Acme Bakery & Coffee Promises Great Bread and Pastries Starting September 14

By Emily Codik Thu., Sep. 13 2012 at 10:09 AM

Emily Codik

Bread offerings at Acme Bakery & Coffee

Miami needs a good bakery. In fact, Miami just needs good bread. Before you start naming an endless array of mediocre bakeries in the comments section of this post, I warn you: If you think there's already a good bakery in Miami, you clearly have never stood in line at a real-deal, award-winning bakery or savored the complex flavors packed in a hand-crafted, thick-crusted loaf.

At good bakeries, bread sells out quickly. For a good loaf, people will drive, walk, or sprint. I've rarely seen any of that happen in the Magic City.

I should also mention that cupcake shops don't count.

This is not to say there aren't exceptional pastry chefs in Miami. We are, after all, home to Hedy Goldsmith -- executive pastry chef of the Genuine Hospitality Group and reigning queen of popcorn ice cream, homemade pop tarts, and delectable sweets in general.

We just don't have award-winning bread or an award-winning bakery. Many chefs blame Miami's high humidity. Others just don't think there's a demand for it.

Emily Codik

Inside peek at Acme Bakery & Coffee

Regardless of the cause, Acme Bakery & Coffee is hoping to finally fill that gap. Alejandro Ortiz, a partner for Acme and The Federal Food, Drink & Provisions, thinks that Miami is "conceptually hungry for good bread". He also thinks that the high humidity claim is just an excuse. Acme is claiming to have finally crafted a way to deliver good bread in Miami.

Their first step was accepting the legacy of traditional European baking. Then, Ortiz and the team at Acme proceeded by re-creating these traditional methods in a way that functions in South Florida.

Ortiz says, "We've created an American baking tradition that's native to Miami." The breads all have names in English. Baguettes are called flutes and brioche is now known as Sally Lunn, for example.