Best Bread in Seattle

I moved to Seattle from New York in 1998. Having also lived a few years in the Bay Area, home of the best breads in America, I immediately started looking for good bread in Seattle. My friend, Mike Rose, owner of Semifreddi’s Bakery in Berkeley told me that staff from Grand Central Bakery had visited him to discuss good bread baking practices. So I figured I’d start there. But their bread isn’t memorable. Nor is the other Seattle mass bread baker, Essential Baking.

Then I realized I’d have to really dig in to this subject in order to find good bread here. It took a while, but here are my recommendations:

1. Dahlia Bakery: the ficelle is a wonderful baguette with a crunchy,flaky crust and soft interior. You can taste the wonderful fresh taste of the wheat when you bite into a warm piece.

The challah is hands down the best I’ve ever tasted and I’ve lived in New York, Los Angeles and the Bay Area, where I’ve eaten a lot of challah! Dahlia’s challah is soft, chewy and tearable like the best challah should be. Eating a piece is something akin to falling into a soft, warm pillow.

Other wonderful Dahlia items: muffins, Toffee Crunch ice cream, blackberry ice cream, ice cream sandwiches, crostadas.

Wonderful discontinued items: what ever happened to the chocolate kiss cookies and apricot pop tarts? How could you take them away from me??

2. Tallgrass Bakery: the hominy bread is to die for with a firm, crunchy outer crust (taste that corn meal!) and a moist interior. The taste of fresh corn practically jumps out at you. The pumpernickel-sour cherry is one of the great breads–dark, rich and studded with deliciously sour cherries. Try it toasted with butter or cherry jam. Ummm-ummm!

3. Macrina Bakery: Potato bread. Savor the taste of fresh potatoes in this great bread.