Field & Fire

Living in the SF Bay Area I was spoiled by the great bread makers out there — Acme, Semifreddis, Grace, etc — and so was naturally disappointed by all the pillowy supermarket-​grade «bread» that is standard issue here in the Holland area — even at the farmer’s market, where the local artisans don’t seem to be able to produce an actual crust. Now I’ve found the real deal at Field & Fire. Honest-​to-​goodness hard-​crusted bread the way it’s supposed to be made. This may be best bread you’re going to find in West Michigan. I’ve only tried the baguette so far, but that was enough to know they’ve mastered the art. Will be back for more. Does anybody else come close? Kismet?

Excellent bread products available here for the price you would expect to pay for hand made wood fired breads. The whole grain sourdough was excellent in flavor and texture and really toasted up well. I also got a cinnamon roll with walnuts and I have to say what a flavor bomb this little roll was! Dense and heavy with nuts, cinnamon, and raisins, it took me 3 days to eat the entire thing it was so rich. It was very delicious! I’d definitely stop here again!

We have been reading about Field and Fire for a few months, so after going out for dinner we stopped in to pick up bread for our lunches. We chose a half loaf of a very dense n’ heavy, rye n’ anise bread. We were a bit scared about there being an overwhelming taste of anise but there wasn’t, there is just a pleasant hint, just right. This bread is very good and very filling. We chose a second half loaf, a raisin n’ walnut, another heavy n’ dense bread. This is not a sweet bread but another tasty filling, loaf. We decided to try their pastries, an almond croissant, an apple croissant and a cinnamon n’nut roll. On our way home, the aroma of our bakery stash filled our car, we couldn’t wait until we got home and we attacked the cinnamon n’ nut roll, OMG oh so good! Full of nuts and cinnamon with a light glaze, way so YummY n’ flavorful and not sugary sweet. Good-​bye cinn-​a-​bon!
We read several complaints about price. Just remember that old saying… «You do get what you pay for» and it’s oh so true. Read the Field and Fire ingredient list, nothing but wholesome organic goodness that doesn’t need to be enhanced with artificial flavors, sugars and preservatives. Check out the store bought bread off the shelves or the breads from the store bakeries, those that ship in frozen bread dough to be baked at the store. Read their ingredient list, if you can, sugars, flavorings, preservatives and too many ingredients that are unidentifiable. Now compare and choose what you want to eat and share with your family and friends.
Field and Fire breads are filling because they are full of whole grains, nuts, seeds and absolute goodness. To pay $ 6 to $ 8 a loaf and a dollar or so more for something extra special, is well worth the price. Their prices are about that of Panera Bread.
The customer service was very informative and friendly.
Yes, we will be back, over and over again. Our plan is to enjoy a different bread on every visit.
Yes, Oh So YummY… Try it, you’ll like!

The best breads and financiers I have ever tasted personally.
The financiers are delicious, an almond, chocolate and brown sugar cookie that will take you to a whole new world. Caitlyn is a sweetheart, always friendly and lovely to converse with. Try it out.

The condescension is high here.
I was so excited to see that their pain au chocolate had individual fluffy layers (hard to get in America)! I eagerly asked for a «pain aw choco-​lot». While he rung me up, the cashier said «It’s actually pronounced ‘pan’ instead of ‘pain’. (condescending laugh here) If a French person heard you say that, they would probably yell at you! Our chef went to culinary school in France and almost got kicked out because his pronunciations were so bad. He asked us to correct everyone that pronounces it wrong.»
That is the most condescending experience I’ve ever had a business. I just smiled and walked away.
I just spent 2 weeks in Paris and bought a fresh pain au chocolate or croissant every single morning and never once got corrected. The French are friendly and forgiving to visitors. How dare you perpetuate the rumors that they are rude and elite and condescending, and ask your employees to behave that way at the counter.
If you want to be compared to the French, then fine. Though your pain au chocolate has obvious layers, the taste is pathetic. It’s lacking the buttery essence that IS croissant dough. It’s dry and tasteless and boring. The burnt top from your wood fire just makes it worse. This is not reminiscent of a true French pastry.

Wonderful idea behind the ingredients in these breads, unfortunately The three I have tried from the downtown market have been seriously burned on the outside. I don’t mind paying a good amount for a wonderful artisan bread but you shouldn’t have to cut off the outer ½ inch all round to make it palatable. That charred taste stays in your mouth all day. I gave it three tries thinking maybe one baker had an off day, but it must be intentional and I just don’t have the taste for burned food.

I’d give it 3 stars for the small loaves of bread and 1 star for the pastries and 2 stars for the big loaves. So average 2 star bakery.
Croissants tend to be burnt on the outside and undercooked to the point of being a bit doughy inside. All the pastries have a similar problem. Maybe it’s hard to bake fine pastries in a wood fire bread oven.
Big loaves of bread are hit or miss. I’ve gotten a couple decent ones but a fair share that are gummy inside.
Small loaves and buns are the best bet for quality bread here. Give those a shot.
PS focaccia bread should not be stored in a plastic bag, they sweat and ruin the texture!

The bread is good. Nothing to write home about, but met my ‘breadspectations.’ The problem with Field and Fire is that when you buy a 7 dollar loaf of bread and you ask them to slice it for you, they inform you that «they do not cut their retail» whatever that means. If you want to make dough, you knead to start slicing your bread!

Always fresh and fluffy, Field & Fire has some of the most delicious bread around!

Excellent bread and an excellent location in the Downtown Market. I popped in recently to pick up an Italian loaf to complement the evening’s pasta dinner. Everyone raved about the absolute deliciousness of the bread.
Service, unfortunately, was lacking. A bored and aloof counter rep managed to interact with me as little as possible during the transaction. Fine at the drugstore, but not really in line with Field & Fire’s mission or image.

Amazing is all I can say! Well worth the two hour drive! I loved the butter croissant and the focaccia bread!

My boyfriend and I bought a couple groupons for this place and I’m glad we did! We bought a little cheese danish thing that was so so amazing. I warmed it in the microwave to eat it, perfect.
We also grabbed a loaf of something covered in powdered sugar. It’s a very dense bread with dried fruits inside and is quit good. It was $ 20 though.
The ladies working were really nice and seemed excited about bread!

I like croissants. I like them in the morning. I like them with coffee. I like them with ham-​n-​cheese, with almond, or just plain butter. But most importantly, I like them from Field and Fire.

Literally there is no better bread in the state of Michigan. Understanding what goes into these loaves (and pastries) will help you understand what you are getting. Not just a loaf of bread, but an extremely knowledgeable and passionate artisan baker at the helm, using wood-​fired ovens, long fermentation times to promote the healthiest benefits the grains can give and last but not least, big flavor and remarkable texture. My favorites are the Oatmeal Levain, Multigrain, Beer Bread, and regular Levain. I love all the pastries, but my weakness is the Almond Croissant. Gougere is remarkable with a thin slice of ham or bacon and a fried egg. Oh baby.
Highly nutritious, focus on organic ingredients, and skilled artisan bakers make this shop a true gem in West Michigan.

I stopped into the Downtown Market vendors and found a great place for breads. I tried the Sprouted Kamut and French Baguette. Both were delicious and I decided on the baguette because we were planning soup soon.
WARNING: Get two or more loaves. One is NOT enough. You can thank me later because I am saving you a second trip down to the market. Since we live over 40 minutes away I would have loved to have known about this. As soon as I got home I sliced a few small pieces of the baguette and smeared a little butter on it. Wow! I think I could have made a whole dinner of just the bread. Unfortunately, when I stopped I found I didn’t have enough for our planned soup.
A little pricey for bread but this is definitely worth the price.
Trust.

I’ve made is my summer 2014 mission to try something from each of the Downtown Market vendors. Resolutely, I began this audacious yet tasty aim by picking up a loaf of the Sunflower Flax bread from Field and Fire over the weekend.
I found Field and Fire easily enough by following the smell of fresh baked bread to the back of the market. I was greeted by two friendly staff members and a varied assortment of European style breads and pastries. The sweet treats looked marvelous, but I what I was really after was a suitable loaf for grilled cheese sandwiches. At the recommendation of the staff, I went with Sunflower Flax. I was told it would hold together better for sandwich making and would not be as crumbly or pores with the melted cheese on it. As promised, the bread is robust, crusty, and dense, giving me thick slabs of grainy, nutty bread to hold my cheesy dinner together with. It was the Breakfast of Champions when I toasted it and put peanut butter on it. I got more mileage out of it when I used it with potato soup. Dunking the bread in the piping hot bowl helped soften the crisp edges and soften the chewy inside even more.
I think my next undertaking will be to try out the rest of the breads they offer!

I just…
I just don’t know what to say.
I mean, this is some of the best bread I’ve ever had in my life and I don’t even know how to do it justice. I’m legitimately overwhelmed by the awesome.
But, I guess a description would help: a wood-​fired bakery tucked into the corner of the Downtown Market baking up pastries like fantastic looking flaky croissants (ham and cheese, chocolate, almond and more) and the most amazing rustic European style breads. I stuck with the breads this time around and picked up a few loaves to take home. The real standout? The Levain (French sourdough). Beautiful little bubbles inside the soft center and a fabulous crunchy wood burned crust. I could have eaten a whole loaf. Actually, I got pretty close to that. Oops. I also picked up a loaf of that and the multigrain (coated in lovely sunflower seeds) for my mom and we nearly killed both in a single evening after dinner (no joke. Our «dessert» was bread). In addition to those they also have varieties like Oatmeal Levain, Ciabatta, Buttermilk Whole Wheat, Sunflower Flax, Sprouted Kamut, Beer Bread (made with Brewery Vivant sour beer) and more (over 20 varieties of bread in total) At the booth they had samples of their Spelt Rye which was also incredible and I’m not even a fan of rye.
It is a little on the pricer side but I have to admit, comparative to a lot of speciality bakers, this bread isn’t that crazy expensive. I’ve regularly seen non grocery store loaves that will cost you upwards of 7 – 8 dollars. The loaves here were about $ 6 – 7. Yes, pricier than a loaf of Wonderbread but you’re getting something truly outstanding here.
Finally, the lady behind the counter was amazing. So knowledgable and gave me great recommendations based on the flavor interests of myself and my mom for which loaves would be best for each of us. Awesome.
It makes me legitimately sad that this place isn’t closer to where I live but I guess it’s a good thing otherwise I’d be eating bread morning, noon, and night! You’re lucky, Grand Rapids!

I’m a repeat offender here! They have samples out… so anytime I’m in the Ionia Market… you will see me trying their fresh breads! They are a little bit expensive, but they are literally fresh out of a wood fired oven. Crazy awesome. They have these excellent little single serve breads with cheese in them up front, I can’t recall the name but they look like little buns with cheese on top. TRY ONE! They are maybe $ 2 or $ 3 for one… but oh so worth it. A little crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Other breads of note:
Focaccia
Sunflower
I love those two and will always go back for them. Excellent with soups, salads, or just alone. My husband only likes white bread from Meijer (gag) so it’s just me eating them. You can freeze them and they are still great later. If you do freeze and store them, slice them up before hand so its easier to eat later. If you want to try some artisan fresh breads, this is a good place to explore.

Pricey but lovely European style breads. So hard to find in Grand Rapids since American Bread Company closed. Have only tried the breads (we are rye bread freaks) but they have other pastries as well.

I really enjoy coming here, especially in the morning to get a ham and cheese croissant. The croissants in general are awesome, but my favorite is the ham and cheese.
We also recently got some of the oatmeal bread and baguettes for a party (still warm when we got them first thing Sunday morning) and they were devoured.
What could make this place a five star? Their pizza looks awesome (Friday and Saturday nights) I’ve not yet tried but if as good as the croissants, I’ll be giddy.