San Francisco’s iconic Tartine Bakery plans to open its first international location in Tokyo, according to a published report by Inside Scoop SF.
Tartine owner/baker Chad Robertson says the plan to open a Tokyo outpost of the bakery, now scheduled for April, is three years in the making. He and Elisabeth Prueitt are partnering with Japan’s TGP (Think Green Produce), according to the report.
Robertson is a fan of Japanese grains, calling the wheat from the Hokkaido Prefecture “amazing” and well suited to his bread. “The signature of our bread is this super soft and custardy texture, called mochi mochi in Japan,” he says, explaining that Japanese wheat farmers do selective breeding to get those qualities in their wheat. “I have to do a lot of stuff to our wheat to get that in the bread, but it happens naturally with theirs.”