Best Bakery for Bread

Most people are a little hesitant when they walk into Paradise Bakery for the first time. It's missing all those little things that people identify with the retail buying experience: bakery cases, counters, a cash register. All there is on the other side of the door is a working bakery full of bread ovens, stainless work tables and Michael Bortz -- head baker and one of the most knowledgeable bread guys we've ever met. But trust us: You can walk right in. Bortz wants you to. He wants you to get flour on your shoes and the smell of yeast in your nose. He wants you to have a personal connection with your bread, to see where it comes from and who's making it. Whether you're just after a couple of his powerfully fragrant rosemary boules, a dozen crusty baguettes or one of Bortz's specialty breads (like his decadent, dark and sinfully sweet sour cherry and chocolate loaves), Paradise has real flour power.