Standard Baking Company

75 Commercial St., Portland, ME - (207) 773-2112

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Posted By Michael Stern on October 12, 2006 4:41 AM

When you dine at the esteemed Fore Street restaurant in Portland, the first sign of its goodness is the bread brought to the table. This is bread with character: naturally leavened country boule and pain au levain with sturdy crust, chewy crumb, and deep, full flavor; yeasty lengths of baguette and focaccia. In order to eat some of this good stuff, it is not necessary to make a reservation at Fore Street (which you must do if you plan to eat there), nor to spend big bucks on a deluxe meal (which is very much worth it). All you need to do is to go around the corner and down a level to the bakery underneath the restaurant. The Standard Baking Company, which makes the great bread served in the restaurant upstairs, is open to the public every day of the week starting at 7am.

For bread-lovers, it's heaven. Beyond baguettes, boules, rye, 5-grain and rustic loaves, the aromatic ovens produce feather-light croissants, luxurious little pains au chocolat, biscotti, brioches, and galettes. Among the daily specials are anadama bread on Friday, black olive-onion focaccia on Saturday, and cinnamon raisin bread Sunday.

Coffee is available, and there are a few tables for sitting and enjoying the bakery treasures while they're still hot.

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Posted By david Edsall on October 24, 2011 8:20 AM

I don't understand how anyone can give Standard Baking less than five stars. I have a home-built brick oven and we still can't come close to this bread. It has perfect crust texture, flavor, color... what else is there to say? I guess the negative is that you will eat too much of it.

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