Grindstone Bakery

Grindstone makes the best commercially made bread I have found. Applying ancient sourdough methods — the way bread was meant to be eaten. Virtually all bread on the market is made with commercial yeast /​gluten and was never meant to be ingested by the human body in such a form. Praise be to grindstone for giving our bodies the opportunity to heal grains the way nature intended — by being fermented with natural starter…

BREAD. It has quite a long history. It’s a staple and tradition to many and a complete nightmare to others. People associate bread with all sorts of negative views but that does not surprise me considering the processed products being identified as «bread» and considered «food»… Nutrition/​ingredients labels these days even outsmart science geeks (yay for geeks, nay for nasty nutrition-​less «food») due to their crazy complicated chemical components and constipation conclusions.
I had given up hope and all I could think was…
What greater joy is there than breaking warm bread at the table or sinking your carb craving choppers into a fresh made savory simple sandwich with toasted bread and smashed avocado? These are simple pleasures I have missed so much but now I no longer have to. My faith in bread has been renewed. I have found REAL BREAD made with LOVE and INTEGRITY. I have found Grindstone Bakery!
Grindstone offers a FULL line of fresh, local, organic wholesome breads (and some cookie treats too) made with real ingredients and baked back to the roots of ancient bread making. Wonder Bread is left to wonder. Home Pride has lost it’s pride. Sara Lee has gone stale. No one can compete or compare with Grindstone. They are, by far, the best breads you will ever find in a store. They also offer a revolutionary line of gluten free breads which is what drew me to them. They met my standards and have my full approval *smile*
Gluten free? Check! Vegan? Check! Yeast Free? Check! Nutritionally dense? Check! Fiber rich? Check! All natural quality ingredients? Check! Organic? Check! Fresh and local? Check! No nasty stuff added? Check! Tasty? CHECK!!! The ones I have tried are reminiscent of of sourdough but once toasted are transformed into a medley of hearty and nutty, slightly sweet and a bit of sassy sour. The flavors are neutral enough to collaborate with most meals — breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack attack — you name it.
I also have to add how amazing the owner is. We played email tag for a few weeks while I asked a ton of questions (that all got answered quick and professionally) and got help locating specific loaves I was looking for.
Then comes the bonus points because little do people like those at Grindstone know but they are a blessing to my eating disorder recovery. Back in my severe anorexic days I would not go NEAR bread let alone even say the word out loud! In my severe bulimia days it was it double dog downing the bakery aisle during bogus bread binges. Now I can healthily and HAPPILY enjoy bread as it nourishes me in ways I never knew it could. Grindstone uses foods that heal not harm. Nutrition and health are no longer compromised. Healing foods — real foods — can do this for you too. Grindstone is my new found bread love! I am rejoicing in my recovery! Thank you Grindstone!
Check out their website for product info, store locator or online ordering and if you have questions do not be afraid to ask. You will get a very friendly response for sure! If you are on the Peninsula you can find a great selection at Country Sun or most Whole Foods… And please, before you say NO to bread — give Grindstone a try… you may never want to say NO again ;)

Several years ago my naturopathic doctor recommended the Body Ecology Diet (
) for me. Since then I have gone through periods where I am super strict with it and periods where I follow it more loosely. I feel so much better when I follow it strictly.
Anyway, I recently stumbled upon an article on the Body Ecology website about Grindstone Bakery breads. I decided to try them because I love bread; bread is the hardest thing for me to cut out of my diet. Well, and wine, too: P One of my favorite meals — bread, cheese, and wine would be a Body Ecology catastrophe! At least with Grindstone I can have the bread!
Today I went to the Whole Foods on California Street in San Francisco and picked up two loaves of Grindstone breads — one plain quinoa-​millet and one seeded gluten free loaf (also made with quinoa and millet). Wow, I am impressed! I had a slice toasted with raw butter. And then I made a sandwich with avocado and jalapeño kraut (see photo).
The only negative — and why I only gave the bakery 4 stars — is that all the breads contain brown rice syrup, which is strictly off limits on the Body Ecology Diet. I figured I would try it out and if I don’t have any symptoms, it should be okay for me to eat occasionally.
I am just thrilled that there is a bakery in the area that strives to provide the healthiest bread possible.
Apparently you can order from their website, but since I’m in close proximity to stores that sell it, I will just pick it up there.

I agree about the toasting and the avocado– fantastic. What a great company. I get them delivered and freeze them, too Awesome. I am someone who has a severe nickel allergy. I am having the quinoa loaf now secondary to severe nickel allergy which makes having yummy food very difficult, yay Grinstone.

This bakery’s breads are magnificent. I’ve never tasted a non gluten bread that comes even close in taste, texture and great ingredients to their sprouted quinoa. Finally, a healthy non gluten bread that doesn’t taste like rice! Looking forward to trying their other goodies. Whole Foods is carrying their breads, which is where I found them. Hope they start carrying additional variety.

I gotta say — that once toasted (and then topped with some fresh avocado) Grindstone Bakery bakes up some of the best bread around. After toasting my way through three loaves now — I’m hooked. So hooked — that I just ordered four online and they delivered it beautifully to my office (they’re currently stored away in my freezer)
Grindstone truly cares about making healthy products and they’re not just trying to substitute your normal gluten flours with weird stuff. Their stuff is tremendously good for you and best of all organic.
I’m a customer for life.
Trust.

Definitely great tasting bread for those wishing to avoid gluten and sugar and other unnatural and unhealthy ingredients. My favorite loaves are the gluten free ‘Plain’ quinoa (taste like sour dough when toasted with butter), ‘Sprouted Seed’, and ‘Cinnamon Raisin’. After purchase, I slice the loaves, put them in a freezer bag, and freeze them, then when I want a few slices I simply toast them to perfection and add butter and Himalayan salt or raw almond butter and sliced bananas and cinnamon– a tasty treat! I also like being able to order from them online with free shipping and no tax– sweet! Thank you Grindstone for supporting my family’s health and wellness =)

I normally never do reviews but Jill S’s lame, immature and irresponsible review prompted me to do so. I found her review neither cool, nor useful, nor funny.
My son is on an incredibly restrictive diet called Body Ecology and the foods he can and will eat are extremely limited. He is constantly hungry and it causes him irritability and he can’t seem to focus on anything else. I saw the link for Grindstone Bakery on the Body Ecology website and decided to give it a try. You have to order at least 4 loaves of bread which I did not want to do for my first order but I am so glad I did because the bread just arrived yesterday and my son is already on the second loaf. This bread is not at all like typical wheat bread but you can’t expect that. With the few ingredients they are working with, it’s truly amazing what they have come up with. I am so grateful to them for creating something especially for the body ecology community. My only regret is that I did not order more, especially since it’s free shipping which is a huge savings. Having tried to bake and cook some of these special foods myself, I understand the challenges and difficulties and therefore can really appreciate what Grindstone Bakery has come up with. Thank you! Please keep doing what you’re doing!

This bakery is amazing, when I found out I was allergic to wheat I was so depressed. But I have loved everything I have ordered (although honestly I will not order the pumpkin loaf again, it was too hard for my liking). My personal favorite is the Espresso al Ciocclato loaf – it really is delicious. I really don’t get the bad review on here, I have tried all the wheat-​free products in Whole foods and everything tasted like sawdust, these were actually edible.

I was attending Winterblast 2009 in a little area of Santa Rosa which was full of artists and photographers. I found a very cool vegan restaurant and down a back street there was Grindstone Bakery. I live in the Wine Country and am friends with restauranteurs and many B&B owners. I have been wining and dining for many years and am a huge foodie. For the last year I have been exploring macrobiotic eating as a way of feeling better in my body and finding a gluten free, wheat free, yeast free bread that tasted good was impossible until now. Gindnstone bakery was amazing. I met the owner Mario, a charming, funny, generous man who was easy to laugh and as warm and delightful as the bread he makes. And the bread he makes is over the top. This bread is amazing. It’s moist, almost damp and full of flavor. I bough every loaf he made and have taken them to a couple of holiday gatherings where they have been gobbled up by friends and strangers alike. I have been back several times and it hasn’t even been a week. The last time I got a couple of his cookies which, after reading Jill’s comments, was ready for taking a bite and tossing them in the trash. To my surprise the sesame cookie was marvelous, I mean it was moist with a light crumb and full of amazing flavor. I only had one so I nibbled it very carefully to make it last. The chocolate one was also moist with a light crumb and had a delightful but not traditional chocolate taste. I am so delighted with the bakery I’m sitting here on Thanksgiving morning writing this review and getting ready to head out to the kitchen for a day a friends, food, and gratitude.

Dear Grindstone Bakery,
While I appreciate the fact that you cater to those of us with gluten allergies, I have a little tip for you. WE STILL HAVE TASTEBUDS! Worst. Cookie. Ever. I’m reminded of Phoebe in that «Friends» episode where Monica is using Mockolate to make cookies «Oh my God, so this is what evil tastes like!» I’m not sure how you managed to make a dark chocolate cookie taste this bad but congratulations, you’ve done it. Brush. Floss. Repeat. Nope, nasty ass taste is STILL in my mouth. Someone needs to alert Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig that the easiest way to get their clients to give up cookies is to make them eat one of these. Just the mere thought of the Cookie Monster makes me want to hurl now.
But hey, if you «like» the taste of two day old coffee grounds, pencil shavings, and charcoal coupled with the texture of tree bark then by all means buy these cookies. Granola-​head. I’m not eating another one of these unless it’s the 10^th of Never.
Apparently my stomach won’t hurt from the gluten… it’s just going to hurt because I filled it with this roughage disguised as dessert. Best of all, I paid about $ 3 at Whole Foods for ONE of these lead sinkers.
In closing, I’m BEGGING you to stop making cookies. Baking is NOT your strong suit. Perhaps you might considering using your recipes for the mortar between bricks.
URP. Please pass the Tums.
Jill S.