Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with artisan

Where to get fresh-baked (artisan?) bread near Menlo Park, CA?

pbh — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:56:09 -0800

Where to buy fresh baked (artisan?) bread in the Menlo Park, CA area? For as long as I can remember, I've really liked fresh baked bread. I'm trying to find somewhere where I can get bread as close to the point of having just been baked as possible. (I'm a little too lazy to bake it myself at the moment, as this previous ask.mefi discusses.) Ideally, this would be a place that bakes bread all day and I could just drop in and buy a loaf (or a boule or whatever).

Complicating my quest is that there seem to be different types of bakeries, and most of the bakeries around here seem focused on selling cupcakes and the like. Is there a special name for a bread bakery, or special resources for finding them?

California also seems to have some sort of "artisan bread" movement, but I can only seem to find big artisan bread wholesalers (which is what Acme Bread seems to mostly be, unless I go up to the city). By the time I get, say, Acme Bread at my local supermarket it seems a bit old (though maybe I'm going at the wrong times). My favourite place to get fresh baked bread on the east coast calls itself an "artisan bakery" and seems to specialise only in bread, so maybe this is the right direction?

Any suggestions for specific locations or where/how to look would be most appreciated!

Where can I buy a less generic flower vase in Seattle?

halogen — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 16:47:43 -0800

Where can one buy a beautiful flower vase that was not made in China? I would like to support a local Seattle artisan, but I am also willing to order online if it's love at first sight. We finally started hanging art on the walls of the apartment and putting more effort into living in a pretty, non-IKEA showroom home. We buy fresh flowers from Pike Place Market every Sunday and suddenly our plain flower vase looks exceedingly ugly.

Several years ago I was able to buy a gorgeous bud vase at an art studio sale in Houston, and since then I have found myself reluctant to buy genericana from places like Crate&Barrel or Williams Sonoma, if strictly on principle. Please recommend your favorite flower-vase making artists in Seattle or show me links to studios who don't sell their handmade stoneware/glassware to, well, Crate&Barrel.

help me shop locally and support the little guy

nanojath — Thu, 24 May 2007 13:43:38 -0800

What commodities can I buy that are produced by individuals/very small businesses? Where should I look for them, online and out there in the outside world? I'd like to increasingly support individuals and small businesses over large corporations. With services this has been pretty easy and direct to manage, but with products it feels like for the only thing individuals produce any more is art and luxury items like jewelry, and there isn't any room in my budget for that type of thing to expand. What am I missing? Obviously some commodities (toilet paper, pencils) are just not likely to ever provide a margin to support an artisan producer, but certain in-between things like soap and candles get locally and individually produced. So what am I missing? Are there good online resources for finding products like this? And where do you shop for them in the brick and mortar world?

Comb buying in Kyoto & Tokyo

jadepearl — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 08:12:39 -0800

Tokyo or Kyoto shopping filter: On a mission for boxwood combs. Do people have any suggestions on where to purchase traditional, handmade combs in Kyoto or Tokyo? I have some names and addresses however, the information maybe way dated. Here is what I have:

Kyoto --
Jusan-Ya combs
Otabi-cho, Shin-kyogoku higashi-iru, Shijo-dori, Shimogyu-ku

Nijusanya is at 85 Shin-cho, Shijo Kawaramachi Higashi-iru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto (telephone 221-2371). It is open 10 A.M. to 8:30 P.M. and closed the third Wednesday of each month.

Tokyo --
Jusan-ya
2-12-21 Ueno, Tokyo, Japan - - Taito-ku
Phone: 03-3831-3238

Yonoya
1-37-10 Asakusa
Taito-ku, On Demboin Dori (also spelled Dempoin Dori), just off Nakamise Dori

It is important to me that the combs be not mass manufactured but made by hand with the care that Japanese artisan families are capable and famed for.

Also, does anyone know what the "eeek" or "eewww" factor is if I sent a sample of my hair along to help in comb selection? A friend is kind enough on taking this mission on while in the area.

Any information or suggestions welcome EXCEPT why not order the stuff online....errrr...besides not being sure of the quality, many of the websites seem to be stealing both images and text from other sites which does not engender a great deal of confidence.

Yum! Caramel crust and lotsa bubbles...

dpcoffin — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 15:51:58 -0800

PacificNW/Food Filter: Best walk-in outlets for artisan bread in Seattle or Portland areas; gonna be up there over the weekend and want to bring home some chewy-crusty-soury-airy loaves. In the Poilane/Balthazar mold... Thanks!