tartine walnut bread.

There is bread in this world.  Bread that can be bought at supermarkets and bodegas and pharmacies and this  loaf serves no purpose except as a vehicle to deliver some form of protein into your mouth.  It's starchy and the furthest thing from special and after you finish your sandwich you can't really recall what it even tasted like.  Then there is bread.  The transcendent variety that tastes like fresh milled flour and salt and sourdough starter.  The crust is thick and crunchy.  The inside is chewy and dense and rich.  These are the types of loaves that with one bite it tastes as if you are eating bread for the first time.  The flavor is pronounced and the bread can be enjoyed plain (although a spread of homemade jam or creamy cheese often elevates things).  These are the kind of loaves you devour whole, warm from the oven, and you wonder after how you will ever eat any other bread again.  This is how I felt after I ate my first bite of Tartine Walnut Bread while standing on the corner of 18th and Guerreo Street in San Francisco.  I wont say I made us go to San Francisco solely for this bread (I made us go for this bread and for the burritos and for dinner at State Bird Provisions) but this bread is magical and it's worth the journey because eating bread warm from the oven while on vacation with the guy you love is one of those unbelievable experiences.  It reminds you that purity and craftsmanship still exist in this world.  It reminds you that people want to put put a product that defies expectations. It reminds you that things can be made the old fashioned way and that in this world of modern technologies we should embrace the past to try and figure out how to improve the future.

All of these thoughts came from one bite of bread.  And yes I am a bit crazy about food but this is something that is worth getting crazy over.  When in San Francisco stop at Tartine after 4:30 to buy a loaf and then share with me your thoughts.