D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
August 2009
A Popular Choice
Baker Gary Ebert brings artisan-style bread to
downtown Las Cruces.
By Hugh Dan Summers
Popular Artisan Bread Bakery smells like France — or, at least, the streets of Paris that form my own mental geography.
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Baguettes hot from the oven. (Photo
by Dan Summers) |
The recently opened bakery, located in the former Popular Department Store at 136 N. Water St. on the Downtown Mall in Las Cruces, smells particularly French if you arrive shortly after the bakery opens. You'll find the freshly baked baguettes, ciabatta loaves and thickly crusted sourdough ovals stacked, unwrapped and on wire racks, fresh from the moist heat of the specially imported Pavailler oven. The nutty, yeasty smell serves as a reminder that bread is not meant to be processed and enriched and turned into a mere commodity. It is a smell that reminds us that bread is food — real food that is both rich in flavor and complex in texture.
As suggested by the bakery's name, the loaves baked by Gary Ebert, and sold by his partner Anne Marie Boardman and staff, are crafted with a dedication to tradition that is absent from the plastic-wrapped product that is commonly eaten in America. Ebert forms his bread from dough imbued with flavor derived from living yeasts and lactobacillus. That flavor is heightened through a cold-fermentation process that requires two days of careful management before the loaves are fed to the oven's fire.
Ebert and Boardman come to Las Cruces from Idaho, where they operated a much larger baking business. Their Boise Organic Bakery produced a variety of pastries and a couple of thousand loaves of bread a day. "We delivered seven days a week," says Ebert of the business that was sold in 2006. Although he has begun delivering bread to one market in El Paso, Ebert intends to keep his Las Cruces operation small. "I want to be a hands-on baker who turns out a high-quality product," he says.
If you have not yet experienced Ebert's bread, start with a simple baguette. They come in the familiar white, wheat and sourdough versions. You'll find a magnificently firm crust enveloping a "crumb" (the baker's term for the interior part of a loaf) honeycombed with holes formed by the spring of the dough as it rises in the oven.
The sourdough at Popular Artisan is less acidic than the San Francisco variety. This reflects a preference for the traditional as well. "People come over here from France and try sourdough in San Francisco and they scrunch up their faces," says Ebert. "For most of history all bread was made with lactobacillus, it was all sourdough, and the Europeans are used to a more subtle taste."
The subject of bread automatically leads to the thought of sandwiches. You will find several high-quality sandwich choices served in the bakery's warm, intimate dining room. The Caprese is a popular choice — basil, luscious fresh tomatoes, dark greens and mozzarella cheese with a vibrant pesto sauce — that works well with the bakery's bread. I prefer a table outdoors and choose to eat my baguettes in the European working-class style: chunks of bread torn with eager fingers, then lightly dipped in oregano-infused olive oil before being popped into the mouth.
There is also a larger "rustic" baguette that is equally delicious if less familiar to the eye. This is due to its wider, misshapen form and the seared quality of its crust, which will make you think it might be burned. Your concern will vanish when you savor a bite and discover that the char is the intended result of the baking process and there is no "burned" taste, but rather, a full, nutty-butter flavor.
Two flavored breads are also highlights of the bakery. The Kalamata Olive Ciabatta and the Rosemary Ciabatta are both heavenly, fresh and savory. But be warned: the Rosemary loaf is available only on Fridays and Saturdays and sells out quickly — often just after noon.
Sandwiches and salads cost in the $6 to $8 range.
Popular Artisan Bread Bakery doubles as Zeffiro Pizzeria Napoletana (see accompanying review) — a twin concept that reflects the history of pizza as a humble food developed in Italian bakeries. And like those flatbreads of Italy's past, Ebert's pizzas are designed to be eaten just out of the oven. Made in a second, open-hearthed, wood- and gas-fired oven, the pizzas are made with a fresh dough that comes from the 800-plus-degree fire with a crust that is charred on the bottom, lightly crispy on top, and a pleasantly chewy interior.
Despite the protestations of many customers, you cannot take pizzas to go. "Some people don't understand. They can get upset," Ebert says before announcing that plans are in the works for a second location dedicated to high-quality New York-style pizzas more suitable to take-out.
You can, of course, take Ebert's breads home. But remember that artisan bread lacks the preservatives found in commercial bread and is designed to be eaten the day it is baked. It is possible to serve artisan bread after this expiration date built-in by nature. Carefully wrapped in foil, baguettes and loaves of Ciabatta can be frozen, thawed and placed in the oven for about 7-10 minutes at 400 degrees. You'll be able to enjoy a hot, crusty loaf with little loss of flavor or texture — and bring a bit of the smell of Paris to your own kitchen.
Las Cruces writer Hugh Dan Summers previously chronicled his
struggle
to kick the smoking habit (May 2009).