'Mother' dough dates to first Gold Rush loaf; San Francisco's Famous Boudin Bakery Celebrates 150 years of Fresh-Baked Sourdough French Bread.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 26, 1999--

Fisherman's Wharf events, "bread walk" new logo, ad campaign

San Francisco's famous Sourdough French Bread Bakery is 150 years old.

This October, the small family business that started in the city's North Beach Area and grew to international fame, will celebrate 150 years of baking bread exactly as Isidore Boudin did when he opened his bakery doors.

To celebrate its sesquicentennial, Boudin Bakery is unveiling an anniversary version of its famous Primo Angeli designed logo on signs and packaging, decorating its bakery cafes with displays, signs and banners, and launching a major outdoor advertising campaign. The celebration will culminate in anniversary week events in October, when Boudin will pass out thousands of free sourdough loaves across the city, and participate in a series of Fisherman's Wharf events including a tent party for San Franciscans and visitors at its Wharf Bakery and Cafe.

It's all to celebrate a food that is the symbol of San Francisco and many believe cannot be baked anywhere else. (Although Boudin does in Chicago and Southern California).

"Boudin was born with San Francisco and grew as the city grew," said Boudin President Larry Strain. "In all that time, it has remained true to the city's unique heritage and values. It remains a family-centered business. Our bakery remains on 10th Avenue. We only use natural ingredients. And it's sour -- real sour."

The secret to the distinctive taste is the "mother" dough. Everyday, Boudin bakers take a portion of the mother dough dating back to 1849 and use it as a starter for the next day's bread. "The "mother" allows us to retain the bread's original flavor and texture," said Strain.

"Our approach to baking fresh bread has not changed since 1849," said Strain. "We still use only natural ingredients that make real sourdough flour, water, salt, and the mother dough and we let the dough ferment slowly and naturally for up to 72 hours."

Celebration plans

Celebrations are planned at all Boudin Bay Area locations.

-- Anniversary packaging and designs: More than two decades ago, Boudin commissioned designer Primo Angeli to create its unique logo that portrays American style and European heritage. Now, the Primo Angeli firm has created a special anniversary logo that will be used on packaging, promotional items, and will go up on banners, signs and walls on the interior and exterior of Boudin Bakery Cafes.

-- "City Walk": Once, Boudin Sourdough French Bread was delivered fresh-baked to homes throughout San Francisco, "pounded" onto a nail on the front door. To mark this forgotten tradition, and as part of Anniversary Week in October, Boudin employees will walk through sections of San Francisco and distribute thousands of loaves of fresh bread.

-- Fisherman's Wharf events and birthday party: To culminate Anniversary Week, Boudin will host an open birthday party at its famous Fisherman's Wharf Bakery and Cafe on Saturday, October 9. It's all to celebrate San Francisco's most famous food. Look for good food, drink and music. Boudin will play a visible role in the F-Line opening celebration on Oct. 8, and the Columbus Day Parade on Oct. 10.

-- Advertising campaign: Boudin will launch a major advertising campaign featuring the new Primo Angeli anniversary logo on billboards, BART and buses throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Boudin Background

In 1849, when the Boudin family combined French baking techniques of their native land with the sourdough savored by California's gold miners, they created a culinary tradition that lives unchanged to this day. In San Francisco's Barbary Coast days, city-dwellers and Gold Rush-bound miners lined up each morning for a fresh baked loaf of Boudin Sourdough French Bread. Today, San Franciscans and visitors flock to Boudin Bakery Cafes for a taste of the same famous bread.

The Boudin family, natives of France, arrived in San Francisco amidst a city growing fast from Gold Rush fever. Isidore Boudin opened a French bakery at 815 Dupont Street (now Grant Avenue) in the rowdy North Beach district. Isidore perfected the bread recipe, combining his family's French baking technique with a "sour" dough taste so treasured by gold miners.

Isidore's secret was to use the mother dough as a natural starter, and to allow his bread to rise and "sour" at its own pace. He remained true to this approach. As times changed and caked yeast became popular, he continued to use the much slower method of leavening his bread with the "mother" dough. When Isidore died in the 1880s, his wife Louise kept the bakery going with the help of their four children. Under her guidance, the bakery flourished.

A little known story about the 1906 earthquake is how the Boudins rescued the valuable mother dough from the fire and destruction that swept through North Beach. According to company legend, Louise Boudin and her sons packed the mother dough in buckets of ice, which they carried to Golden Gate Park. There they baked bread over open fires, always preserving a portion of the mother dough to mix for the next day's bread. The bakery was soon rebuilt at its present location on 10th Avenue in San Francisco.

From One Family to the Next

The Boudin sons, Charles and Jules, ran the bakery until their deaths in the 1920s. The Bakery survived through the tough era of the Depression with no family member to head it while facing increased competition from mass-produced breads.

Then in 1935, a young man named Steve Giraudo was hired at the bakery. Born in San Francisco of Italian parents, Girardo had moved back to Italy at an early age with his parents. Steve was trained as a baker in France; upon returning to San Francisco, he joined Boudin. Soon, he became the master baker, the one responsible for maintaining both quality and production standards of the bakery.

In 1945, Steve bought the bakery from the granddaughter of Isidore Boudin. He continued the Boudin tradition of using all only natural ingredients of flour, water, salt and the mother dough starter no sugars, fats or preservatives. The bakery again became a family business when Steve brought his two sons into the operation. In 1975, Steve, with sons Lou and Steven Jr. opened the first Boudin retail bakery on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, where visitors could watch the bread bake from beginning to end.

Tourists so enjoyed the sourdough French bread that Boudin began air freighting its unique bread directly to consumers across the nation. By 1987, Boudin issued its first catalog featuring sourdough gifts, allowing bread aficionados everywhere to order by telephone. The company's online catalog for sourdough bread favorites and catering services is scheduled to debut in July.

Boudin Today

Today Boudin operates 44 cafes and bakeries in the San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California and Chicago. It has 1,000 employees and its headquarters is located at 132 Hawthorne Street in San Francisco. It is owned by Specialty Foods, based in Chicago. Each morning, the "mother" dough, dating back to Isidore's first batch, is used to make fresh Sourdough French Bread. As in 1849, the only ingredients added to the mother dough are flour, water and salt.