Bread in Milan, Florence, and Rome
This is for anyone looking for suggestions of bakeries in Milan, Florence, or Rome. My wife and I recently returned from a vacation that included these cities, and all contain some nice bakeries.
Milan
Davide Longoni (via Gerolamo Tiraboschi 19) -- The Tuscany region of Italy often makes bread without salt. For a traditional bread without salt, I got a loaf of Sciapo. The crust and crumb were excellent, but I prefer a little salt in my bread. There were several other loaves available at this bakery, so you need not limit yourself to a bread without salt. The staff were friendly, and the atmosphere of this little place was great.
Le Polveri (via Ausonia 7) -- A really tiny place, but the bread was nice. My wife got a slice of a seeded loaf (bread is often sold by weight in Italy, so you merely show the person behind the counter how much you want), and I got a portion of a regular loaf. Both were fine.
Egalite par Thierry Loy (via Melzo 22) -- Actually more of a Parisian bakery, this one was large with many seats and options for breads. I got a baguette as well as a regular bread. These were excellent too.
Florence
Forno La Pagnotta (Borgo La Croce, 109/r) -- Another loaf without salt, but very pleasing and edible. A good selection of breads avaliable.
Antico Forno Giglio (Via Vincenzo Gioberti, 151/r) -- A regular loaf and a seeded loaf, both of which were excellent. Another good selection of breads available. This place is my first choice for bread in Florence.
Rome
Forno Campo de Fiori (Campo de Fiori 22) -- The absolute star of the bread show in Italy. Wow, what flavor. The first day we got a seeded load that was superb. The day before our return flight I got a loaf of Pane di Campagna, which was beyond superb. I ate a bit that day and saved the rest for the flight home, during which I consumed all of the remainder of the loaf. Fabulous flavor in the crumb. Many different breads available. If you are in Rome, go here.
Forno Roscioli (Via dei Chiavari 34) -- Although we did not get any bread here, my wife and I got three different types of pizza (which is also sold by the weight). They have plenty of loaves of bread available too, and if the excellence of the pizza is any indication of what they can do with dough, I would expect the bread to be outstanding too.
IMHO, the further south in Italy you go the better the bread.
Of course, for sweet breads the north is the place.
Italians always say the south is for wheat (pasta) and the north for rice (risotto) and corn (polenta).
Obviously, these distinctions are blurring with mobility, cultural mixing, and transport, but the issue was a big economic controversy at the time of reunification and persist much more than one would imagine.
And, of course, you have the olive oil/butter parallel (according to what is used in the cooking) that cuts Emilia Romagnia in half and which you cross somewhere before or after Imola on the way to Bologna from the south.