Reply to Why are so many American pastry and bread shops really bad?

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[quote=Anonymous]I'm thinking through OP's question carefully. In the first place there are not that many pastry/bread shops in America. The market doesn't allow for many successful independent bakeries, the ones that do well tend to be local chains with a handful of stores, which suggests that economies of scale is important.

I'm in the Baltimore area and we do have a selection of excellent options for patisseries and bread. And my favorite bread is from Mom's Organic supermarket, which has excellent sourdough based breads. Wegmans has a good inhouse bakery and breads at WF and local upscale supermarkets are perfectly fine if not as good as Poilane in Paris.

I also travel to Europe all the time and have had plenty of boring croissants and dull crusty rolls and overly sweet and sugary pastries (northern Europe seems to cover many of their pastries with a thick fondant or sugary glaze). If my travel experiences have taught me it's that you can find just as good bread and pastries in the US if you know where to look and for most cities you will find good options with some research. It's light and day from the late 1980s when options were far more limited. Heck, I'd even argue you can find *better* bread at select bakeries in the US than in most of Europe, although not every place will have those options. American culinary scene is so dynamic and innovative and ambitious that making these blanket statements is just silly.

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