There it lies, a faintly gray, unappetizing lump swathed in transparent plastic. You’d never know to look at it that this unpromising object is likely to produce a mild revolution in how we buy, eat, and even think about bread.

Le Pain du Four has been on sale at the Fourth Avenue bakery of the same name since late March. You can drop by any day and pick up a baguette, fresh-baked from a traditional artisanal recipe that uses pure organic flour, water, sea salt, and sourdough starter of impeccable French country lineage. A lot of Belltowners already do just that, without taking much notice of the rack of bagged loaves against one wall.

But it’s the bread in the bag that presages revolution. Fresh Pain du Four breads are delicious (try one of the classic French ham-and-cheese sandwiches). Still, plenty of other fine fresh breads may be had hereabouts. None, however, remotely as good can be had at, say, 7:30 on a Sunday morning or 11 p.m. on a Saturday evening—not in 15 minutes, without leaving the house or a trip to the deep-freeze.

The French take good food seriously, but good organic food is still hard to come by outside the biggest cities. Biofournil, the company which makes Le Pain du Four, is based in a tiny town between Tours and Nantes in the lower Loire Valley; but thanks to a patented process of partial baking and vacuum bagging, they can sell their product all over France. In three years they have become the biggest producers of organic bread in the country.

Unlike American bake-and-serve loaves, Le Pain du Four doesn’t have to be refrigerated; it will keep up to four months, fresh as a flower, on the open pantry shelf. When you’re ready to eat it, simply preheat your oven to 425 degrees, open the bag, sprinkle the loaf lightly with water, and pop it in to bake for 12 minutes or so.

The result has to be tasted to be believed: crunchy brown crust and firm, chewy crumb, with a wheaty, earthy fragrance that makes most so-called sourdough breads taste callow and rank. Best right out of the oven, it also toasts up a dream.

Biofournil has big plans for its Pain du Four in the U.S., but for now the company is content to maintain its low profile on Fourth Avenue. Once a bagging machine like the one at home in Le Puiset Dore is installed, the pace will pick up. In France, 97 percent of the company’s business is wholesale, and it’s likely that most U.S. customers, too, will first encounter the brand on the shelf of a specialty supermarket. But visit Belltown first, say bonjour, and buy some loaves for your pantry. We wouldn’t want Biofournil, only just arrived in town, to follow Boeing’s example. 2507 Fourth, 728-5999.

Is bread your favorite food group? If oui, then e-mail sidedish@seattleweekly.com.