Sourdough is as intrinsic to San Francisco’s identity as the rolling fog and Golden Gate Bridge.
The famed Boudin Bakery claims its sourdough starter dates back to 1849. Local bread luminary Chad Robertson, founder of Tartine Bakery, revolutionized sourdough in the 2010s with tangy, ultra custardy country loaves that spawned a new generation of bread-baking nationwide. Today, San Francisco sourdough continues to evolve, with bakeries such as Rize Up making loaves with unusual, colorful ingredients like gochujang or ube.
With so many options, the Chronicle’s Food + Wine team set out to identify the best sourdough in San Francisco. The team purchased sourdough from 12 notable bakeries (see below for the full list) the same morning, and blind-tasted them plain and untoasted. Tasters evaluated flavor and texture, giving overall scores on a scale of 0 to 10 to determine the final ranking.
How different can sourdough actually be? Our panel found a wide spectrum of flavors, from almost buttery to overwhelmingly tangy. We tasted bread from longtime institutions like Boudin and Acme Bread Co. alongside Tartine and buzzy newcomers. Some surprises arose: Several bakeries that are not on the Chronicle’s Top Sourdough list upset high-profile entries. We even had a tie in our top five.
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San Francisco’s typically temperate climate might be one reason why it’s a hotbed for sourdough. The living starter reacts to weather and temperature changes, said Amanda Michael, who founded Jane the Bakery in 2011 and has recently become more focused on bread making. Even here, she and her team are constantly adjusting baking and proofing times. Amid these challenges, achieving a well-burnished crust (a byproduct of high heat caramelizing the dough’s outer layer) and a springy crumb (a sign of expert proofing and good hydration) is always satisfying.
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“Baking bread is one of the greatest things you can do. It nourishes people and has such a great history in the city,” she said. “San Francisco is a great city to bake in.”
Without further ado: Here are the best loaves of sourdough in San Francisco.
Examining the interiors of sourdough from Kantine, left, and Neighbor Bakehouse, right. The bakeries tied for fifth place.
Photos by Giselle Garza Lerma/S.F. Chronicle
Examining the interiors of sourdough from Kantine, above, and Neighbor Bakehouse, below. The bakeries tied for fifth place.
Photos by Giselle Garza Lerma/S.F. Chronicle
5. Kantine ($12) and Neighbor Bakehouse ($9)
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Our panel drew a tie for fifth place between Scandinavian-inspired bakery Kantine and Neighbor Bakehouse in the Dogpatch. Editor Matt Buchanan described the flavor of Kantine’s loaf as salty and earthy, while reporter Tara Duggan noted the custardy mouthfeel and open crumb, a sign of well-developed fermentation.
I found Neighbor Bakehouse’s loaf to be well hydrated, with a mild, nutty flavor and a thin, crispy crust. Deputy editor Elena Kadvany noted its light, airy interior and a well-charred crust you can bite into “without tearing up your mouth.”
The custardy interior of a Tartine Bakery country loaf.
Giselle Garza Lerma/S.F. Chronicle
4. Tartine Bakery ($14.95)
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Often seen as the modern gold standard for Bay Area sourdough, the Mission District’s seminal Tartine finished fourth with a super tangy loaf that led every taster to comment on its strong flavor. Kadvany also wrote the interior was “sticky” and “delicate,” with plenty of bubbles from unusually high hydration. Restaurant critic Cesar Hernandez lauded the toasty scent of the bread’s crust as well as its custardy crumb. At $14.95, this was the most expensive loaf in our tasting.
Cutting into a loaf from Arsicault, which is best known for French pastries.
Giselle Garza Lerma/S.F. Chronicle
3. Arsicault Bakery ($9)
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Often celebrated as the city’s croissant king, Arsicault also makes a superlative sourdough loaf, only available at the French bakery’s Civic Center location. Compared to its peers, this loaf stood notably tall. Hernandez found it had a sour flavor that didn’t go overboard. Duggan wrote the crust had an impressively crispy texture despite its lighter color.
Sourdough from Jane the Bakery, which has become more focused on bread recently.
Giselle Garza Lerma/S.F. Chronicle
2. Jane the Bakery ($10)
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The saw through the Jane the Bakery loaf was loud, a sign of an expertly toasted crust. Buchanan noted the hard bake, showing approval for the solid burnish on the outer layer. Duggan wrote the crumb smelled of molasses, while Kadvany noted a lingering tanginess.
Jane the Bakery has seven Bay Area locations, including five in San Francisco.The Geary Street facility, which opened in 2013, supplies bread to all of the other bakeries; when you drop by for a pastry, you can see all the baking action behind the counter. Her breads are made with grains grown on her brother’s farm in Los Baños (Merced County), about a two-hour drive from San Francisco, and milled at the bakery’s other production facility in San Rafael. While Michael believes her dough’s ingredients make a difference, ultimately she credits her staff’s expertise in producing great bread. “They understand everything,” she said.
A loaf of Josey Baker sourdough: the winner of the Chronicle blind tasting.
Giselle Garza Lerma/S.F. Chronicle
1. Josey Baker Bread ($9)
The winner of our blind taste-test was Josey Baker’s country bread. The panel awarded it high marks for its tangy, malty flavor and substantial, well hydrated crumb. The loaf is made with a mix of red and white wheat flours, sea salt and its sourdough culture, according to owner Josey Baker. Kadvany appreciated the crunchy crust, “extraaaa” custardy interior and toasty aroma. Hernandez immediately recognized the loaf’s identity, he said, by its assertive sour flavor and rippled pattern on the crust.
Baker founded his eponymous bakery in 2010 with an emphasis on sourdough breads made with flour from freshly milled wheat. Baker says using grain milled within 24 hours adds aromas and flavors that would quickly evaporate with older flour. To create his exemplary country loaf, he works with a moist dough that is rested between 36 and 48 hours and that can withstand high baking temperatures. “We definitely walk a razor’s edge of, you know, almost burning it,” he said.
The bakery operates out of Divisadero Street café the Mill, and also sells its bread at grocery stores like Bi-Rite Market, Mollie Stone’s and Rainbow Grocery Co-Op. It has been a staple entry on the Chronicle’s Top Sourdough list since its inception.
“There’s a passionate, supportive community that loves delicious bread in the city,” Baker said. “So I think we all feel fortunate to be a part of it.”
Note: The Chronicle picked up loaves from the following bakeries: Acme Bread Co., Arsicault Bakery, Bernal Basket, Boudin Bakery, Day Moon, Jane the Bakery, Josey Baker Bread, Kantine, Neighbor Bakehouse, Rize Up Sourdough, Rosalind Bakery and Tartine Bakery. Staff purchased a plain country loaf, or a loaf as similar to that as possible when presented with several options. One team member mistakenly purchased a rectangular sandwich loaf at one bakery.
Twelve sourdough loaves, lined up for tasting.
Giselle Garza Lerma/S.F. Chronicle
Honorable mention
Due to logistical constraints, we focused our blind tasting on sourdough from only San Francisco bakeries. Below are some of our favorites in the rest of the Bay Area.
Born as a home-baking operation, Backhaus is now one of the Peninsula’s destination bakeries, with locations in San Mateo and Burlingame. All of the sourdough bread, made with house-milled flour, is excellent, from a classic crusty loaf to rounds that incorporate asiago cheese, Aleppo pepper or even chocolate. — Elena Kadvany
32 E. 3rd Ave., San Mateo; 261 California Drive, Burlingame. backhausbread.com
This Oakland bakery combines French baking technique with Mexican influences. It’s best seen in the blue corn sourdough, a custardy loaf that gets a toasty, corn tortilla-like flavor from blue masa. — Janelle Bitker
4920 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. formabakery.com
In addition to making San Jose’s best sourdough bread, Milk Belly Bakery easily makes the city’s most unconventional loaves. The downtown bakery’s standby consists of country buttermilk dough swirled with kinako (roasted soybean powder) and sesame seeds. Specials change weekly: One week a round might be flavored with ube and coconut, then infused with tomato and bonito flakes the next. — Cesar Hernandez
30 E. Santa Clara St., #110, San Jose. milkbellybakery.com
A rack overflowing with bread greets you at Troubadour, the standout Healdsburg sandwich shop and French restaurant by the couple behind nearby hit bakery Quail & Condor. There are many shapes and shades, but all are sourdough slowly fermented for 51 hours for incredible flavor. — J.B.
381 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg. troubadourhbg.com