Left Bank Bread in Broadway Garage

people often wax lyrical about the peasant simplicity of bread. yet, in our foodie-fetish culture, we tend to fussy up our breads-with sesame seeds, sourdough, olives, raisins and wheatberries or strange starter brews. give me a gourmet garage 18" french white mini-baguette ($1.69), crafted by long island city's tom cat bakery, and you have given me more than sustenance, but a reason for living. according to tom cat president matthew reich, the bakery makes baguettes the same way the french have been doing it for 400 years: with a pre-ferment, a

sourdough starter with no sour taste. i love that first moment of breaking a chunk from the virgin bread. the outside crust is both crispy and chewy; the inside is soft, airy and salty. this bread cries out for butter. in particular, it makes me long for the iced curls of expensive butter you get at a really good french bistro. or i crave escargot so i could dip this lovely bread into the pools of garlic butter surrounding each snaily morsel. but, hey, i'm on the go on broadway, not the left bank, although i can sometimes get the fellow at the gourmet garage deli counter to give me a tiny tub of butter. pain et beurre-bon appetit! -- gourmet garage 2567 broadway (near 96th street) 212-663-0656