Basque Boulangerie Café

I don't like leaving bad reviews but I ordered a tuna melt on gluten free bread here and the sandwich was a paltry size at best. I understand the gluten free bread slices are just smaller than the other types of bread but this sandwich was child-sized and not satisfying for me. If they had plated two of these smaller sandwiches or offered a soup or side dish, I would've been much happier. Instead, I finished in about 4 bites, then bought a second lunch at another restaurant.

Our family has been going to Basque Boulingerie since it was Sonoma French. We are going back to the ‘70’s here. I have not been to Basque as much lately as I do not eat carbs anymore, but I do still swing by to pick up bread for the holidays and special occasions for my extended family and friends to enjoy. I forgot about the so-so experience we had the last time I picked up bread about 6 months ago. I remember my family being underjoyed about it. They said it wasn’t as good as it used to be. And then I forgot about it until yesterday; Christmas. A few days ago I picked up a pull-apart loaf and a few sandwich sourdough rolls. Ever since the ‘70’s my family has been freezing Sonoma French/Basque and reheating the bread when we want to enjoy it. It always came out crispy and chewy as if it were just baked. But this time (and last) it came out kinda dry and crumbly. Not the same bread we have enjoyed for decades. I took a close look at the pull apart pieces as it is what we had reheated. The texture and the way the bread looks and feels is totally different than what I remember. The bread is crumbly, like cake. And the air pockets are small and uniform, like cake. There is not a sheen to the bread where the individual pieces were pushed together like there used to be (the adjacent surfaces used to be almost smooth. Now you pull them apart and they look like…cake!). There was no crisp to the crust. There was no chew to the bread. It just isn’t the same. I remember being in the bakery a few days ago: the feel was different. There was zero focus on the bread it felt. It was morning and there were only a few loaves on the shelves. It was more cafe and less bakery. No one greeted me or said hello. No one asked me if I needed anything. There were employees standing around. I wanted a pull apart. The only one they had was in the day old bin. No worries. We were going to reheat/bake it anyway… I had to ask to pay. Anyway, the bread, for lack of a better word, sucks. There is zero love in it. No effort. It is as if the bakers didn’t bother proofing it more than once to let the gluten form and create the crispy crust and chewy texture that made the bread so wonderful. There is zero time put into the product. Maybe the quality of the flour is different? Whatever. What I got is for the birds, not for my memories of what Basque used to be like. So, I will not be going back. And I do not believe they will care given how things felt in the store a few days ago. It is a bummer because only those of us who remember how good it was will care. And I think we are few and in dwindling numbers.