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Pascal Rigo
photo credit: newyorktimes.com |
Oh, the irony. And all about loaves of bread.
Pascal Rigo should practice what he preaches.
Who is Pascal Rigo? He's the guy who founded the San Francisco Bay Area La Boulange cafe/bakery chain, which he sold to Starbucks in 2013 for some $100 million. There was a La Boulange in Walnut Creek, just a few miles from my home.
What's Mr. Rigo doing now in the bakery world? Glad you asked. In his current bread-related project, he has christened himself the go-be savior of bakery bread in France. Read the New York Times article on the topic
here.
Self-proclaimed Savior of bread produced by small bakeries in France?
Oh, the irony!!
Mr. Rigo laments the closure of local bakeries in France, 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 Trader Joes and big box Costco.
Mr. Rigo, don't you kinda think your mass production of bread for large retail chains hurt small bakeries, the same type of bakeries across the pond that you now proclaim you will save?
Just sayin'.
And the reason Mr. Rigo’s current La Boulangerie shops in San Francisco each sell only about 50 baguettes daily, as stated in the NY Times article? Simple.
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, rolls, buns, and pizza, so I am aware of the work involved in artisanal bread baking. One can't be both artisanal and cheap at the same time; quality costs. Mr. Rigo needs to decide if his current venture is going to compete on (1) quality or (2) price. He can't compete on both.
And perhaps Pascal Rigo should look in the mirror and decide if he truly intends to practice what he preaches. He certainly did not do so in the past.
Bake on, everyone. But if it's bread, make it sourdough!
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My Sourdough Bread, a recent bake.
My own recipe.
Tender crumb and golden but not hard crust.
Not too holey so your butter and other spreads don't fall through.
All sourdough, no active yeast. |
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Sliced homemade sourdough bread from the loaf in above photo.
Want some? |
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My sourdough starter after I fed it yesterday.
Made with bread flour and bottled spring water.
It is VERY vigorous, tripled in volume as shown by original rubber band mark.
These are 2 half gallon mason jars nearly full of bubbly sourdough starter. |
