Now, there are a dozen bread bakers to choose from.

Being a professional bread baker does tie him down.

"The blank canvas for a bread baker is to make a perfect white loaf," she says.

It brings out the bread baker's artistic talent, allowing a unique signature.

Some artisanal bread bakers would add it to their bread dough.

Accomplished bread bakers say that a precise temperature is crucial when kneading dough.

Other days, the bread baker is less Jehovah and more a guardian of the tradition that has always softened the hard edges of the city.

The girls are domestic servants, bread bakers, prostitutes.

There are no display cases or doors dividing the bread bakers from the bread eaters.

Another guest, one of Washington's best amateur bread bakers, always brings a few magnificently braided loaves.