Fabulous French Bread

The warm, yeasty smell of French bread elicits the same rush of endorphins chocolate does and creates that relaxed feeling of well being. It takes me to a side walk café in Paris where I can dip these morsels of heaven in my freshly brewed coffee. Good French bread is so flavorful that butter and cream cheese are an unncecessary at breakfast. This is not to say that a simple dinner with French bread, red wine and rich, creamy cheeses such as fromage d'affinois, brie or chevre wouldn't satisfy the heartiest of appetites.

1160 Town and Country Crossing Dr., Town and Country

As with most of its products, the French bread is baked daily using fresh and natural ingredients such as unbleached and unbromated flour. All products are made without artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, preservatives or trans fats. The baguette had a nice, deep golden color with a very crisp and fresh crust. The secret to the crisp crust is a steam injection oven. It seems counter intuitive, but the steam creates the perfect crust. The smell of the baguette was prominent and inviting. The uneven crumb inside was light and deeply flavorful.

The good: It was fresh and flavorful. The crust was perfect: crisp and easy to chew, while the inside carried a yeasty wheat flavor.
The bad: If I had to say something bad, it was not warm from the oven, and I didn't have coffee to go with it.

1679 Clarkson Rd., Chesterfield

Trader Joe's is also a proponent of foods without artificial flavors, colors or preservatives, genetically modified ingredients, msg or added trans fats. On its website, Trader Joes also provides a chart for pairing foods with wine (which includes cheese to go with your French bread). The artisan bread made at Trader Joe's comes from Companion Bakery, a local company. The baguette had a nice golden color, yeasty scent and fresh flavor. The crust was a little soft, while the inside was exceedingly chewy.

The good: Fresh flavor and yeasty scent.
The bad: The crust was too soft, and the crumb inside was chewy.

421 Lafayette Ctr., Ballwin/Manchester

I was surprised to find out that Dierbergs also buys its artisan bread from the Companion Bakery. Unfortunately, the bread I got at Dierbergs was quite stale, and the crust had no structure. It was paper thin. The inside, although soft, was not flavorful. It tasted like cardboard. The crust had no color and seemed to not have been baked long enough. 

The good: It wasn't moldy.
The bad: The bread was stale and flavorless with a paper thin crust.

The winner: Whole Foods for its superbly crispy crust and yeasty and flavorful crumb.