Washington City Paper: Contents for Feb. 22

Our Daily Dread
District supermarkets have created a fresh hell for local bread lovers: Buy their cheap artisan knockoffs or fork over big dough for the real stuff.

Cover Story

District supermarkets have created a fresh hell for local bread lovers: Buy their cheap artisan knockoffs or fork over big dough for the real stuff.

Photographs by Darrow Montgomery

In a few weeks, Firehook Bakery and Coffeehouse will open a new store at 215 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. Capitol Hill residents will no doubt inundate the stylish outlet: In a survey last year, they named Firehook, an Alexandria-based chain, as the business they most wanted to come to their neighborhood. Now, anyone hungry for good bread will have his pick of Firehook, Bread & Chocolate, and the Fine Sweete Shoppe inside Eastern Market.

The Capitol Hill store will be Firehook's sixth in the metro area, the first in the eastern half of the District. Since 1992, Firehooks have spread out into such upscale neighborhoods as Dupont Circle and Georgetown, with competitors such as Marvelous Market and the Corner Bakery Cafe just around the corner. Wholesale bakeries Uptown Bakers, Lyon Bakery, and Bonaparte Breads have also kneaded their way into trendy restaurants, farmer's markets, and small grocery stores.

The creep of high-priced bread outlets has mirrored the segmentation of other specialty foods, such as beer and coffee. Yet things haven't quite turned out as Firehook founder Gene Gathright predicted in the Washington Post in 1992: "I'm sure it'll be just like France or Italy eventually, with a bread store on every corner. And then the prices will come down, and some will make it and some won't."... Continued

Issue of Feb. 22 - 28, 2002

News and Features

Our Daily Dread
District supermarkets have created a fresh hell for local bread lovers: Buy their cheap artisan knockoffs or fork over big dough for the real stuff.
Cover Story By Annys Shin
Cast Away
One man's expulsion from a District marina has a community of boaters awash in anxiety.
The City By Felix Gillette
The Monroe Doctrine
The City By Dave Nuttycombe
Got a Blight?
An east-of-the-river neighborhood takes aim at Phillies Blunts.
The City By Brian Montopoli
No Bones About It
The Mail By Roger A. Canaff
The Price of Liberty Is Eternal Whining
The Mail By Andrew Williams

Columns

The Good Fight
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
Twin Shitty
City Desk By Felix Gillette
Live and Learn
City Desk By Annys Shin
Pulp Politics
Loose Lips By Elissa Silverman

Eats

Movies

European Sun
Film Review By Mark Jenkins
Crossroads
Film Review By Arion Berger
Queen of the Damned
Film Review By Mark Jenkins

Music

Point of Endless Return
Music Review By Mark Jenkins
Ellis in Wonderland
Music Review By Joel E. Siegel
The Wagnerian Ideal
Music Review By Michael Little
In Search of N*E*R*D
Music Reviews By Sean Daly
Sleeping on Roads
Music Reviews By Christopher Porter
Our Constant Concern
Music Reviews By Joe Warminsky
Love Is Here
Music Reviews By Christopher Porter

Theater

Misery With Company
Theater Review By Robert Lalasz

Arts and Events

The World on a String
For three decades, musician Tina Chancey has tried to master the universe of early instruments.
Arts By Carolyn Kleiner
The Get and How to Knack It
Books By Jandos Rothstein
Art of Creation
Artifacts By Shauna Miller
Talk of the Town
Artifacts By Aimee Agresti