The one great thing we loved at Mabel's Gone Fishing was the Sourdough Bread. If you read this blog regularly, you'll know that ever since the Missus had the sourdough at Boulenc in Oaxaca, it had been a regular item in our kitchen. After trying a few places, we had settled on Con Pane, which became a regular part of my "six stop Saturday mornings." The young lady working at Mabel's told us that they get their bread from Secret Sister, which along with the wine bar and restaurant The Rose, makes up the company's trio of businesses.
So, of course, soon enough I was assigned to get the sourdough from Secret Sister. I actually headed down to the bakery in South Park in the restored Rose Grocery Building at the end of errands on one Saturday and struck out. I then went one afternoon during the week and struck out again, though I did get a baguette, which was too hard and chewy. I was given some good intel from the "secret sister" on duty. They will usually run out of sourdough by noon from Thursdays onward and often by 2pm earlier in the week.
So, I headed over on a Sunday, found parking, and walked on over.
I had gotten to the shop around 9 in the morning.
And they had a couple of loaves left.
And even though the price gave me pause – $8.50……
The loaf is huge! They sliced it for me and the rest is history. I've gone back 4 times since. I actually wasn't going to do a post on this, but I felt guilty about keeping a "secret" from my "sisters" (and brothers…). So, I actually took a photo of the most recent loaf. I had Thursday off, so I got this in the morning.
Like I said; the loaf is huge. My only petty complaint is that on occasion; like on this visit, the crust is a bit over baked and on the hard side. But considering that this is a "country style" sourdough, we expect a bit of a thicker crust and that we usually toast (though we've been enjoying it untoasted with Duck Rillette and Beurre de Baratte (Butter from Normandy)) this is kind of a moot point.
I'm not sure you noticed it in my photo, but the menu board indicates that the starter for the sourdough is 152 years old! I keep forgetting to ask about that. Though I did read that it was from "a local family" in this post.
Anyway, the bread is yeasty, with a nice sour-tanginess. It is fluffy and lacks that "chewiness" that so many bread products in San Diego have.
It's the Missus's current favorite, She's the sourdough bread lover in the family. Other than the baguette, I haven't tried anything else on the menu. I'll do a post if I do.
The folks working at Secret Sister have always been quite nice, even when they are faced with a line.
Secret Sister
2215 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92104
Usually, there's not much parking near the shop, so I end up parking a couple of blocks down near South Bark Dog Wash or on Dale, Hawthorn, or Grape. It's a nice walk.
Hope you're having a great weekend!
