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Tag Archives: bakeries

CHEF OWNERSHIP – SCENARIO #2

01 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by harvestamericacues.com in Uncategorized

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baker, bakeries, chef, chef ownership, cook, pastry chef, restaurants

changin

This is the second of three chef/ownership scenarios drawn from the initial article on that “OWNERSHIP THING”.

Sabrina’s Scones and Crust:

Sabrina has worked in various pastry shops throughout the Pacific Northwest and has built a strong reputation for her creativity and exemplary work ethic. Wherever she works, business improves due to the magic touch that she carries into the bakeshop. A graduate of the French Pastry School in New York, Sabrina hit the ground running and has shown passion for her craft ever since she received her degree. She has worked on the west coast for the past seven years and is now ready to go off on her own.

Through investments from family and friends, Sabrina is ready to open the doors to “Sabrina’s Scones and Crust” in the downtown Pearl District of Portland, Oregon. Just a few steps from an Anthropology Store, the Performing Art Center, numerous restaurants and office buildings, Sabrina is confident that her business will flourish.

The bakeshop is moderate in size with seating for 24 and extensive counter and display space for her baked goods. The focus will be scones, muffins, and artisan breads with the desire to stay dedicated to retail sales. She is concerned about the high cost of rent in this trendy section of town, but is optimistic that business volume will take care of the higher than normal rent. The current space will lease for $8,000 per month – triple net (meaning that she is responsible for any building repairs). She is ready to open with a staff of three other bakers, and ample counter and service staff.

Since there is a Pete’s Coffee store in the next block, Sabrina decided to stay away from espresso drinks and just offer a standard, limited selection of brewed coffee and tea as a complement to the baked goods at “Scones and Crusts”. She estimates that check averages will run between $6-7 with the current menu offered.

Excitement built over the two months prior to opening and when the big day finally arrived she was pleased to see a waiting line outside the door at 6:30 a.m. – their opening time. The quality of the products spoke for themselves and word-of-mouth advertising brought longer lines of enthusiastic customers that didn’t slow down at all over the first few months of business. An article in the Portland newspaper offered rave reviews for the scones and bread – stating that this was the best bakeshop in the Portland area.

bread

Sabrina and her crew were working around the clock and after three months she had yet to take a full day off. Sabrina was exhausted and had not had a chance to take a breath and assess just how well the business was doing. When she finally had a chance to meet with her accountant, the news was shocking. Sabrina had already tapped into her line of credit with a local bank even with the extraordinary number of customers who continued to walk through the door of “Scones and Crusts”. She took the next day off to try and determine what was going on. Back in school she remembered a business professor stating that “the top line drives the bottom line” and as she sifted through sales and expenses it became clear that the cost of operating the business far exceeded the actual sales that the bakery was generating. Her check average was too low and her fixed expenses were way too high. After three months in business her rent was screaming in at 13% of sales where it should stay under 6% for the business to remain viable. The check average was steady, and higher than she originally anticipated, but at $8.50 it was still too low to compensate for rent.

She sat down with the landlord to try and renegotiate her fixed costs, but he was unwilling to budge. Sabrina began to panic – what could she do? Trying to stay focused on product and service, while her business was failing so early on was almost impossible and her staff began to feel her stress. She had a meeting with her investors and they agreed to defer on any return on investment until the end of year one – this gave her a bit of breathing room, but the bills were still mounting up. She decided to take an aggressive step and add a wholesale segment to her operation in an effort to increase sales. Sabrina met with other restaurant owners in the Pearl District who gladly agreed to begin purchasing their breads and breakfast items from her and even contributed to an investment fund to add some needed equipment to the shop. This would allow Sabrina to step up production.

With a dozen or so additional steady clients in her portfolio, Sabrina was now in the wholesale business. Margins on these items were smaller than in retail, so the need to build volume became critical. Sabrina quickly found herself pulled away from baking and forced to focus on building a client list, delivering product, and hiring more bakers. Restaurants were very happy with the product, but noted that their orders were frequently short since the bakeshop could not keep up with demand.

Painted in Waterlogue

The cycle of angst grew more intense as Sabrina added a second shift of baking to meet the demands of wholesale. In the meantime, her absence from the bakeshop and the retail business were evident as quality began to slip and the lack of her pleasant personality in the operation took its toll. Sabrina began to despair.

As her first year of operation was near, Sabrina worked with her accountant to assess the current status of the business. The bakery’s line of credit was maxed out, she was two months behind in rent, and after a recent “not so stellar” article in the Portland paper stated that the bakery was not the same as it was in the early days of operation – retail business had slowed considerably.

After a depressing meeting with her family and friend investors, and a dark meeting with her accountant, Sabrina made the difficult decision to close her doors just 11 months after opening to rave reviews.   So what went wrong – what are the lessons to learn from this scenario?

LESSONS TO BE LEARNED AND RESOLUTION:

  1. THE VALUE OF A BUSINESS PLAN

Sabrina may have been an excellent baker, but going into business is a totally different animal. Take the time to research and invest all of the time needed to know what you should sell, how much you should charge, what your sales must be to cover costs, what your breakeven point is, whether or not your physical space is right for the concept, the relationship of lease to profit, and your role in the business. It seems apparent that Sabrina did not take care of due diligence.

  1. PAY ATTENTION TO LEASE/RENT ARRANGEMENTS

When the suggested limit for lease/rent to sales is at a 6% limit – then make sure that you are able to meet that goal. Fixed costs are oblivious to your sales – they must be paid whether or not you generate enough income.

  1. KNOW HOW TO ASSESS MENU/CHECK AVERAGE AND THEIR IMPACT ON SUCCESS

In Sabrina’s case, the $8,000 per month rent (if defined as 6% of sales) would require “Scones and Crusts” to generate over $133,000 in monthly sales. At a check average of $8.50, ($133,000/$8.50) “Scones and Crusts” would need to serve 15,647 customers per month. That’s 3,912 per week, or 558 per day. If she had rationally assessed these numbers early on, it would have been clear that this was a goal that would be very difficult to meet.

  1. UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF BUSINESS PERSONALITY

Sabrina was “all in” during her first months of operation. She established a clear connection between herself, her staff, and the customers of “Scones and Crusts”. When the business demands, and wholesale operation pulled her away, then there was a noticeable void. Without filling this void, things began to go sideways.

  1. BUSINESS OWNERS NEED TO STAY AT THE 10,000 FOOT LEVEL

From the beginning, when a person decides to become a business operator, then he or she must realize that their job description changes. Sabrina should have stepped back and changed her focus from the first day of operation – she could no longer afford to be the baker – she had to be the conductor of the orchestra.

  1. CONSISTENCY, QUALITY, VALUE

Business owners must always keep their eye on the defined quality of the product – day in and day out. Any perceived slip in this area, or any realized change in the value statement will push customers away.

  1. INVESTOR RELATIONSHIPS CAN STRAIN PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Finally, although not clarified in this fictitious case, Sabrina’s investors were friends and family, and although they likely understood her dilemma – business closure and a loss of their investment or potential return on that investment will strain relationships for some time to come.

PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER

Harvest America Ventures, LLC

www.harvestamericaventures.com

Restaurant Consulting

www.harvestamericacues.com BLOG

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AH…..BREAD AND BREAD BAKERS

18 Friday Apr 2014

Tags

bakeries, bakers, Bread, Bread Baking, chefs, Gerard, Lionel Poilane, Michael London, Nancy Silverton, Red Hen Bakery, restaurants

AH…..BREAD AND BREAD BAKERS

“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight.” – M.F.K. Fischer

If line cooks are the heart of a kitchen then bread bakers must certainly be the soul. Great bread, not simply good bread, is absolutely essential in a respectable restaurant today. This was not always the case in America; in fact the concept of beautiful, crusty, artisanal bread is relatively new in this country. To my way of thinking restaurants became truly noteworthy once bread became important. Today, great bread is a critical piece in a chef’s bag of essential ingredients for success and the difference between a satisfactory guest experience and one that they talk about for weeks after. A chef cannot really build a first class restaurant without superior bread.

Let’s look back just a few years to see how much American palates have grown. Post World War II – America, in the eyes of a “Leave it to Beaver” utopian world was infatuated with the new marvels of food science. Pillow white and soft bread that was now delivered to your door – pre-sliced and ready to use. I can remember the days when bread, milk and other pastries were delivered to your door just like the daily paper. That bread in its protective plastic bag, soft as a pillow and more body than crust was the product that we all grew up on. It was what we became accustomed to and what we interpreted as good bread. I even remember insisting that my mother cut off the thin semblance of a crust before I would attempt to eat this “marshmallow” product.

Looking forward, this is what Julia Child had to say about this American staple:

“How can a nation be great if their bread tastes like Kleenex?” – Julia Childs

It would be Julia and her friend James Beard who would begin to change the U.S. palate for “real bread”, although it would take many years.
“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.” – James Beard
WONDER BREAD (builds strong bodies in 12 different ways) was the bread of choice for decades. It represented, at the time, what America was all about and relegated the palate of U.S. citizens to an acceptance of mediocrity both in flavor and nutrition.
“Several advances in the nutrition and baking process were made during this decade. In 1941, Wonder Bread was involved in a government-supported move to enrich white bread with vitamins and minerals to improve nutrition. Known as the “quiet miracle,” bread enrichment nearly eliminated the diseases Beriberi and Pellagra and brought essential nutrients to people who previously could not afford nutritious foods. At the same time Wonder introduced a revolutionary new way of baking that eliminated holes in bread.”

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/wonderbread.htm

Restaurants, particularly larger hotel operations had originally built bake shops and hired experienced bakers (typically European) to take care of their breads, pastries and elaborate desserts, but as the America palate changed and the cost of operating these portions of the restaurant kitchen became cost prohibitive, most operators eliminated or cut back on the size and scope of the baking operation. They began to purchase product from outside commercial bakeries to supplement their needs and in a short period of time the bakeshop became an afterthought.

As more and more restaurants entered the competitive market in the 60’s and 70’s, it became necessary for those restaurants and hotels to seek out a competitive edge. Due to the rebel approach by a few traditional bakers in the U.S., restaurants started re-introducing bakeshops and a better on-site product. Two in particular were Michael London from Saratoga Springs, New York and Nancy Silverton from Southern California.

MICHAEL LONDON:
“So after 10 years, he moved his bread-making operation to his 1805 farmhouse, renamed the Rock Hill Bakehouse. The “Bakehouse” was nothing more than an average-size kitchen, but it was promptly colonized by four tons of bread a week, laid to cool on a tarp on the lawn—loaves named the Annie and the Charlie, loaves that predated the great artisanal bread explosion of the late ’80s by several years.
London began to articulate his philosophy of baking: about using organic grains (or, better still, grains grown by the environmentally and spirituallyconscious farming method known as Bio dynamics); about doing everything, except the mixing, by hand; about making breads that express the genius loci, because bread should contain the spirit of the place where it’s made.
Rock Hill was soon squeezing out 20,000 loaves a week to satisfy Manhattan restaurants like Le Bernadin and Lespinasse. But London wasn’t interested in merely overseeing a production line. And so we come to The Oven. “I had always been determined to build an oven consistent with my vision of a bakery,” London explains. “It’s very important that bread be baked in a chamber where there’s been fire, so it wears a little ash.”
http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/londons-calling

NANCY SILVERTON and her husband Mark Peel were interested in baking quality breads to support their new restaurant and formed a separate company called La Brea Bread Company to produce for their operation and to wholesale some product to others. It grew into a larger production facility out of demand and eventually was sold to a larger distributor making their pre-baked product available to every restaurant across the country.

http://www.labreabakery.com

To each of these rebel bakers was the inspiration of the world master of bread: Lionel Poilane whose family business and philosophy continue to draw disciples throughout the world. Although his bakeries are in Paris, Paris outskirts and London, you can find his product in New York City, Boston, San Francisco and available overnight on-line. Poilane is considered by many to be the best bread in the world. Poilane, unfortunately passed away in recent years but his daughter carries on the traditions he established.
Pain Poilâne
One of the most prestigious boulangerie in Paris has been run by the Poilâne family for almost 80 years.The boulangerie was started in 1932 by Pierre Poilâne, creating the world famous Poilâne Miche by mixing: stiff levain, gray stone-ground whole wheat flour, spelt flour, gray sea salt from Guérande, water…. and then baking in a traditional wood fired oven. Pierre Poilâne’s core philosophy for products he sold was they should be made with the simple ingredients and be hand crafted. Pain Poilâne, a traditional whole-wheat peasant loaf, has a distinctive rich taste.It’s crumb is slightly sour and chewy and the crust is dark and earthy colored.It has become one of the most famous sourdough breads in France and throughout the world.

http://weekendloafer.com/2011/08/31/poilane-miche/

This brings me back to the original point: America now has a taste for great bread and the philosophies of Poilane, London, and Silverton ring clear as a new generation of bread bakers continue to perfect the artisan craft in communities from Vermont to Oregon. Every town needs a great bread bakery just like you find in France and every restaurant worth a grain of salt must begin with exceptional bread on their table.

The bread baker is a unique individual with a passion for the craft, a commitment to process, and an un-wavering focus on flavor and texture. Their life is different from anyone else and worthy of reverent respect. When a chef finds a great baker he or she will do everything in their power to protect that relationship. When a consumer finds a baker with the passion to produce bread like Pollane, London and Silverton they must bring them into the fold of their family of friends.

Bread Bakers seem to enjoy starting work in the very early morning hours, often find solace in working alone, love the feel of flour in their face, relish the heat of intense ovens and talk to their bread waiting for a response of doneness when tapping on the bread’s underbelly. Their job is physical, mentally challenging and even emotional at times. The process is a blend of science, art, passion, tradition and carries with it an almost spiritual nature.

Here are a few noteworthy bakeries (I am sure you could add dozens of your own):

Gerard Rubaud – Vermont (good luck finding a loaf of his bread – they sellout instantly)

Meet the Baker: Gérard Rubaud

Red Hen Bakery – Vermont (near perfection)

Home

Crown Point Bakery- Adirondacks of New York

https://www.facebook.com/crownpointbread

The Vergennes Laundry – Vergennes, Vermont

http://vergenneslaundry.squarespace.com/

On the nature of a baker –dedicated to his or her craft one should always note that as dedicated as chefs may be to the art and craft of cooking – they know their limits. Most chefs will readily admit that they are not bakers and thus have tremendous respect for those who are. Bakers make the kitchen alive with smells, artistic passion and shear dedication to product.

“In listening to Scherber talk poetically about the process of making bread, you can begin to understand the draw, the charm, and the reasons why bakers love what they do. Scherber reveals the wonder of working with something that is alive. “It is moving along at its own pace and you have to interpret the dough, absorb all the information it is giving you, and use your skills and knowledge to transform it into an exquisite loaf of bread. There is a truly rhythmic and organic nature to bread baking—a sense of flow and energy.”

Amy’s Breads – New York City
http://www.pastryscoop.com/2003/01/18/amy-scherber-amys-bread-renato-kopanski-balthazar-bakery-bread-baking/

BLESS THE BREAD BAKERS – THEY ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH.

PLAN BETTER- TRAIN HARDER
Harvest America Ventures, LLC
Restaurant and Culinary School Consulting, Training and Coaching
http://www.harvestamericaventures.com

Follow our blog at: http://www.culinarycuesblog.wordpress.com

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JENNIFER BEACH – ALL THE WORLD LOVES A PASTRY CHEF

20 Friday Dec 2013

Tags

bakeries, bakers, Jennifer Beach, pastry chefs, Popovers, Popovers on Main

JENNIFER BEACH - ALL THE WORLD LOVES A PASTRY CHEF

From a very early age we are mesmerized by the smell and appearance of pastries. It would be very difficult to walk into a well-stocked bakery without a smile on your face. It is not just the intoxicating smell of sugar and butter, but even more so – the memories that go along with holding a warm pastry in your hands, peeling back the paper on a cup cake, or stabbing your fork into a light as a feather piece of cake. We can all close our eyes and stir up our aroma memory of fresh baked apple pie or a loaf of crusty artisan bread right from the oven, sliced and lathered with creamy butter.

This time of year, in particular, seems to focus on baked goods in the home, on the street, in the shopping center, and at the restaurant table. We celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah and the New Year with gingerbread houses, decorated sugar cookies, sculptured breads, lightly iced cupcakes with coconut snow, petite fours, chocolate truffles, black forest cake, and stollen. It is a right of passage that each of us over-consumes those things without guilt at a time of the year that allows this to be “the exception to the rule”. We can’t resist – we must have it.

I am not, by any stretch of the imagination – pastry proficient. As a property chef I always sought out talented bakers to fill in those gaps in my resume. Now, I know great baking when I see it and taste it, but a pastry chef I am not. It always amazes me how much can be done with so few ingredients. Flour, sugar, eggs, butter, milk and a leavening agent and a whole world of options open up. Unlike savory cooking (my area) where there is significant poetic license in how ingredients are combined, in what order, and using what method; in baking it is all about process, timing, and temperature. There is a science to baking that I guess I never had the patience or aptitude for – just an appreciation for the end products.

Pastry work, like some types of cooking, attracts many frustrated artists. People who have an innate talent for structure, detail, color and texture. There are many pastry chefs who could find a home for their sculpture and pastry painting skills using museum mediums, but choose to work with materials that can be appreciated for short periods of time and then consumed. They prefer their art lovers to press their noses against the pastry case rather than stand behind a velvet rope and simply admire, but don’t touch.

As a chef, knowing that your pastry department is under the wings of a passionate, talented, smiling artist is parallel to a quarterback knowing that his wide receivers are always ready for that catch that puts the game in the bag. Great bread and desserts in a restaurant can put that dining experience over the top. The guest will likely remember that fabulous dessert much longer than the entrée.

I know many great bakers and pastry chefs, those individuals who set the olfactory tempo in a kitchen and push everyone else to keep up with plate presentations and finishing touches. Sometimes these stars of the kitchen knew what they wanted to do from a very early age and sometimes they fell into that role. One of those fabulous pastry chefs that I call “friend” is Jennifer (Bennett) Beach. Jenn is now the Director of Baking for “Popovers on the Square” with another one of my pastry hero’s: Certified Master Baker, Steve James. My connections with Jennifer go back many years when she started as a student enrolled in Culinary Arts at Paul Smith’s College in the Adirondacks and then later as the number 2-pastry person at the Balsam’s Resort in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire.

Jennifer has agreed to this interview as an opportunity to share parts of her story and maybe inspire others to pursue a career in the bakeshop.

1. What or who influenced you to pursue a career in the kitchen or bakeshop?
When I was freshman in high school I signed up to take Spanish, but was bumped to Culinary Arts, as the Spanish class was full…. I was really upset, until I found out what Culinary Arts actually was.
At first I did not like the class as the instructor was tough, demanding and made us learn about knife skills, sanitation, ingredients and was all book work, etc.
It took me a bit to realize why she didn’t let us in the kitchen for a few months. The class size dropped by more than half, as many dropped it thinking the class was ‘lame’. I’m really glad I stuck with it because once we had the fundamentals down, she allowed us in the kitchen to cook and bake based on the unit we were studying. This was her way of weeding out those that thought it would be an easy credit. She wanted serious students. By the end of the school year, I knew that I wanted to be a chef.

2. Who mentored you in your pursuit of this career?
At Paul Smith’s I had the opportunity to learn from the instructor’s there. Paul Sorgule was instrumental in helping me secure an internship at The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel in Dixville Notch, NH. I had hoped to work as a line cook, but the only open spots they had were in the hotels Bakeshop.
I worked under Master Baker Chef Stephen James for one winter season and realized the bakeshop was where I wanted to be, not the hot line. I worked at the hotel for 14 years, honing my pastry skills and had the opportunity to travel the country during the ‘off seasons’ to work in other large resorts and clubs during their busy time. It was the best learning experience ever, almost like an apprenticeship.

I have been working with Steve James now for over 20 years.

What style of cooking or baking best portrays your passion?
Our style, at Popovers on the Square is simply food that tastes good, presentation is important, but if it doesn’t taste good, what was the point of the fancy garnish? To me there is nothing worse than a beautifully stunning wedding cake that is dry without flavor.

Do you have a food philosophy that drives your menu decisions? If so, can you describe this philosophy?
We try to bring in the best possible ingredients, follow proper procedures and fundamentals to produce a product that is of high quality and consistent. If it is not right, “DON’T SERVE IT”. We all make mistakes, but we cannot sell or serve them. The loss in food cost is not worth the loss in customer loyalty. We also need to be aware of what our customers want.

3. Can you name a particular food experience in your life that was your epiphany? An experience that stands out as the moment when you said, yes, this is what I need to do.

I’m not really sure there is one experience or event…. it was more about things just falling into place… ending up in the culinary class in high school, ending up working in the bakery instead of the hot line…it almost seems like it was fate….

4. What is your pet peeve about working in restaurants?
It would have to be the amount of time spent away from family and friends over the years. Our families really pay a price for our career choice. I’m lucky that my immediate family understands and since my husband is also in the industry, our kids know nothing else….

5. Who are your most valuable players in the restaurant or bakery where you currently work?
In our company (Popovers on the Square) we have 18 pastry chefs and bakers in three different locations. I am so proud to lead them all.
I cannot name one as an MVP, as I believe I have an MVT, most valuable team. It takes everyone to run the day-to-day production and deliveries. They each have job to do and I hold each of them accountable for that job. My team leaders are Katie Green, Hannah Joy Waechter and Jason Perry.

6. If you had an opportunity to provide some guiding light to young cooks and bakers looking to make their mark in kitchens, what would you tell them?
First, learn the basic fundamentals of baking. Mixing methods, time and temperature controls and measurements. Know your ingredients-where do they come from and how do they work in a formula. Be humble and find a mentor. Find someone willing to teach and train, this needs to continue long after schooling. Keep your head down, but your eyes and ears open. Watch what others are doing around you. Taste everything and use your sense of smell. Each time you bake that pan of brownies, really take in the smell and aroma when they are finished baking. If you are in tune to that, you will be amazed at how many things you ‘save’ when a timer was not set.

7. When you hire people to work in your kitchen what traits are you looking for?
I hire people that I like. I need people on my team who want to be there to better themselves, not just someone looking for a “job”. I hire people that have a ‘whatever it takes attitude’. I’m looking for maturity, responsibility, punctuality and professionalism. I have a zero tolerance for profanity in the bakeshop. I expect my team to be respectful of the bakeshop, the ingredients and each other. I tell everyone I hire: “if you do your job and work hard each day, I will teach you all that I know”.

8. If you were not cooking or baking, what would you choose to do for a career?
I have often thought of this question and I’m not really sure how to answer it. I always thought it would be fun to work in a greenhouse or garden center, which is funny because I can’t keep a houseplant alive for more than a year. Ha, ha.

9. What would you like people to know about your current restaurant/bakery and the food that you produce?

The original Popovers opened in 2006. We took over the commissary facility in 2010 from a sister company and in August just opened our second Popovers location. In September we began an extensive renovation of our wholesale facility. The owners John Tinios and Steve James are committed to hospitality at its best. They have built a great company and I’m proud to help them run it.

_______________________________________________________________________________

A few words about popovers (the product): Unlike other baked goods, the only leavening agent in popovers is steam. Making sure that you do not over-mix your simple ingredients of eggs, milk, salt, oil and flour and insuring that your pans and oil are very hot will allow this magical concoction to seal and immediately begin to rise in the pan forming a crust while growing to 2-3 times the height of the muffin or popover pan. Making sure to not prematurely open the oven, giving a small poke to the top of the popover, allowing steam to escape and finishing in the oven until they are set and dry will leave you with one of the most incredible treats.

Serving them hot with lots of butter and jam or if you prefer to use them for savory applications- drippings from a roast beef, will typically leave the consumer speechless.

Popovers are actually an America version of the English Yorkshire pudding. American settlers referred to Popovers and Yorkshire Pudding in the following fashion:

“Yorkshire Pudding, a fortunate blunder: It’s a sort of popover that turned and popped under.”

I vividly remember the numerous times that I dined at Anthony’s Pier IV in Boston (seats something like 1,000 people), home to the famous restaurateur Anthony Athanas (worked in the restaurant until he was in his 90’s), and enjoying more than anything else the popover server who walked the dining room with a warmer, freely passing out popovers to diners. This was New England hospitality in full motion.

With regards to the importance of pastry, I find this quote most appropriate:

Brillat-Savarin’s great aunt, on her deathbed stated how important pastry chefs were to her when she said: “I feel the end is approaching. Quick bring me my dessert, coffee and liqueur.”

What has always impressed me about pastry chef Jennifer Beach is not just her talent and passion but the fact that she has always seemed perpetually happy. She truly loves what she does and the impact that her products have on others.

If you would like to view more about Popovers on the Square, visit their website at:

http://www.popoversonthesquare.com

or better yet, visit their bakeries in the following towns:

Popovers on the Square – Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Popovers at Brickyard Square – Epping, New Hampshire

Ask for Jennifer!

*The picture is of the pastry case at Popovers on the Square. Jennifer wanted their work to speak for itself.

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  • FOOD MOMENTS THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE September 19, 2022
  • DO IT RIGHT September 14, 2022
  • RESTAURANT STAFF – A LABOR DAY TRIBUTE September 1, 2022
  • YOU COOK WHAT & WHO YOU ARE August 28, 2022
  • BRING BACK THE 20 SEAT BISTRO August 22, 2022
  • CONTROLLED HUSTLE August 18, 2022
  • COOKING WITH FIRE August 13, 2022
  • THE GREATEST THREAT TO AMERICAN RESTAURANTS August 4, 2022
  • THE END OF THE AMERICAN RESTAURANT July 31, 2022
  • CHEFS – BUILD YOUR NETWORK OF INFLUENCE July 27, 2022
  • COOKING – THAT THREAD OF FRIENDSHIP July 23, 2022
  • KITCHENS CAN BE TALENT INCUBATORS July 19, 2022
  • WORK HARD AND BE KIND July 16, 2022
  • AN EVEN BIGGER THREAT TO RESTAURANT SURVIVAL July 15, 2022
  • KNIVES – THE CHEF’S WITNESS TOOLS July 9, 2022

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