta Cheese
A sprinkling of Herbs de Provence,
Two Tbsp. French Country Butter.

Place bread on a sheet of parchment paper. Spread butter on one side of both slices. Evenly place the ham on both unbuttered sides of the bread. Place the cheese evenly on the ham and sprinkle the herbs on top. Close Sandwich and grill on both sides in a medium preheated cast iron pan, turning twice until brown and cheese starts oozing out. Serve with imported German “Senfgurken”

Addeo , seeded italian
 

its baked on Hughes ave , with another location (block away on Arthur ave) in bronx . Addeo's seeded italian u dont need olive oil , butter or anything , get it while still warm , good luck not trying to eat all .
"Casa" bread is pretty impressive too.

There's a LOT of mediocre baguettes in Paris. I don't buy the "all bread is better in Paris" thinking anymore. The style of breadmaking is changing...some good...some very bad. Some bakers are doing super long/cold ferments, and some bakers are baking their loaves not long enough (for my tastes).

Anyways, in the states, Acme (I'm only grading their sweet baguette) is kind of..."good for the US". It's approaching mass-made status in the Bay Area and the quality is dipping a bit. The crust is okay (not as thin and crunchy), the crumb is okay (not consistently airy), and the flavor is okay (some batches seem to be better than others). Compared to 99% of "french bread" available at supermarkets Acme is very good though.

I've actually come to like Bouchon's (Yountville location) baguettes. The crust, crumb, and flavor are all very good.

Somebody long ago in this thread mentioned Zingerman's in Ann Arbor. I agree.

IMHO, the only edible food in the State of Michigan is at Zingerman's. Luckily it is not too far away from an airport to get me out of Michigan!

I have a right to make such a comment. I graduated from high school in Michigan. Zingerman's and Vernors. That's it for Michigan.

You clearly haven't seen the right parts of Michigan :D Fellow escapee, but there's a lot of good food to be found if you know where to look for it. Most of the stuff I find memorable is in pretty working-class areas, though.

There's quite a lot of good bread in the Boston area -- Clear Flour in Brookline and Iggy's being my two favorites, though with Iggy's I only *really* like it when I buy it from their bakehouse in Cambridge. Have never warmed up to Hi-Rise, but others swear by it.

The other place I *adore* is Wild Flour Bread in Occidental, CA (Sonoma County). http://www.wildflourbread.com/ . Way off the beaten path, but so worth the trip...

bread basket at del posto here in nyc is the best, imo

I bought a rye bread at Whole Foods bakery department yesterday and wish to pay tribute to it, so I am reviving this thread.

Black Forest Rye. At first I didn't like it as well as WF's Prussian rye, which has more of a sourdough taste and firmer crust. Black Forest rye has a softer texture, which at first I found disappointing. Also, it didn't have the tang that I usually prefer. But it is full-bodied, has seeds and things like you wouldn't believe--shredded wheat, shredded rye (whatever do they mean by "shredded"?), sourdough starter (even though I couldn't taste it), varied textures, just excellent.

Panera's "bread" is awfully mediocre.

Nancy Silverton started La Brea, but the commercial operation sold out to Swiss conglomerate Aryzta a few years ago. I'm not sure if she still controls the original location on La Brea, but she has an interest in several restaurants (Pizzeria and Osteria Mozza being the best known).

Acme is terribly mediocre. I think you can find local bakeries all over the US that wipe the floor with what they have become. The sad thing is that Acme basically has the Bay Area food scene wrapped up, so great restaurants like Zuni and Chez Panisse use their boring bread.

I don't necessarily think "all the bread is better in Paris" but I generally think that the average baguette in Paris is 10 times better than what you find here.

If you want great rye bread, go to Bea's Bakery on Reseda and Ventura Boulevards in Los Angeles. They are the ones who bake the famous rye for Langer's downtown. Its ridiculously good.

There are really two versions of La Brea Bakery. There is the parbaked crap that is sold in various supermarkets around the country. Then there is the awesome stuff that they bake in Los Angeles for sale in the local market.

1) I really don't see how you can say "we don't take much of an interest in cheese." There is a TON of great cheese in this country, and a lot of interest taken in it. It mostly comes from artesinal cheese makers California and Wisconsin, but it most certainly does exist and is often more on the cutting edge than traditional French cheeses.

2) Bread in the US is bad when it is mass marketed. Its fantastic when someone does something special with their individual bakery.

People reading this thread and contributing must be passionate about it .... so why note make it.

I wish more people would make their own bread at home. It is so rewarding and so easy and so quick. I make bread once a day ... sometimes twice. The preperation is so quick .... a few minutes. French bread better than you have ever tasted. Focaccia. Ciabatta. Bagels like you cannot ever buy - I've spent a while developing a recipe which is like the bagels I use to eat from the all-night bakery in Vallance Road in the East-end of Lonodon. It is also so cheap and you can use the best ingredients. And of course there's making real pizza using sour-dough (bigga) just like they do in Naples.

There can be very few things more rewarding than baking and eating your own bread every day.

Even with a very busy life style, bread can become a real passion.

What do I have to do?

TRY IT! :)

I'm all for making bread at home, but... if you want truly excellent bread, you need a professional (read: hot) oven. No getting around it.

For me, the best bread I've ever had in the US (and continued to have, for several years) was from the bakery attached to Balthazar in NYC. While the restaurant is pricey, the bakery is not, and the products rival that of any boulagerie in Paris.

I highly recommend it. :-:

Errr ..... notsosmart ( :) )..... what temperature do you think that bread bakes at exactly? I actually started to write a lengthy reply to this but it's obvious I'd be arguing with someone who fairly clearly hasn't made any bread and doesn't know how to. It is really quite easy - particularly if you have a mixer with dough hook - and an ordinary domestic oven is perfectly adequate. Some other odds and sods make it easier and pleasurable but not absolutely required.

The majority of breads are cooked at around 220 c 'ish. All domestic ovens reach that easilly. Baking bread higher will burn it with a raw inside. I'm trying to work out where your confusion comes from and perhaps you're confusing the idea of using steam for some breads - particularly baguettes - for the first 10 minutes of baking. This is relatively easy to replicate at home. Basically - I mean this nicely - what you have said is simply incorrect :)

Now .... if you thought you could make superb bread at home ...... would you try it?