Episode 67 - Lionel Vatinet of La Farm Bakery

The secret to great bread making is fermentation. Master baker Lionel Vatinet of La Farm bakery in Cary divulged that secret and many others in the latest episode. We get the skinny on why and how Lionel became a master baker. Also, Matt finally gets a legitimate answer as to why French bread is superior to all others. Why does a French Master Baker end up in Cary, North Carolina? Lionel honed his craft from the age of 16 in the bread guild (aka Les Compagnon des Devoir) and one of the key tenets of the guild is travel. Lionel's journey has literally taken him all over the world. Lionel has done everything from coaching Lebanese on how to perfect pita bread to teaching bakers in San Francisco how to improve their sourdough. Ever the suave Frenchmen, Lionel met his wife Missy on a work project in Chicago. After a cross-country love affair Lionel and his wife decided that north Carolina would be the ideal location to begin a sophisticated bakery. Today La Farm is opening up their third location and this time it's inside of a Whole Foods! "This partnership marks an exciting moment in America's bread revolution," explained Missy Vatinet. "(Whole Foods) believes in our product and in our long-term goal of cultivating a healthy grain industry. This is just the kind of support we need to continue our work with local farms, millers and scientists in the wheat and grain industry, to further the research in organic and heirloom grains, and ultimately, to bring outstanding, nutritious breads to our community." In this episode you will not only learn about baking bread but you will also understand how and where to buy quality bread. To say that this episode has a certain je ne sais quoi would be an understatement.