Boudin Bakery, a beloved San Francisco institution and the home of "The Original San Francisco Sourdough," is proud to announce the celebration of its 175th anniversary.
Born in the Gold Rush in 1849, Boudin is the oldest continuously operating business in San Francisco. Boudin's history is synonymous with San Francisco's history - surviving major fires and earthquakes, recessions, and the pandemic. Throughout its 175 years, Boudin has continued the same baking methods and traditions while remaining resilient and constantly innovating their menu offerings at Boudin restaurants. This remarkable anniversary marks nearly two centuries of rich history, culinary innovation, and dedication to the craft of baking its iconic sourdough bread.
Boudin Bakery was founded in San Francisco in 1849 by Isidore Boudin, who hailed from a family of master bakers in Burgundy, France. Isidore "struck gold" with four simple ingredients to create Boudin's now iconic sourdough bread: flour, water, salt, and the "mother dough" (wild yeast starter). The secret to Boudin's unique tangy flavor and chewy texture is in its mother dough—a combination formed by local varieties of wild yeast and lactobacillus—plus a few other helpful microbes and San Francisco's foggy weather—to create a natural source of fermentation that allows Boudin's sourdough bread to rise without using commercial yeast. A piece of the original "mother dough" continues to be used in every loaf of sourdough bread baked by Boudin since the Gold Rush era. It is a bread like no other that can't be replicated anywhere in the world, except in San Francisco.
There have been only three "Master Bakers" in Boudin's history - Isidore Boudin, Stefano Giraudo, Sr. (affectionately known as "Papa Steve"), and Fernando Padilla, who started working at Boudin at age 17 and has been Boudin's Master Baker since 1997. It was the Boudin family that recognized Giraudo's extraordinary baking talent and in 1941, amid financial strife, Giraudo fearlessly acquired the business from the Boudin family. Giraudo's commitment to the Boudin mother dough propelled the bakery to international acclaim, and his dedication to quality and community shaped Boudin's essence. Today, Papa Steve's legacy lives on as the cornerstone of Boudin Bakery's identity, which is now owned and operated by his grandson, Dan Giraudo.
To commemorate this remarkable milestone, Boudin Bakery will be offering a special anniversary "Week of Deals" at all of its California locations, where applicable, during the week of September 30th. Between September 30th - October 6th, 2024 Boudin will be offering daily celebratory offers to customers ranging from a 1 lb. sourdough loaf of bread for $1.75 to special buy one, get one offers.
