When Harris Baking Co. closed their shop on Drayton Street a few months ago, I shed a tear. I shed that tear because Harris was really the last place downtown where you could find great homemade bread. Top quality. Arguably the best in town.
Sure, bakeries hither and yon, yon and hither have good bread, sometimes very good bread. Harris, however, was my go-to spot. You can still pick up a decent loaf over where Shopping is a Pleasure, but true “artisan” bread is tough to find in our fine city. As a result, a lot of restaurants have started making their own. A couple of hotels are as well — and doing a good job, by the way.
Well all that could change, if only for a few weeks.
Believe it or not, students at Savannah Tech are coming to our bread-loving rescue — with a straight-out-of-elementary school bake sale.
Students enrolled in the popular Baking and Pastry program at Savannah Tech all take part. They put the skills they’ve learned to practical use making all kinds of breads like focaccia, challah, brioche and dinner rolls. They are even making cheesecakes, pumpkin pies, carrot cakes and flourless chocolate cakes.
You get the idea. The students are getting busy in the bakery, and you get to benefit.
“Jewish Challah is the most popular — students like the way it is done,” says Amy Shaffer, director of communications at Savannah Tech. “The public loves it as well. So few places make challah that when the public finds out it is available here and tastes how delicious it is, they have to order some.”
The best part is, the prices are very reasonable. For the quality you get, you will be hard pressed to find a better deal anywhere in town.
If you know anything about Chef Jean Vendeville, then you know his reputation for being very demanding. Nothing short of excellence is his expectation. He once told me, “My standards are here (hand at eye level), and I never look down.”
“For the bake sale,” Amy explains, “we were brainstorming with Chef Jean for ways to promote the baking and pastry program. The Bistro Savoir online bake sale concept worked great to showcase the excellent work of the new baking/pastry students, but also to provide a great options for the home cook to serve chef quality items at their Thanksgiving table.”
Sounds like a plan.
But be forewarned: Quantities are definitely limited. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. They are taking special orders through Nov. 15 for pick-up Thanksgiving week — all in the name of raising money to buy a fancy schmancy oven for the school.
“Proceeds will be used to purchase an item from Chef Jean’s wish list — a wood-fired oven.” Amy says. “All of the students realize how important it is to have that type of oven to bake bread. According to Chef Jean, with a wood-fired oven, his students will make the best bread in the Southeast.”
Well then, here’s hoping for a sellout! Go to www.bistrosavoir.com to place your online order. You can pick up your goodies at Savannah Tech locations in Effingham or Liberty counties as well as in Savannah on the campus at White Bluff Road.
QUICK BITES
• Speaking of challah ... don’t forget the Jewish food festival this Sunday. Forsyth Park. Get there early. When the food is gone, it’s gone.
• Also Sunday, it’s Food Day at Daffin Park. Sponsored in part by WJCL/WTGS and hosted by my very good friends Jessica Kiss and Rob Macko, it’s a full-day with live music, cooking demonstrations — and samples, of course.
• Finally, a quick reminder to keep yourself in the know between columns. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @EatitandLikeIt). New episodes of my TV show are up on the website, www.eatitandlikeit.com.
Till next time, see you on TV.
Jesse Blanco is a local news anchor at WTGS and host of the Emmy-nominated “Eat It and Like It,” Savannah’s only TV show dedicated to its culinary scene. Visit him at www.eatitandlikeit.com or email jesse@eatitandlikeit.com.