The Bread Baker's Apprentice

In 1987, a twenty-two-year-old named Marco arrived in San Francisco from a small village outside Naples, carrying little more than his grandmother's sourdough starter wrapped in a damp cloth. He spoke almost no English. He had no contacts, no savings, and no plan beyond finding a bakery that would take him in. He found one on Clement Street — a cramped shop run by an elderly French baker named Henri.…