At the Chef’s Table: Discovering parallel between baking, career
By RICH LABRIOLA January 10, 2012 11:54AM
Rich Labriola loves bread and made it his life’s work. His latest favorite? Almond Croissants. | Al Podgorski~Sun-Times photos
Updated: January 10, 2012 3:08PM
The path I’ve taken over the years with my artisan bread business is much like the art of baking. It requires patience, constantly learning new techniques and, of course, lots and lots of recipes.
I’ve always had a passion for bread, flavorful, handcrafted, fresh artisan bread. Bread brings people together and symbolizes community, family and gathering. Coming from a big Italian family, this tradition was a part of my life. My dream was to bring this bread that I so loved to the community, even though I didn’t know how to bake.
I started selling my first loaves of freshly baked bread out of the trunk of my car. I remember the early days, getting out of bed in the middle of the night and heading to my first “bakery,” a little space I rented in an industrial park next to the tollway in Alsip.
In those early morning hours, the hours I’d get very used to over the course of my years in the baking business, I mixed the dough and turned out loaves upon loaves, working to perfect my craft.
I ate, drank and slept bread. I read books, visited bakeries and never took a day off. I took everyone’s advice and surrounded myself with the best bread bakers I could find as I worked to achieve my dream.
I think about those days often, when I used to bake all night, then hit the road in the early morning in my truck to drop off warm bread to my clients — the small shops and cafes, and eventually some of Chicago’s finest dining establishments. That’s what made it all worth it.
When I opened my bakery cafe in Oak Brook three years ago, I achieved another milestone in my baking journey. Testing new recipes for our expanded offerings at the cafe reminds me of the days when I first started baking.
One of my recent favorites is a sweet one — Almond Croissants. Using plain croissants from your local bakery or grocer, you can turn them into sweet, crunchy, almond-crusted gems.
Rich Labriola is the “chief dough boy” of Labriola Baking Co. and Labriola Bakery Cafe, 3021 Butterfield Rd., Oak Brook.
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