It's a holiday week, so maybe you're thinking about something special for the menu.

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One of the most basic foods is bread, but it doesn't have to be boring. And that's what takes us to Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop, a new bread store in downtown Anchorage.

The store has been open six weeks, and according to co-owner Jerry Lewanski, it is off to a great start.

It specializes in artisan baking, and has rotating specialty breads available throughout the week. Available on Saturday in preparation for Easter are hot cross buns, onion poppy seed rolls, roasted potato rolls, dinner rolls and several breads -- fennel apricot, olive levain, roasted potato and black fore. The hot cross buns are $15 for six; the rolls are $12 for a half dozen.

"We're trying to use old methods to make the bread," Lewanski said. "We want to take as much flavor out of the ingredients as we possibly can. The emphasis is on creating tremendous flavor from the fewest ingredients. Many times the ingredients are just flour, water, salt and a little yeast.

"We're trying to keep the quality high. That's actually part of our business plan -- high quality. We use all organic flour, and we're picking organic products based on quality."

Daily breads include ciabatta, Fire Island rustic wheat, whole wheat sourdough or rustic rye. The speciality breads include challah, roasted garlic, multigrain sourdough, New York rye, dark rye, raisin and walnut, and walnut and Gorgonzola.

For those with a sweet tooth, the bakery offers several French pastries including croissant, pain au chocolat, ham and cheese croissant, danishes and cinnamon rolls on the weekend. Several other sweets and sandwiches are also available.

The bakery is at 1343 G St., at the corner of G Street and 14th Avenue. Contact Fire Island at 569-0001 or visit online at fireislandbread.com. It is open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday to Monday. It is closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

"We've really been welcomed into the neighborhood," Lewanski said. "We wanted to be designed as a neighborhood bakery. We looked all over the city and we ended up here, right in the middle of a neighborhood."

There are plenty of seafood options on ice this week. (And if you're looking for a new way to prepare that fresh halibut that is in the stores, check out the recipe in our main Passover meal story.)

"This week looks like there may be a little more product in the pipeline than last week," said John Jackson from New Sagaya markets. "The weather has been pretty cooperative and the volcano has been quiet the last few days, hopefully this will facilitate getting more fish into the marketplace.

"I am seeing more fresh cod and rockfish in the stores, and if the weather holds we should see troll king salmon in here by the weekend."

Jackson said the winter king troll season is set to close next Wednesday. He hopes because of low catch numbers so far the closing will be pushed back to the end of the month.

Jackson said New Sagaya will be selling whole 10- to 20-pound halibut for $6.99 a pound and "Rambo" black tiger prawns for $7.99 a pound. The fresh halibut will be cut by experts in the seafood department.

Dannon Southall at 10th & M Seafoods said fresh halibut this week is $14.95 for fillets and $7.95 for 10- to 20-pound fish. He said fresh ground fish, catfish and trout will be available this week.

For herbs, Mile 5.2 Greenhouse in Eagle River has more than you can count. The greenhouse has more than 30 types of herbs available in 4-inch pots. Options include a variety of mints, dill, chives, basil, Tuscan blue rosemary, pineapple sage, winter savory and lemon thyme. Fresh cut herbs include basil, mint, catnip and some rosemary. For more information, call 694-3978 or visit mile52greenhouse.com.

If you have information or suggestions for a future MarketFresh column, please contact Steve Edwards at sedwards@adn.com or 257-4316.

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