I used to work at Breadsmith back in the days of high school, but not being a bread eater in general, I haven't been back to the store in years. However, I had a friend who recently bought some of their "mini" offerings for a weekend breakfast and it reminded me of all the reasons why I have not returned to the store.
The scones are stale, even the flavored ones and by no means is anywhere near what scones are in the UK, but it suffices if you're that desperate.
The muffins are chewy; the bread loaf versions of the mix come out tastier and more moist than their little counterparts. It felt like I was eating day old bread when I chowed down on the pumpkin and cranberry muffins.
The bread rolls someone ate in lieu of the sweet stuff described it as "soft"....but it was a multi-grain roll so makes me wonder how long the rolls had been sitting out since baked.
The cinnamon and caramel rolls were good, but dry. The chocolate babka rolls were dry, dry, dry with a hint of cocoa.
I never found any of the bread to be particularly good or tasty, even when I worked there. The exceptions were the ciabatta and country white, but only when they were fresh out of the oven. Otherwise, after a few hours on the racks, they were chewy. Sometimes, there might even be some left over country white rolls from an order placed by the Lexington. Those are the best and you should nab them if you can.
FYI, ever wondered why the caramel and cinnamon rolls don't have the gooey goodness of Cinnabon? It's because they're made and ready before 6:30 am, when the cashiers come in to set up the baskets for the day. By the time brunch rolls around, the rolls have been sitting there for a few long hours.
On a side note, the baguettes are not very good as they're baked too long and are too hard and chewy. I used to help a family from Spain who would send their grandmother to pick up a loaf for them with a note asking for the lightest colored one we had on hand as it was usually the softest (the grandmother did not speak English).
My advice for baguette eaters is that if you can gather up your Mac-Grove gumption and venture into Frogtown, the Truag Nam French Bakery on University Ave has the freshest and tastiest French bread you'll have. It's hot from their ovens, the crust is crisp, the inside soft, and it'll cost you $2 for a large baguette and 60 cents for a small one. Plus they actually did learn to bake their stuff from the French during the country's colonization of SE Asia and it's not just a gimmick when they claim to be a French bakery. read more