Photo Credit Andrea Littell (http://letlooselittell.wordpress.com/tag/bohemian-bread/)
Collectively, Robert & Annie have created a haven for food lovers in a remote spot in rural Vermont. Each Sunday since September, we've found ourselves leaning against a flour sack on the stairs of their small retail shop, drooling over the week's new confections, sipping on freshly pulled espresso drinks (or in Taylor's case, hot cocoa), and connecting with the others scattered across the community that choose to trade in a weekly visit to church with worship to a different shrine: food. If the start of 2011 marked Taylor's move to Vermont, then building a relationship with Robert & Annie - the business they've built and the community they've cultivated - made Vermont her home.
When did you know that you wanted to work in food?
ANNIE: In the beginning? I actually knew I always would be an artist of some sort, originally thought I would be in fashion. Growing up in NYC, shopping was my pastime and good food was not even on my radar. My grandmother (from Russia) lived with us and she did all the cooking (not very memorable), so my mom wasn't even allowed in the kitchen until my grandma died. Then she was in a panic to cook dinners all of a sudden, and resorted to the straightforward broiling or frying of 5 meals which she repeated a set day of every week. Weekends luckily we went out.
When I got married I had never stepped foot in a kitchen, and so we went out a lot too. This is when IT happened. THE NY TIMES COOKBOOK. Out of boredom, I started making 3 and 4 course dinners each night, while my husband decided he'd rather drink his dinner, leaving me to my own devices, I made even more complicated meals sadly to sit and look at them alone.
Food took a backseat in my life at that point until I moved to San Francisco?land of perpetual sunshine and exotic flowers and plants and the most beautiful fruits and vegetables I had ever seen or tasted! From then on it was farmer's markets and small markets specializing in the best of the best produce around. Then I met some chefs, and one particular BAKER. We made dinners with friends with complicated desserts, holiday gingerbreads, and all kinds of things and and we had a blast. We got to know famous bakers in SF and Robert wanted his own shop to make bread-and we arrived in New England, and bought our house to build a brick oven on the property.
Of course, designing the Bohemian Bread logo came first, followed by deciding how to package the bread with an ink stamp on a brown paper bag. Packaging became my love, with holiday Panettone labels, gingerbread labels and more for each of Robert's pastries and confections. Then the bakery itself- designing it was great fun - to make it the little jewel in the woods that would surprise and excite everyone who walked in the door! Emails each week to promote that week's story or to entice our wonderful customers to come and see us again and again? Along the way I also designed wine labels for E&J Gallo, and a small winery in New Jersey.
ROBERT: I sort of fell into it. You know the drill - washing dishes in the college dining hall, cleanup boy in a bakery. Then in 1979 I was cruising the want ads and "baker's apprentice" caught my eye. I showed up at 4:00 AM, Hank Williams Jr. was blasting from the radio, they handed me an apron and said "put some fat in the donut fryer". It was an old fashioned shop where we made everything from cream puffs to sliced bread to Black Forest cakes. I loved that I was learning a trade.
How did you get your current good food job?
ANNIE: I married into it.
ROBERT: My current "job" is me being my own boss, and working at my own pace, which means all the time every day. But I get to make what I want, the way I want to. Bohemian Bread is the culmination of 30 years in the food biz ? essentially a long journey, from which the term "journeyman" comes. You do your apprenticeship, then you travel around, learning from various masters of the trade.
How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a good food job?
ANNIE: Design, illustration and marketing are my passions. I love figuring out how a product should look on a shelf, in a box or in some sort of paper wrapper. My background in marketing boring tech products and other businesses makes working with food the greatest pleasure! Something I can understand, and can taste!! Yummmmm!
ROBERT: In my wanderings, I was immensely fortunate to work for some of the best in the business on the West Coast. Among them were Gary Rulli of Emporio Rulli, Carlo DiRuocco of Mr. Espresso, and Chad Robertson of Tartine. Rulli taught me Italian pastry and a particular work ethic that inspires me to this day. At Mr. Espresso I did coffee quality control for some of the top restaurants in the SF Bay area, including Chez Panisse, Oliveto and the Lark Creek Inn. And I met Chad and Liz when they were Bay Village Bakery in Mill Valley, before they moved to SF and became Tartine. I rolled croissants while watching Chad out the corner of my eye, picking up subtle clues about his extraordinary breadmaking. That brief time with Chad has proved invaluable to my quest for the perfect French bread, from fermenting the dough to firing and maintaining the brick oven.
What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your Good Food Job dream?
ANNIE: My husband is a hog in the kitchen?but luckily he can't design - so that's my realm? (Editor's Note: Don't let Annie fool you. We've come to crave her savory sandwiches each week and know for a fact she's gifted when it comes to the kitchen, too).
ROBERT: Lack of self-confidence. And a host of other neuroses. I have Annie to thank for getting me (us) where we are now. She pushed and inspired and helped. Otherwise, I'd still be rolling dough on some bench in the vast jungles of the SF Bay area food scene. (Editor's Note: It's true! We love the way Robert and Annie play off each others' strengths, resulting in magic that can only occur when you have a partner.)
What can you identify as the greatest opportunities in food right now?
ANNIE: Quality and simplicity are key. Too many chefs seem to think more ingredients makes something taste better, when I think the reverse it true. And so in design as well, find the essence and make it sing.
ROBERT: Three things: quality, quality and quality. Make it good, and they'll keep coming back for more. We are the dictionary definition of an artisan bakery, but I'm sick of the word "artisan". It means exactly as much as "gourmet" and "natural". When you see "artizzinle" bread that's made in a factory and par-baked, it's time to move on. Leave all that to the Marketing People. I see the direction of the future as micro and really tasty. Obviously, this is not about getting rich. Growth for its own sake gets you money (sometimes), but focus on quality gets you satisfaction and, hopefully, a decent living.
If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?
ANNIE: Can it be love and laughter? And oh, maybe a trip to Paris?
ROBERT: To be 30 again and know what I know now.
What was your favorite food discovery in 2011?