Josey Baker And Fox And Lion | Tasting Table San Francisco

Given San Francisco's penchant for geekery, from our tech sector to our coffee culture, it seems only natural that bakers here are nerding out by grinding the flour they use to make naturally fermented breads.

Josey Baker invested in an Austrian stone mill before opening his bakery-café this spring, and finally began using it in June. He grinds whole grains from Central Milling in Petaluma to make a dark mountain rye loaf ($6) with deeply nutty flavors.

Baker joins Xan DeVoss, owner of Fox and Lion Bread Company, who sources rye and Sonora wheat from Grass Valley Grains. She grinds half of the flour mixture she uses for each loaf. "I believe that milling grains fresh preserves the enzymes," she says, promoting fermentation (in the bread) and digestion (in the eater).

The resulting breads, from cracked wheat to walnut-currant rye, have an earthy character and pleasantly acidic bite. You can order her bread through a subscription ($20 a month for one loaf per week, or $10 for one biweekly).

Or, check her Twitter feed to see which drop-off locations, which include Foggy Notion in the Richmond and Merch in the Lower Haight, have extra loaves ($6) for sale.