The Model Bakery

I used to think English muffins were perfectly round, small, slightly stale, pre-cut disks dusted with dry corn meal that always end up stacked in their flimsy package in the center aisle display at the grocery store. But at The Model Bakery, smack dab on St. Helena’s, Calif.’s Main Street, the fresh-baked English muffins are hand-made and formed from ciabatta dough and griddled with cornmeal. Soft, slightly sweet, chewy and warm, they hardly needed the apricot jam that came with them. Everything else at Model, (which has been in downtown St. Helena for 80 years) looked amazing, from the cookies, pastries, cakes and endless stacks of breads baked with organic bread flours in original brick ovens from the 1920s, to the dried cranberry and golden raisin granola that may rival Milk & Honey’s. 1357 Main Street, St. Helena, Calif., 707.963.8192.