{"id":1679,"date":"2006-03-10T08:10:00","date_gmt":"2006-03-10T08:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elitemporaryblog.wordpress.com\/2006\/03\/10\/best-final-resting-place-for-a-walnut"},"modified":"2015-09-24T03:54:09","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24T03:54:09","slug":"best-final-resting-place-for-a-walnut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2006\/03\/best-final-resting-place-for-a-walnut\/","title":{"rendered":"Best final resting place for a walnut"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I am a creature of habit. Each morning finds me hunched over the same homely but delicious breakfast<\/a>; each noontime finds me eating a variation on the same formulaic lunch<\/a>; and each evening brings a cold glass of milk, a couple of graham crackers<\/a>, and at least a few squares of chocolate. These tidy details are already well documented, but there\u2019s one more that\u2019s long past due for its day in the sun. Nearly every Sunday morning, I climb in the car and trek twenty minutes south to Columbia City Bakery, and to the same loaf of bread: walnut levain<\/em>, a crisp, craggy-crusted thing boasting more than a handful of big, buttery nuts<\/strong>. It\u2019s the sort of thing I could curl up with and nibble at from now until nightfall\u2014if not, frankly, forever. If I were a walnut, I\u2019d give anything\u2014my shell, even myself\u2014to be associated with a thing of such beauty. It is, I dare say, the best final resting place for a walnut<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Thank goodness for the 2006 Independent Food Festival and Awards<\/a>, because I now have an excuse to tell you about it.<\/p>\n

Columbia City Bakery opened its doors only last October, but its bakers were already veterans. Evan Andres and Andrew Meltzer are alumni of Seattle celebrity chef Tom Douglas\u2019s Dahlia Bakery, and I had heard rumors of their prodigious talent for months prior to the opening, when they sold their wares wholesale and at the Columbia City Farmers\u2019 Market. From the moment that I first peered through the big windows of the bright red storefront on Rainier Avenue, I knew that what I\u2019d find inside would be more than ample proof. It doesn\u2019t hurt, certainly, that the workings of the bakery are on full display only feet behind the counter\u2014bakers flouring couches<\/a>, giant mixers mixing\u2014but the items for sale speak for themselves. There is a certain something that emanates from good bread<\/strong>, something written in flour and scrawled into the slight sheen of a hard, crackly crust. Columbia City Bakery has that something in spades<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Its breads bear thick, crisp crusts\u2014the kind that, when cut, shoot shards and splinters across the counter\u2014with slashes showing a web of skinny, delicate threads, evidence of the gentle stretching of gluten. Inside waits a moist, chewy crumb, full of evenly spaced air holes that shine ever so slightly at their edges. The first to win my devotion was their pain de campagne<\/em>, my Platonic ideal of bread: now-crunchy, now-chewy, and rustic, with a faint whisper of sweetness. But what makes this place worth a weekly trip is the walnut levain<\/em>, a sturdy, flour-dusted torpedo that has lodged itself dangerously close to my heart<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I can think of no better foil for the rugged, lightly sour flavor of levain<\/em> than a smattering of sweet, still-intact walnut halves. With a crumb tinged pale purple and slices each sporting a toasty walnut or two, this stuff has quickly leapt to the top of my list. Nothing is better next to a good blue cheese, under a sliver of cave-aged something, or smeared with butter, sprinkled with salt, and eaten while sitting on the kitchen counter. For a proper feast, I cap a slice or two with a lightly broiled crottin<\/em><\/a> and a drizzle of honey, and serve it alongside a simple green salad. Every walnut should leave the world this way.<\/p>\n

[No recipe today: instead, a very good reason to visit Seattle!]
<\/span>
Columbia City Bakery
4865 Rainier Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98118
206.723.6023
Wednesday – Saturday: 7 am \u2013 2 pm
Sunday: 8 am \u2013 2 pm <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am a creature of habit. Each morning finds me hunched over the same homely but delicious breakfast; each noontime finds me eating a variation on the same formulaic lunch; and each evening brings a cold glass of milk, a couple of graham crackers, and at least a few squares of chocolate. These tidy details are already well documented, but there\u2019s one more that\u2019s long past due for its day in the sun. Nearly every Sunday morning, I climb in the car and trek twenty minutes south to Columbia City Bakery, and to the same loaf of bread: walnut levain, a crisp, craggy-crusted thing boasting more than a handful of big, buttery nuts. It\u2019s the sort of thing I could…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBest final resting place for a walnut | Orangette<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/2006\/03\/best-final-resting-place-for-a-walnut\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Best final resting place for a walnut | Orangette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am a creature of habit. Each morning finds me hunched over the same homely but delicious breakfast; each noontime finds me eating a variation on the same formulaic lunch; and each evening brings a cold glass of milk, a couple of graham crackers, and at least a few squares of chocolate. These tidy details are already well documented, but there\u2019s one more that\u2019s long past due for its day in the sun. Nearly every Sunday morning, I climb in the car and trek twenty minutes south to Columbia City Bakery, and to the same loaf of bread: walnut levain, a crisp, craggy-crusted thing boasting more than a handful of big, buttery nuts. 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