The 10 Best Loaves Of Bread In The Bay Area | Tasting Table San Francisco

We love bread every which way: Toasted for breakfast. Sliced for sandwiches. Torn off and consumed in big hunks on the way home from the store. Here are our 10 favorite loaves right now, in no specific order.

① Tartine's buckwheat-crème fraîche bread ($9)
Do we have to pick just one of Chad Robertson's breads? This nutty, airy loaf is this week's obsession.

② Acme's sweet baguette ($2.15 at the Ferry Building)
Since 1983, still the ideal foil for creamy, stinky French cheeses and Côtes du Rhône.

③ Liguria Bakery's focaccia ($4)
The romantic kiss of the bread world, delicate and yielding. Nowhere near as crusty as the people who make it.

④ Della Fattoria's rosemary-lemon bread ($8 at Bi-Rite)
Speckled with rosemary and zest, enhanced by a generous glug of olive oil, this loaf makes an ordinary tuna salad sandwich seem special.

⑤ John Campbell's raisin soda bread ($7.75)
Soft and colonized by dried fruits, this humble bread free of the acrid bite of baking soda. What it wants: butter.

⑥ Oasis Food Market's flatbreads ($1.75)
This Oakland halal market is continually pulling album-sized, bubbly wheat breads out of a tandoor oven. Dare you to buy just one.

⑦ Oatmeal-molasses bread from Marla Bakery ($5)
A new favorite sandwich bread, caramel-hued and evenly crumbed. It makes amazing toast.

⑧ Pan frances from King's Bakery ($.30)
Dutch crunch, meh. Make your next sandwich on one of this Mission panaderia's crusty, torpedo-shaped bolillos (rolls).

⑨ Le Marais's country levain ($6)
This Marina pastry shop is getting a name for its croissants, but its naturally leavened breads are crusty and flavorful.

⑩ OctoberFeast's old-style rye (at the Saturday Berkeley Farmers' Market)
Our favorite German-style rye–giant, dense, earthy and naturally sweet.