One of the best boulangeries in L.A. right now is a 900-square-foot apartment in West Hollywood, where 29-year-old Zack Hall bakes three loaves at a time in the Frigidaire oven that came with the place. When asked what kind of oven he uses to bake his breads, which include astonishingly flavored whole wheat and country white boules and gorgeous, earthy, 3-kilo miches, Hall says he's not sure: "It's white." As for his flour, Hall carries it bag by 50-pound bag to his second-floor apartment. The building doesn't have an elevator.
Welcome to the current state of baking in L.A., where small-batch bakers are producing some of the best bread this town has seen in years. What's striking is that this rise is being driven largely by the bakers themselves, who often toil without bakeries or restaurants, as well as millers and farmers and other disciples of the DIY movement that has been fueling the food scene since the recession hit.
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