Best Bread in the USA
 

Here in Cincinnati, I have to go to the outdoor markets to get bread baked by Blue Oven-they do organic wood oven breads that are just wonderful. Our visitors from Germany thought it was some of the best bread they had ever eaten! Since we will be taking a winter holiday in Florida, I thought I would look fora bread bakery like that . No luck so far and I am beginning to thinkthat really great bread is not as usual as I had hoped. Where do you get your wonderful bread ?

Arthur Avenue Bread from the Bronx, NYC.

My oven. :D It is not wood fired but I control every ingredient that goes into it and never have to leave the house.

My everyday "wonderful" bread comes from Acme, on San Pablo @ Cedar, Berkeley, CA. There is plenty of other wonderful bread around here, and Acme isn't my favorite for all varieties, but if there was "I'd be distraught if it closed" sort of place, this is it.

Wirelessly posted (Nokia E71-2: Opera/9.80 (S60; SymbOS; Opera Mobi/499; U; en-US) Presto/2.4.18 Version/10.00)

Do people still line up on Saturday mornings to buy Acme from the storefront on San Pablo? I went there many a Saturday in the late '80s when I lived in Albany. The sweet batard was my all-time favorite :)

Saturday, Sunday, and every other day. Between that, Cafe Fanny, and Kermit Lynch all in the same building, it should be illegal.

Acme is just okay
 

I agree. I have eaten a lot of Acme bread. I always have that anticipation that it's going to be great, like the kind of french bread you get in Paris and it makes you wish, "God, why can't all french bread be like this?" But I am always disappointed when I bite into a piece of Acme bread.

Acme is just okay.

It's better than most bread that is out there, and for us bay area foodies, it's all we've got. However, I do not think it's amazing bread that you have to drive far & away for or that you have to order on-line. It's pretty good bread that's just okay. Personally, I do not think it's worth the money.

You can get some great, fresh-baked stuff, at Costco (yes, Costco). The fresh stuff they have is just delicious, much cheaper than Acme, and my my opinion, it tastes better than Acme. :eek: But it's that stuff that is fresh from the oven; that stuff is so good.

The stuff that comes out of their San Pablo Ave. ovens seems to be better than that which comes out of their West Berkeley ovens which are sent for distribution. I think most of their bread is a lot better than "just okay" but most of it I get "oven fresh" and it has never been on a truck.

Cranberry-pecan loaf from Balthazar's bakery, NYC...has to be fresh from the bakery instead of the ones available at corner bodegas.

The sourdough at Tadich - apparently a special recipe for them and not otherwise available.

Gotta go to Frisco for the sour dough.

I'm partial to the bread you can get from Zingerman's in Ann Arbor MI. Mail order almost as good as fresh.

This gets my vote, too, though Martin's potato rolls are pretty darn great.

+1 ^

Blue Dog Bakery in Louisville makes some great bread (and consequently, great sandwiches as well!)