The Oldest Bakery in San Francisco

Happy National Clam Chowder Day! And where else to celebrate this special occasion other than at the oldest bakery in San Francisco that put the chowder into the famous sourdough bowl.

My Favourite City

San Francisco is my favourite city in USA. I simply love the freedom of moving from place to place on the trolleys, the friendly people you meet along the way, and the juxtaposition of the old and the new amidst the constant renewing of the population.

Just like the cable cars, there’s another San Francisco institution that has stood the test of time (and earthquakes), the reverent Boudin Bakery at Fisherman’s Wharf.

Boudin Bakery at Fisherman’s Wharf

Boudin Bakery is a bakery based in San Francisco, California, known for its sourdough bread. Established in 1849, the bakery is recognised as the “oldest continually operating business in San Francisco.”

In 1849, Isidore Boudin struck gold with four simple ingredients: flour, water, salt, and mother dough. The mother dough was brought over from France during the San Francisco gold rush by the 49ers, and that piece of mother dough has been kept alive since then.

The sourdough baking process has existed for thousands of years, but Boudin Bakery was the first to combine the sourdough process with French baking techniques to create the first sourdough French bread in 1849. Louise Boudin, Isidore’s wife, saved the beloved “Mother Dough” from the fires that resulted from the infamous 1906 earthquake. She took the reins after Isidore passed away and continued to build the business with horse-drawn carriage delivery of bread to households.

In keeping with French baking traditions, Master Baker Fernando Padilla and his team of accomplished bakers mix, shape, score and bake Boudin’s bread daily. You can see how it’s made in this very educational video by the master himself.

Bistro Boudin

Located on the second floor in the heart of Fisherman’s Wharf, Bistro Boudin is the perfect place to dine with your family and friends, enjoy sunsets from the patio, or revel in the bar and lounge. The full service restaurant offers some of the best bay views in the city, with panoramic sights of Alcatraz, Angel Island and Marin.

Once you placed the order, the waiter brought us a basket of their freshly baked sourdough. The crust was crispy and the centre was fluffy and moist with the distinctive sour smell of sourdough.

Clam Chowder

our world-famous New England-style clam chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl

The publishing date of this post (25 Feb) is the National Clam Chowder Day. And where else to enjoy the most classic way of serving clam chowder in a sourdough bowl than in Boudin. The bread was the highlight, with that tangy San Francisco sourdough adding a nice little zing to the one-note creaminess of the chowder.

Steamed Clams

Garlic arrabiatta sauce, white wine, and sourdough crostini

The Manila clams were from the frozen type, but the garlic arrabiatta with white wine sauce was the highlight. The sourdough crostini was excellent in dipping into the oil.

Fire Roasted Dungeness Whole Crab

Served with garlic and butter

Other quintessential city cuisine is, of course, Dungeness crab. Guests can choose from a selection of crab-forward dishes such as classic roasted crab with garlic and butter; crab louis; cioppino with crab, shrimp, calamari, mussels and fish simmered in a spicy saffron-tomato broth; crab cakes and more. Today, we had the fire roasted Dungeness crab with garlic butter. The crab was so-so, but the sourdough crostini from the previous course was excellent with the garlic butter sauce. So were the sourdough bread, we ate too much carbs for this afternoon.

Afterthoughts

I can’t help but wonder how much happier San Francisco tourists would be if we did not chain them to the tyranny of the bread bowl. The bread bowl was a silly idea, nobody eats the bowl after soup was consumed. Nevertheless, this is what everyone does in San Francisco and so must you.

Bourdin Bakery
160 Jefferson Street, Lower Level, San Francisco, CA 94133
Tel : +1 415 928 1849

Visited Oct 2023

@boudinbakery