A little off-topic, perhaps, but I figured the quantity of participants here will give me better breadth of replies.
I'm headed to Boston next week on a lightning visit. I'd like to find a good bakery for *bread*, not pastries. (The French have it right - you should have separate terms, "boulangerie" and "patisserie" for the 2 types of establishments. Why does English lump them together?) It's proving difficult to get any advance information because virtually all reviews, travel guides, etc focus on patisseries virtually to the exclusion of bread. So you'll find plenty of recommendations saying such-and-such a place is excellent, then read and see them raving over cakes or pies or eclairs or whatever.
When I think "good", too, I'm not thinking so much of a bakery that's a standout for unusual, unique types of bread or a particularly broad selection of breads with unusual ingredients. I'm looking for high-quality basic breads - e.g. plain white French and Italian, straightforward brown bread, ordinary rye, etc. I highly prefer breads not made in a sour style (in Seattle sour-style breads are ubiquitous to the point of monopolisation).
Any recommendations?