Chad Robertson’s career exemplifies the success that talent and entrepreneurial gumption can lead to. He and his wife, pastry chef Elisabeth Prueitt, opened their first bakery in 1995 in Point Reyes Station, California. For six years, they baked everything in the shop themselves, drawing on their experience working together in bakeries in France and the Berkshire Mountains and their training at the Culinary Institute of America. Their brick oven-baked breads and use of local ingredients in pastries garnered attention in a time before “locavores” existed. Alain Ducasse praised Chad in his book “Harvesting Excellence”, about American food artisans, published in 2000. The couple opened Tartine Bakery in San Francisco in 2002, and followed that up a few years later with their first restaurant, Bar Tartine. Chad and Elisabeth have been nominated for James Beard awards in 2006 and 2007, and in 2008 won for Outstanding Pastry Chef and Baker in the National category. Chad and Liz co-authored the Tartine cookbook in 2006, and Chad followed that up with Tartine Bread, which was published by Chronicle Books in 2010. He is currently at work on his third cookbook, a deep exploration of ancient and heirloom grains.
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