Bread and butter. Remember when it used to be our bread and butter? 

Then at some point, dips and spreads — fancier and fancier — became the norm, with butter melting to the wayside. When I have bread in a restaurant — complimentary; I’m a conscientious objector when it comes to paying for “bread service” — I’ll try the dip but usually ask the server for butter. 

It’s not a problem at home, where butter is the norm.

But we rarely buy artisan bread. Too much hassle, too much travel. That’s why this week’s edition was so fun. Not too many places around here sell bread that’s fresh-baked on-site (I’m not counting Publix), but we found two bakery/eateries not too far apart: The Crumb Factory Bakery & Cafe in west St. Pete; and La Casa del Pane on St. Pete Beach.

We made a morning run and picked up two loaves at each place, then brought them back to the FFF Lab + Photo Studio™. I’ll rank the four loaves at the end.

LA CASA DEL PANE

Translated from Italian, La Case del Pane = House of Bread. My food-obsessed, home-chef friend Dominic used to make weekly runs here from his home in Northeast St. Pete just to buy loaves, which made this cafe/bakery an obvious choice.

The bread wall was at the back. Little signs said “No Sourdough” — not that they were out; La Casa doesn’t do sourdough. Our gracious and helpful counter person, Anna, explained that the day’s loaves were made from white flour, while on select other days the bakery uses semolina.

Our eyes were drawn to a loaf shaped like a mega-donut that looked as if it was just pilfered from a an Italian farmhouse. We also chose a multi-grain baguette.

THE CRUMB FACTORY BAKERY & CAFE

The parking lot was full at 11:30, so Bonnie had to park across Central Avenue while I snapped pics.

The bread case was just inside the front door. A line had formed to order the Crumb Factory’s coffee, sandwiches and other goodies. The counter staff was busy so we were on our own.

All of Crumb Factory’s bread is sourdough. One loaf smiled at us — a big one with a wheat stalk branded into in it. We bit, then added a baguette.

FFF LAB™ METHODOLOGY

We waited until dinner. Cut chunks from each loaf. Warmed them in the stove. Sliced. Buttered (Land O Lakes with Olive Oil and Sea Salt, room temperature). Ate.

THE BREADS

La Casa del Pane

Both of these breads had rustic, chewy crusts — my jaws got a good workout — and had airy insides. An appealing contrast. True to its appearance, the mondo-donut bread tasted straight from the farmhouse table.

The multi-grain baguette had an easier crust, a somewhat more complex flavor and a few seeds for good measure.

Crumb Factory

The bread had a distinct, but not overpowering, sourdough flavor.

The whole-wheat, smiley loaf yielded by far the largest, and darkest, slices. The crust was relatively soft, the interior denser than the slices from La Casa.

The baguette slices were small and tear-able, ideal for dipping in red sauce. (No such luck for us; we were eating fish.)

THE BREADS RANKED

4 — White-flour donut loaf from La Casa del Pane

3 — Sourdough baguette from Crumb Factory

2 — Multi-grain baguette from La Casa del Pane

1 — Whole-wheat sourdough smiley loaf from Crumb Factory

This ranking is essentially superfluous, the differences were miniscule. But alas, the FFF bylaws require it.

We enjoyed every bite of every bread we ate. This episode provided a exciting change of pace from our usual bread consumption.

Please — do try this at home.