Bread - The Real Thing - in Fairfax

As a fan of hearty, artisan bread with that hard to find thick, crunchy crust, and an avid supporter of small, local businesses, I have to share. Turns out that there are 3 entrepreneurial young men working the grave yard shift at my favorite haunt (Rosemary's Thyme Bistro) baking organic bread from scratch. They use Rosemary's wood-burning pizza oven, so can only work when the restaurant's dark.

Think of it as a bread rather than a veggie co-op. They bake once a week for their pre-registered customers who pick up their bread on Tuesdays (there are two different sized loaves - large and massive!). One of the baker's is from Charlottesville and one from Richmond...they take the warm chewy bread 'home' first thing Tuesday morning to their local customers .

These guys are passionate about their work and have great respect for the historic art of authentic bread-making. They call the bread "Sub Rosa," or 'under the rose,' the latin term for secrecy.

No website yet, but if you're interested, their email is subrosabread@gmail.com.

I bought one of those expensive blocks of real European salted butter about a month ago and had been saving it for a special occassion. Last night with my first loaf of 'sub rosa' fit the bill, and ohhhhhh was it heavenly. I was temporarily transported across the pond!