I've lived in areas with very good bakeries for most of my life. In my last move about 20 years ago to a relatively less dense area, we realized there were no bakeries. Well, there is one that is very good but I hardly get to go - 7am to 2pm is not convenient for me usually. There are a good bakeries about 30-45 min drive away but nothing local (like every day kind of place).

I'd had accepted this and gotten used to it. But I was reminded recently of how much I love really good bakeries. Artisan breads. Pastries. Croissants. Yes, I know you can get bread and cakes and stuff at the local supermarket. Even Costco. But I'm talking really artisan, baker stuff for which formal schooling and training and apprenticeships are generally required.

This neighborhood would be ripe for an upscale, real bakery. I wonder why in 20+ years nobody has opened up a real bakery around here. I went to a small beach town recently and there were at least a half dozen nice bakeries; I really enjoyed it, including an artisan bread shop (I finished a whole baguette on the spot by myself - it was still warm).

Man, I wish we had a bakery here. The local supermarket is very good except for their bread and bakery. Even Costco bakery is better.

Here is some salt in your wound:
www.huronmountainbakery.com
Sorry.

See, even the yoop has bakeries. Bakers must hate my neighborhood for some reason.

Although the bakery in the local market sucks (well, at least their stuff is not to my preference), they do get other good stuff. And they get their fair share of Copper River salmon each year. I got a side of a salmon yesterday - $50 for about 1.5 pounds. But this year it has an amazing taste and texture. Very tasty and not a hint of fishy. Nice firm, moist deep red-orange flesh. I descale completely (it comes only mostly scaled). Add some salt and saute / poach in a half stick of kerrgyold. I remove the skin and fry it in the butter more until it's crispy like a cracker.

I have salmon a couple times a month but I long for this time of year when Copper River comes in. If only I could get a nice baguette to pair with it.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:

If only I could get a nice baguette to pair with it.

Is there an Aldi store near you? They have a decent take-and-bake baguette. Seven or eight minutes in the oven and Bob's your uncle.

When I was growing up, there were several local bakeries near me. They are all gone. Now the ones close to me will only bake certain things. I went on a quest for prune danish. It took me several years to find a place that would make it, even if I ordered in advance. If you live near Washington, D.C. I know a good bakery.

quote:

Originally posted by Ironworker:
If you live near Washington, D.C. I know a good bakery.

Please name it. Tivoli's and Heidelberg are my gotos for cakes and sweet stuff, but they don't bake breads.

Heidelberg is where I found prune danish. I don't eat a lot of bread, but the Farmhouse White at The Greater Harvest Bread Company in Warrenton, VA. is my favorite.

Simply Delicious

Sluys in Poulsbo Washington
https://sluyspoulsbobakery.com/

they make bread and deserts, I've liked everything I've tasted.

We had a excellent small bakery in our town of 12,000 people. I knew Ed the owner pretty darn well. Then Wal Mart moved in and choked him out. Everyone in town was chomping at the bit to shop the new Wal Mart. I kept going to Ed's but he told me things tapered off too much to keep fighting the battle. He closed up and took a bit earlier then expected retirement.

There's A LOT of people that are simply satisfied with 'good enough'.
Their standards are very basic, they don't require or, care to seek out something better. Sounds like you're living in an area where the locals really aren't all that demanding for a quality, independent bakery; no sense of value to what a local business can provide and support. Nationally, we've seen the same thing with butcher shops, delis, clothing stores, furniture, hardware, etc... a lot of people place convenance and lower costs, over quality.

The flip-side to all of this is, there's also plenty of local, independent stores/services, that aren't very good at what they do. Their level of professionalism is not very good, they aren't aware or, are willfully ignorant of better practices, not very good at training and developing employees and they aren't compelling to the consumer, thus they're doomed to fail and get wiped-out by a big-box store.