Pain au Levain

When gasoline dropped in price I thought the round of price hikes was over. But today I went over to Acme Bread to get a loaf of Pain au Levain, a slightly sour french loaf, half the reason I moved to this area, and some might say the love of my life. The price of my dear loaf had skyrocketed from $2.95 to $3.05. My wife buys a bread which is heavy on the "fiber" which I think means wood plus soy, wheat, and oat chaff, but is half the calories of real bread for $4.69 a loaf. Don't laugh, lumber has really gone up in price. Of course, if you toast that stuff it is remarkably like brown cardboard. Whereas my favorite bread will show nicely against any bread in the world. Last time I was in Paris I went to the original Poilâne just as the sun was coming up, and tore into their famous bread. I was disappointed. It was not at all the moving experience I was expecting. A few days later I heard that this original bread baker was practically the first shop in Paris to put up a sign that said "No Jews Allowed" when the Nazis took the city. Now when I go away, the one thing I miss is Acme's Pain au Levain. Even at $3.05 I think I'm getting a bargain.
Acme Bread Co.
1601 San Pablo Ave
Berkeley, CA 94702
(510) 524-1327