De Bejkr (Sonoma)

[Melanie Wong]

A quick day trip in May to the Valley of the Moon with some out-of-state visitors started at the Friday morning farmers in Sonoma. I was especially looking forward to checking out Mike Zakowski, the bejkr. He crafts gorgeous organic, wood-fired loaves. And he brings his portable wood-burning oven to the market to bake pretzels on-site
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/7236202960/

Not inexpensive, the warm, fresh organic pretzels are $4 apiece, yet worth it for a quick snack. I bought two different loaves for the weekend, notable for their heritage grains, crackly crust, dense heavy weight, and chewy moist crumb.

He sells at the Sonoma farmers market on Tuesdays and Fridays.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/27262/mike-zakowski-bejkr-video-enjoy

Josey the Baker wrote a great blog post about his visit.
http://joseybakerbread.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/my-trip-to-meet-the-baker/

http://www.thebejkr.com/

[Columba]

Picked up by the local, Sonoma, press -
http://www.sonomanews.com/Sonoma-Maga...

[Melanie Wong]

Thanks, he's definitely a star in our midst, despite his humble bearing.

Today I noticed that 2-pound loaves at Downtown Bakery in Healdsburg had bumped up to $6.25, so maybe the Bejkr's prices are not so up there after all.

[wally]

Never had the pretzels. He used to sell at Pop-Up General and I have bought bread in Sonoma a couple of times. The breads are excellent with great flavor as well as beauty. I have had the compagne last a full week. Nothing else was around that long.

[Melanie Wong]

Flavor, yes, great flavor! Can't believe I forgot to say how deep and satisfying these breads taste. I had the red yecora and the cracked kamut covered in sesame seeds. The uniformity of the breads is pretty remarkable. They are and look handmade, yet each of a type looks precisely like the rest of its kin. The density of sesame seeds probably has a tight tolerance in seeds per mm2.