Fresh baked every morning, the variety of breads at Great Harvest runs the gamut from long baguettes to round loaves of Tomato Basil.

GREAT HARVEST BREAD COMPANY Location: Kings Court Shopping Center, 901 S. Kings Dr. Phone: 704-333-0431 Details: Variety of breads baked every day. Call or drop by for monthly schedule. Also available: Homemade granola, whole wheat pancake mix, fresh ground whole wheat flour and dog biscuits. Prices: $1.60-$6 per loaf. Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m.-5 p.m.; closed Monday.

Be loose and have fun. Bake phenomenal bread. Run fast to help customers. And give generously to others.

That's the mission statement of the Great Harvest Bread Company. Located on Kings Drive in the Kings Court Shopping Center, the bakery opened in late 2002. Owners Jeff and Janet Ganoung, have a franchised bakery unlike any other in Charlotte.

The whole setup reminds me of the story of The Little Red Hen.

As you might recall, the little red hen was in the farmyard one morning scratching in the dirt with her chicks when she found a grain of wheat. Her farmyard friends, the duck and the goose, refused to help her, so the little red hen planted the grain of wheat by herself. She watched it grow, took it to the mill when it was ripe, brought home the fresh ground flour and proceeded to bake some bread.

The Ganoungs spend their days doing much the same thing as the little red hen; only they have help from an energetic staff who share their enthusiasm for life and the bread baking business, in particular. Every afternoon, they grind the hard spring Montana whole wheat in a Danish-made stone mill fitted with large granite grinding stones. The mill is in a separate room in the back of the bakery. The next morning they take the flour ground from the wheat and proceed to bake bread.

True to their mission statement, they bake phenomenal bread in an array of shapes, sizes and flavors, all sold fresh within 48 hours of the original wheat grinding. This quick turnaround from whole grain to finished loaf gives the breads what Jeff refers to as a "difference with distinction."

The freshly ground flour not only makes for a better taste and texture but also provides maximum natural nutrition and a longer shelf life. Great Harvest doesn't use any preservatives in their breads, yet the bread you take home today will keep for at least a week at room temperature, if wrapped in the plastic bag in which you purchase it. In case whole wheat and natural nutrition have you thinking of some healthy-sounding, good-for-you stuff that tastes like cardboard, think again.

RATING SCALE Excellent, a must try. Above average, worth consideration. Average, but nothing spectacular. Just okay. Poor, not recommended.

Great Harvest's hand-kneaded and individually shaped breads come in a variety of flavors from savory to sweet, most made with the fresh ground flour. Other breads, scones and some muffins and cookies are made with unbromated, unbleached white flour.

While the bread selection changes slightly each month, the basic breads quick to become your family's favorites include Honey Whole Wheat and Harvest White, available every day both in the shape of full loaves and in rolls sold six to a batch. Dakota Bread, baked fresh and sold three days of the week, is made with the stone ground whole wheat flour, honey, sunflower, poppy and sesame seeds, millet, yeast and salt. The 2.2-pound loaf is topped with a variety of crunchy seeds, and each slice packs a high level of protein. Toasted and spread with peanut butter, it has quickly become my new favorite breakfast food.

Add some spice - and herbs - to things around your kitchen table with Great Harvest's Spinach Feta Bread and tasty Tomato Basil loaves. In addition to good eating on their own, try them warmed and dipped in extra virgin olive oil or use toasted slices as a base for your favorite bruschetta or crostini recipe. It's a quick and easy springtime appetizer.

On the sweeter side, look for Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread, Cinnamon Swirl Bread and Cinnamon Chip Bread. All are great as is, torn and baked in your favorite bread pudding recipe or batter dipped and panfried for a family breakfast of french toast.

There are also fresh-baked cookies, muffins, tea cakes and scuffins - a cross between a scone and a muffin - at Great Harvest in a tempting assortment of flavors. Look for Oatmeal Raisin, Peanut Butter, and Snickerdoodle cookies in addition to Berry Cream Cheese and Cinnamon Chip Scuffins. There are Carrot Bread muffins and new for April, Chocolate Banana muffins, as well.

New to the Great Harvest menu this month is Apple Scrapple Bread (like Cinnamon Swirl with baked-in chunks of apples), Lemon-Poppy Seed tea cakes, Blondies, and french baguettes. For the week or two leading up to Easter, Great Harvest will feature Honey Bunnies - the Honey Whole Wheat Bread seasonally shaped in the form of a bunny, and they'll bake Hot Cross Buns every weekend in April.

Can't decide which bread to try first? At Great Harvest you are encouraged to sample before you buy - baked sweets are ready when the shop opens and fresh bread starts coming out of the oven every day around 10 a.m. A slice or two to taste are yours for the asking.

While the bakery opens at 7 a.m., the folks at Great Harvest are there at 4:30 to start the mixing and baking process. Once the dough rises in 140-quart batches, the team at Great Harvest goes to work hand-kneading and shaping each loaf. The process is fast and furious as the timing of the bread's rising is important, so stop by early and catch a glimpse of the fun. If you're in luck, there will be tunes blasting from the boom box and everyone will be singing along - like a Karaoke bar, but without all the obnoxious drunks. If you want to know more, Jeff, Janet and staff are happy to give tours of the bakery and explain the breadbaking process in detail - just call to schedule a time.

Let's go back to our story of The Little Red Hen. You might recall that at the end of the story, the hen did not share the bread she baked with her farmyard friends. This is where the comparison to Great Harvest ends. The Ganoungs believe whole-heartedly in giving back to and sharing with the community, vowing "to make Charlotte and the world a better place, one loaf at a time."

There is no day-old bread at Great Harvest. Unsold loaves are donated to Community Food Rescue to help feed the hungry in our community. The Ganoungs are happy to provide free bread for eligible charity dinners, marathons, fund-raisers and the like.

Janet Ganoung pulls whole wheat bread dough onto the work table for kneading.

Well-known Charlotte restaurant critic, food writer, cooking instructor and connoisseur of food and wine, Heidi Edidin writes "South Charlotte Weekly: Culinary Corner," a restaurant review or food feature that appears weekly. Contact Heidi with questions and restaurant, food or story ideas by email at heidi@southcharlotteweekly.com.

SCW photos by Sean Busher.

This article first appeared in "South Charlotte Weekly" on April 4, 2003. "South Charlotte Weekly" is a free, locally owned, independent newspaper that's "About the Community, For the Community," available every Thursday in South Charlotte and Uptown.

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