Nothing is more mouthwatering than bread and pastries that are fresh out of the oven. They smell good, they look good, they taste good, they can do no wrong. But you might want to skip the corporate grocery story—you’ll find the best bread at your local bakery.
Before you can treat yourself to these tasty baked goods, you need to find out if you even have a local bakery, of course. Sure, you can buy pretty decent bread and such at the grocery store, but it isn’t as fresh and there aren’t as many options as your neighborhood bakery. If you live in a medium or large city, chances are there’s a bakery close to your home. Besides searching Google or Yelp for recommendations, you can also ask at your favorite restaurant where they get their baked goods. That’s how I found the bakery I go to on the weekends (they have the most amazing jelly donuts and challah). If you don’t have a bakery near your home, look around your work. My boyfriend found a great one near his office and on his lunch break, he picks up a fresh sourdough loaf the size of my torso (seriously!) each week.
The baked goods you’ll find at a nearby bakery tend to higher quality for not much more. Plus, it’s easier to develop a relationship with the staff at a local bakery as you become a regular, which can often mean getting fresher or nicer stuff or getting a discount or free items. Once you break bread, even the staff just knowing what you want when you walk in the door is nice.