Creative Loafing

Hat tip to our friends at Carpe Durham for their nice write-up about the new brick-and-mortar location for Loaf, the Durham bakery that's been a popular fixture at the Farmers' Market for years.

"The day we dropped by, Loaf had various baked goods including croissants, muffins, cookies, pies and of course loaves of bread," Carpe wrote of the new location at 111 W. Parrish Street. "We chose a large multi-grain loaf for $4. It was a lovely, sturdy large whole grain loaf that stayed fresh a few days after we sliced it."

Sounds good to us.

Loaf joins fellow Farmers' Market staples Scratch and DaisyCakes in parlaying a mobile unit into a downtown storefront. (Interesting that they're all in the baking biz, huh?)

We're encouraged by that trend for a couple of reasons. First, the next step in reinvigorating downtown is attaining a critical mass of vibrant businesses at street level. These two certainly qualify.

Second, it's just somehow totally Durham for something as humble as a farmers' market to be the launching pad for successful restaurants. Not surprising, though. In this town, we appreciate quality and support our own.

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Best pain au raisin in America!

Yesterday afternoon, downtown Durham, 5pm. I had half an hour to kill, so I went in search of a nice place to sit and sip a latte. To my great dismay, the town I love for its endless surprise offerings suddenly seemed a barren cafe desert! The door of Rue Cler declared its cafe open until 5:30 but it was unmistakably closed. Scratch bakery, closed since 4 p.m., also displayed a dim and lonely atmosphere through the glass storefront. Blue Coffee Cafe: déja vu, dark and cheerless. Nearly ready to give up, I decided to head up W. Parrish St. and search out the new Loaf store as a last ditch attempt.
Lo and behold! A glowing window showed the friendly cashier chatting with a customer who was holding ... wait for it ... a coffee cup! I went in, happy already for a hot drink of any variety, and was even more pleased to learn that the proprietor brews Counter Culture and makes it half-caf in the afternoon. Could he tempt me with a baked treat? Oh yes, he could. No less than four varieties of croissants and a couple kids of cookies each looked perfect, but the piece de résistance for me was pain au raisin, a French pastry made with a thin strip of croissant dough curled around pastry cream and raisins in a beautiful nautilus form, and finished with a lovely glaze. Thank you, Loaf, for making my day and filling a gap in our city's downtown!

Victoria Lebrun more than 1 years ago

Creative Loafing

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Best pain au raisin in America!

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