And when it comes to the best bread in Sydney, there is only one name on everyone’s lips, Sonoma.
Supplying their famous sourdough loaf to leading restaurants such as Quay, est., Sepia, Buon Ricordo, Icebergs Dining Room & Bar and Tetsuya’s, Sonoma also supplies the five stand-alone Sonoma cafes in Danks Street Waterloo, Glebe, Bondi and Paddington as well as the new Alexandria HQ. Their loaves are also available at leading premium food stores and cafes across Sydney.
So what makes good bread? Sonoma founder Andrew Connole has these top tips for getting it right at home.
• Use Organic flour and sourdough starter – only natural ingredients
• Mix the dough gently in 3 stages, adding salt at the end
• Let it rest for 2 hrs with no further kneading
• Shape the loaves gently then let rise slowly
• Preheat oven to 230 degrees (trial and error based on oven variances)
• Purchase a baking stone
• Bake bread straight on the baking stone
• Steam the oven by spraying fine mist from a spray bottle that will create nice golden crust.
• When bread is baked it will sound hollow to tap on the sole of the loaf
• Enjoy straight out of the oven with melted butter!
Sonoma HQ’s new Head Chef is Tiffany Harras who has been given the reigns of the new kitchen that includes a pizza oven and all the mod cons to cater for the 50-seat café as well as any events on-site. For more information about the new store visit http://www.sonoma.com.au/
