Head Doughpuncher/Partner Easy Tiger Bake Shop and Beer Garden Austin, TX, United States
Description: My Instagram feed is full of bread porn: crackly loaves and crumb shots. Yet when I go out to eat, if I get bread at all, it is likely a slice of baguette perfectly grill-marked, that can’t hide the fact that it spent two days shrouded in plastic in the walk-in. If I donate bread and score a seat at a charity banquet, truffles are shaved atop butter for the "bread course." As bakers, do we have a voice in the trajectory of our bread? (spoiler alert: yes) Can we share a vision with what chefs do with bread? Absolutely. Maybe I profited from those mistreated baguettes. Or perhaps I do not sell to restaurants at all. Yet, leading chefs and food personalities have an outsized influence on how our customers eat, and trends that inform bread sales.
In my book, Bread on the Table, I explore bread's traditional role in bringing people together. On the IBIE stage, I will share my experience baking and collaborating with chefs from Seattle to New York City to Austin, including how we serve bread in our Easy Tiger Beer Garden restaurants. Together, we can forge a new place for bread on the table.
Classroom Engagement: I intend to share my experience working in bakeries and restaurants for over thirty years and explore examples of creative ways that restaurants and chefs are serving bread. I will invite the audience to share their own encounters with unique bread presentations and challenge them to engage with the chefs in their communities, whether they are direct customers or not.