Trail of Crumbs

When we lived in the Adirondacks, we were terribly spoiled by living near one of the best bakeries in the country - Dogwood Bread Company. Located in Wadhams!, NY, the Dogwood was our last refuge, our source of nourishment, and a place for warm companionship. It had such a magical quality, sequestered in the holler-cum-crossroads of Wadhams!, I expect that if I ever try to go back, the place will have disappeared Brigadoon-wise into a Highland fog, only to reappear in 2107 - or maybe we'd come back to a weathered foundation and the locals would say "hasn't been a bakery here in 50 years - the old one burned down in 1955..." and we will have been sustained by the phantasmic bread of spectral bakers...

Probably neither of those things is true, but I miss the place.

For me, the real joys in life have become pretty simple, and largely gustatory. I need fresh vegetables, kindly-treated meat, good bread, and good beer. I don't want my food to have to travel too much farther than I do to meet me at the market. So I went on the trail of my leavened fix.

Ogden is a quirky place. It's a town that shows its roots, and home to a divergent population - which is one of its charms and strengths. It's a little shy on earthy undertones, though not totally devoid of them. If I were stirring a city cocktail, I would shake a few more hippies into the mix - you can almost discern the approach of a critical mass of crunchiness that verges on the spontaneous eruption of a co-op or good bakery. The microbews, brew pubs, coffee shops, and crafters have already secured the beachhead...(we even saw a yarn-bombed tree!)

Instead, our search for a good local bakery pointed us to Logan, Utah - home of Crumb Brothers bakery. It's got the look and feel of the kind of local bakery that makes a town truly civilized - but Logan is an hour away. Luckily for us, Crumb Brothers distributes to Ogden in the Harrison Ave Fresh Market. Get there early for your favorite artisan loaf: the bread is delivered fresh daily (except Sunday) but it gets picked over by early afternoon.

Maybe someday if Ogden can rope in a few more hair-farmers, Crumb Brothers can open up an Ogden store and soak up some of those Trustafarian dividends. In the meantime, spread the word to all your ski-bum friends: Ogden has some of the best (locals say THE best) powder in the Rockies right outside of town (think Bozeman : Bridger Bowl :: Missoula : Snowbowl :: Ogden : Snowbasin.)