Press
The Phoenix
Best thing to happen to baked goods
Forced to scare up breads and pastry-based goodies from sources here and there whenever a need to indulge struck, the South End foodie faithful have been lamenting the lack of a top-notch bakery for years now. So the arrival of Joanne Chang's Flour had the entire neighborhood (and the city as well) brushing its sweet tooth in anticipation. Having earned a reputation as a sugar-dough maestro at restaurants like Mistral and Rialto, Chang perched her latest venture on Washington Street near Mass Ave. It's a blue-walled room that's as comfy as a baby's nursery, with community tables, framed pictures of Keebler cookies, and the daily weather report written on chalkboard walls. People are already standing in line before the doors open in the morning. They come for the admirable selection of maple-oatmeal scones, chocolate brioches, homemade pop tarts, sour-cream coffee cake, a best-ever BLT, hearty homemade soups, and other indulgences. Chang's sweets and savories are designed to satisfy first and impress later. Her double-chocolate cookies, for example, are not beautiful or sculpted. But they are crispy outside, lush within, and sinful enough to sustain satisfaction long after the last crumbs are swallowed. Isn't that what the good life is all about?
