The Locals Love: Macrina Bakery

By: Michael Sarko | October 12 2010
Posted in Seattle - Find It - Seattle

Photo: Michael Sarko

Bread. It's one of the oldest culinary inventions and it's nothing short of genius. Bread is a high-energy, belly-filling staple around which much of society grew. Ancient cities were only as wealthy as their grain stores and most religions view the substance as sacred. Bread is life, but in the modern world it seems to have fallen from its lofty station. Supermarkets are full of airy, pre-sliced bags of stuff that has no real application outside of hasty lunches and many restaurants have stopped welcoming their patrons with the traditional basket of bread. Where are people supposed to find proper bread in the modern world? As with so many fine foods, they must look to the artisans, those boutique crafters of impeccable taste and dedication. In Seattle, the word “bread” is synonymous with the name of a Cappadocian saint (two of them, actually). For its classically hand-made bread, the locals love Macrina Bakery.

Well-traveled and accomplished food professional Leslie Mackie opened Macrina Bakery and Cafe in 1993 after making her bones in some of America's most respected culinary destinations, ending with her tenure as the commander-in-chief of Seattle's Grand Central Bakery. The idea behind Macrina is simple in sentiment but no easy task for an artisan. The organization is dedicated to hand-made baked goods, bread being paramount among them. At Macrina's three locations (Belltown, Upper Queen Anne and SODO), every loaf is formed in the hands of master bakers. This is no empty claim to quality. The nuances of proper bread dough are almost exclusively determined by touch. Dough that's too sticky, tough, airy or firm will result in a ruined loaf. No machine can do what human nerves can do, especially nerves as well-trained as those of Macrina's staff.

This principled approach to bread doesn't mean that Macrina's products are pretentious, though. The flagship loaf, the Macrina Casera (lit. “of the house”) is a simple, rustic bread that is intended to fit in any meal. It follows that most important criterion for sandwich bread: It's good on its own. Among other traditional breads like the bare-bones Italian Giuseppe or the rich, eggy Challah are some of Macrina's more flavorful varieties, including the Apricot Nut loaf and the breakfast-ready Cinnamon Monkey Bread. It's important to note that Macrina makes its bread starters, those wild yeast bases found in all real artisan bread, in-house from fresh, natural ingredients. They even have a step-by-step walkthrough of the starter-making process on the Macrina website.

Macrina also makes a wide variety of other pastries that pair well with one of Seattle's exemplary local coffees. The Lemon Sour Cherry Coffeecake is a stunning standard and the Dill Scones practically beg for smoked salmon. Macrina breads can be found in various other restaurants, cafes and markets around Seattle. After 17 years, the company is a proud local institution.