As a food photographer, Mira holds one of the many good food job titles that we find ourselves envious of, time after time. Food is such a sensational topic that it’s hard not to want to capture it from as many angles as possible, beyond how it tastes and whose company you enjoyed during the meal. But for Mira, food is about all of those things, and she pours her passion into every last detail of her photos, as you can see.

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Okay, we admit that it’s kind of cheating to feature someone who doesn’t have a real job in food yet, but it’s yet another opportunity to highlight the spectrum of ways to pursue your passion. So in case you’re not independently wealthy, and actually have to pay bills and bank loans, Noah proves that you can exercise your interests while you figure out exactly where you fit in the food world.

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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?

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Kristina has a lot going for her, including that delicious smile. She’s bright and optimistic, and wasn’t afraid to turn a mundane activity (watching the telly) into inspiration for her life’s work. While many of us dream of being the next Food Network star, Kristina simply dreamed of channeling her talents toward her passion. It’s paying off in part due to her ability to follow a path without being entirely sure where it leads, and that type of courage is our own source of inspiration.

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The thing about hand-picking each person featured on the blog – and each job that gets posted on goodfoodjobs.com – is that we can honestly say we admire each and every one of them. And occasionally there comes a job that sounds so appealing, we have to admit we’re jealous (or, in the case of available jobs, we have to restrain ourselves from applying to them!). Martine is the lucky subject of our envy this week, as the woman who edits the shop at food52.com. Her creative prowess is enough to turn you green, but her story of following an instinct to jump into something for which she had little experience should convince you that with a little effort, you could be occupying your own dream food job.

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It seems as though everyone’s going green these days, including restaurants.  While the tasty presence of locally sourced ingredients may appear obvious to the consumer – the proof is often printed plainly on the menu – there’s another greening going on behind-the-scenes in NYC restaurants.  And Alan is the man behind it all.  With more then two decades of hospitality experience, he’s using his knowledge and expertise to identify less obvious ways for restaurants to run more efficiently.  Waste removal, energy efficiency, and water conservation might not be as glamorous as heirloom potatoes, but the compounding effects of his design solutions are saving significant funds for restaurants.

Editor’s note: the Green Hospitality Initiative is offering a free training on practical and cost efficient ways to save energy and water usage and cut back on hazardous chemicals while increasing a restaurant’s bottom line.  If you’re interested in attending on Thursday, January 27th, click here for details.

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Annie and Carlin are perfect examples of how unique non-food-related skills can be applied to a good food pursuit. We had the good fortune to meet this dynamic duo at the Basis Food Festival in September, and it was love at first sight. Though we soon discovered a mutual zest for good food and how it can connect people, we were instantly taken with the simple beauty of the food wheels that they’ve created together. Whether you appreciate beauty more than function is of no consequence, because the food wheels satisfy both qualities with ease. Find out how the stars aligned for them to create this amazing tool.

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You might not think that farming is rocket science, but we’ll argue that Jenn’s job is every bit as complex (and important) as the stuff they do at NASA. With a deep respect for the earth, she’s developed intricate systems that equally nourish people, plants, and the planet, and she’s practiced her craft in Arizona, Antarctica, on a barge, and now on a New York City rooftop. Gotham Greens is revolutionizing urban agriculture like nobody else in NYC, with green-minded technologies and techniques that can provide New Yorkers with local, sustainable produce – and that’s a job we can all get behind.

ABOUT GOTHAM GREENS

Gotham Greens is creating New York City’s first commercial hydroponic rooftop greenhouse. This 12,000 ft2 rooftop facility will grow over 30 tons of premium-quality fruit and vegetables each year for the New York City retail and restaurant market. The farm will combine technically sophisticated, commercially proven Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) techniques with energy saving innovations unique to this project.

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Few people come to food by way of engineering, but then again, few people are like Dave Liatti.  You won’t see him at the hottest New York restaurants, cruising the farmers markets, nor at any of the other typical places that attract New York’s “foodie” culture.  But don’t be fooled; that doesn’t mean that Dave isn’t into food, and it doesn’t mean that his lack of experience “in food” hinders his ability to work in the industry.  A man of simple tastes (and few words, as you’ll soon find out), Dave prefers things/businesses/people that are rooted and real – good food, good environment, and good people.  Sick of the hype and hubris surrounding most food establishments, Dave is opening 61 Local this summer, a place where people can meet, share, and appreciate locally crafted food and drink.  He’ll never claim that he knows the most about food, but he’s happy to leverage his own unique expertise to make a good food contribution. After all, if an engineer can appreciate the pleasures of good food, we all can, right?

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