They are selling stale bread

[on the brink]

Revolting looking stuff....!

 

[Rich One]

Revolting looking stuff....!

Recipe available via PM...

 

[Aztangogirl]

There are good bakeries here. I buy fresh baked sourdough bread at Merci. I have no desire to bake my own bread. I don't eat the cheap bread rolls from my Chino.

 

[rickulivi]

Ever since I landed in Argentina and began buying bread at an Argentine bakery, I wanted to write about the experience without complaining too much and without being cynical. The occasional bad customer service is certainly worth a mention but by itself, is not enough of a reason to write about it. With the coronavirus complicating the overall consumer economy, things have changed enough that I don't have to be particularly creative to convey the absurdities of the worsening customer service in this country.

The bakery in front of my apartment sells stale bread. Their job is to tell people, that the bread is fresh, so that they can get rid of yesterday's stock and save on overhead costs. This is especially important for the business, now that less people are buying. They have new competition too. Previously closed space half a block down reopened to make whatever little money they can as an alternative to listing their shop for sale. So people are eating stale bread now. From both bakeries.

This wouldn't be much of big deal if their bread was an actual real sourdough bread, of course, it lasts longer and tastes fine even when it's five days old, but as many of you already know already, Argentina doesn't understand what sourdough bread really is, and why would anyone bother producing it. So they bake buns from refined white flour and call it bread. It's still delicious when hot, don't get me wrong, I put a thick layer of butter on it and with chicken soup, it's quite good, but absolutely disgusting once no longer fresh.

Yesterday, I returned the stale bread back to the bakery for the first time. They didn't give my money back, obviously, that would have been a miracle, but at least, I caught the owner hot-handed and told him how I felt. He pretty much accused me of a murder and told me to shove those buns up my ass, albeit somewhat politely as not to disturb the customers that were there looking to spend their money.

I was really upset and an hour later, I returned the remainder of the bread I had found in another bag. The owner was there again and he called me a troll, basically accusing me of a wrong doing and then someone came to my rescue. An old man had the same problem, saying how he used to buy fresh bread every single day, until they started either mixing fresh with old or just shamelessly sold yesterday's buns. Then came his neighbor, with similar complain about another product, medialunas being too thin I think, and soon enough, the owner got so infuriated that he simply disappeared into the worker's area at the back.

Today, there was no lineup at 11 o'clock, the usual time for buying "fresh bread". There were more people at the other bakery down the street, but there too, I saw that same old man complained about the bread being stale! So I went there to investigate and found the owner lady complaining to the old man who got inspired by what I had done a day prior and brought back his stale bread. She was saying that her business can hardly survive now. I interjected saying that the survival of her business had nothing to do with customer service and that if she's incapable of providing the public with guaranteed fresh buns every single morning, then she probably shouldn't be selling bread at all. She then accused me of being selfish for saying such things. In her mind, my job as a customer, is to not only buy local, always, but to also support the small business as my own family, who wouldn't otherwise be able to survive if every one was "too picky". Her daughter came to rescue and then the husband came out with a sour I'll-fix-everything face, so I left because there were new customers outside the store with masks on, waiting impatiently for their turn to buy something.

I stepped outside and waited to see. A young woman went in there, probably in her 20s, she overheard the conversation and immediately asked the owner lady if she ate her own stale bread. The owner said "of course," but nobody believed her because we all know the homeless take away a full bag of free stale bread every evening. The girl laughed at her and left, demonstrating complete distrust. One other customer left too. I too left then and now, the store is closed, even though it is supposed to be open. The old couple who started the whole thing, or was it me who started it? They stayed on the street for many hours afterwards. Their son brought them chairs and mate and they talked to everybody they knew about the shitty bread sold in their bakeries, demonstrating once again, that the product and service was there to fulfill their basic demands before fulfilling the financial goals of the greedy businesses who obviously didn't eat their own stale bread.

I am happy to read that you complained so effectively, and happy too to learn you did not get hit by the owner. Customer service in Argentina is an oximoron but if more people like you complain, there's hope that it might improve.

When one of my daugthers graduated from UCLA about fifteen years ago, she went to spend three months in BA. One morning she planned to take the subway somewhere, bought her token and went down to the station. The first subway came packed with people, so she refused to get in. She waited for the next two trains, and the same ocurred. She decided she did not want to travel under those conditions, so she went up to the booth where she had purchased her token and demanded her money back. I was in California and I heard the roaring laugh of the unionized workers at the subway station in Buenos Aires. I am sure they still tell the story of the stupid tourist who wanted her $0.10 back due to the lousy service!!!

 

[sts7049]

I am happy to read that you complained so effectively, and happy too to learn you did not get hit by the owner. Customer service in Argentina is an oximoron but if more people like you complain, there's hope that it might improve.

When one of my daugthers graduated from UCLA about fifteen years ago, she went to spend three months in BA. One morning she planned to take the subway somewhere, bought her token and went down to the station. The first subway came packed with people, so she refused to get in. She waited for the next two trains, and the same ocurred. She decided she did not want to travel under those conditions, so she went up to the booth where she had purchased her token and demanded her money back. I was in California and I heard the roaring laugh of the unionized workers at the subway station in Buenos Aires. I am sure they still tell the story of the stupid tourist who wanted her $0.10 back due to the lousy service!!!

she did it all wrong...she was supposed to ask for the 1950s complaint book! surely then they would have paid attention

 

[Rich One]

she did it all wrong...she was supposed to ask for the 1950s complaint book! surely then they would have paid attention

Back to the Future a dejavu ..! tokens well may be who knows..! yeah 1950 Peron , Isabelita o Lopez Rega..? their faces on the tickets?

 

[Redpossum]

Panaderías Y Confiterías En Argentina

Encuentra las mejores panaderías de Argentina: ubicaciones, horarios y reseñas de panaderías cerca de ti.

www.salvajebakery.com.ar

I have been to Salvaje. I was deeply unimpressed.

Boulangerie Cocu in Palermo Soho, (about 3 blocks from intersection of Cordoba and Scalabrini Ortiz), is another option, though I will not swear they are the best. I haven't been there for a while, but last I visited they had baguettes, batards, pan de campo, and honest-to-god croissants which put to shame those sad little lumps of **** called medialunas.

Cocu | French Bakery in Palermo

Cocu is a French bakery located in the heart of Palermo, in Buenos Aires. If you’re hungry for an authentic French experience, come and join us at Cocu.

cocu.com.ar

COCU BOULANGERIE, Buenos Aires - Palermo Soho - Photos & Restaurant Reviews - Order Online Food Delivery - Tripadvisor

Order food online at Cocu Boulangerie, Buenos Aires with Tripadvisor: See 792 unbiased reviews of Cocu Boulangerie, ranked #183 on Tripadvisor among 4,965 restaurants in Buenos Aires.

www.tripadvisor.com

 

[sts7049]

you shut your filthy mouth talking bad about medialunas!!

 

[Pierre Smith]

Let a chef in NOLA tell you about Tabasco or Mardi Gras - the key to SF sourdough is the airborne yeast. The same thing that gives Anchor Brewing Liberty Ale its character.

That said, our water is absolutely amazing. It's piped in from Hetch Hetchy, up in Yosemite, and you'd have to go to the Rockies or Canada for better water. Truly outstanding.

Also, on sourdough here. Boudin's is legendary but largely for the tourists. Next time you're up in SF, hit one of our many local bakeries, all of which have a sourdough. Look up Tartine, Acme, Jane, etc .

 

[on the brink]

Sourdough is available everywhere in San Francisco - even the local Safeways sell their own version of it. But Boudin's is still the best, in the opinion of this sourdough connoisseur.

Interesting to know the water comes from Hecht Hetchy. We camped near it a few times.