Joanne Chang, Flour Bakery

Joanne Chang was born in Houston, Texas and attended schools in Houston, Denver, Tulsa, and Dallas.  She attended Harvard College where she received her B.A. in Applied Mathematics and Economics, cum laude.  After graduation, she spent two years as a management consultant at Monitor Company in Cambridge, MA, where she focused on logistics studies and customer surveys.   Driven by a consuming passion for food, she left consulting for the food industry.  Her first job was at Biba, a well-established, high-profile upscale restaurant in Boston.  She spent a year picking up basic cooking skills as a line cook before moving on to Bentonwood Bakery in Newton Center.  At Bentonwood, she gained an impeccable foundation in scratch baking, rising to the position of assistant to the chef/owner within a few months.     She departed from Bentonwood when she was offered the head pastry chef position at Rialto, a four-star restaurant in Cambridge.  Her experience at Rialto allowed her not only to expand her pastry knowledge through creating recipes and developing menus, but also to advance key management skills, such as hiring, training, tracking food costs, motivating employees, and establishing quality standards.   Her next move was to New York City as a pastry assistant at the highly acclaimed French bakery, Payard Pâtisserie.  Her year at Payard supplemented her American pastry knowledge by giving her a thorough introduction to classic and modern French pâtisserie.  In addition, she strengthened her organizational and management abilities as a PM sous chef for part of the year.    Once back in Boston, she took the position of Pastry Chef at Mistral restaurant while she started to develop the idea of creating her own bakery and café, Flour.  She found a location in the upcoming neighborhood of the South End 2 years later, and on September 2000, Flour Bakery + Café opened to a long line of eager customers.    Flour has gained local and national acclaim for its amazing pastries and wonderful service.  Their menu features breakfast pastries, breads, cakes, cookies, and tarts as well as sandwiches, soups, and salads. Flour has been featured in Gourmet, Food and Wine, the New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Lucky Magazine, Newsweek, and Boston Magazine and has received numerous Best of Boston awards.   The popularity of Flour led her loyal customers to urge her to open a second location, and upon finding another great location at Fort Point Channel, Joanne has brought Flour food and friendliness to another new neighborhood.   Joanne's energetic commitment to excellence extends beyond the kitchen. She writes pastry articles and reviews cookbooks for Fine Cooking magazine. She teaches classes and advises pastry cooks both within the bakery and at area cooking schools. An avid runner, she has competed in every Boston Marathon since 1991.