Nadia Brandt
Pastry Chef & Bakery Owner
I opened Fold Bakehouse in 2019 with one deck oven and a sourdough starter I have kept alive since culinary school. We are known for laminated pastry built on Pacific Northwest fruit — marionberry, Italian prune plum, quince from a neighbour's tree. Before Fold I ran the pastry program at a 120-seat restaurant, which taught me how to plate under pressure. Owning a bakery taught me something harder: how to build a schedule people can actually live inside. I speak often about wage structure and daylight hours in bakery work.
Signature dish
Marionberry and brown butter kouign-amann
Thirty-six hour laminated dough, caramelised in brown butter and raw sugar, filled with marionberries picked within sixty miles of the bakery.
Cultural influences
German-Danish family baking traditions, reinterpreted with Oregon fruit and a lot less sugar.
Experience
Owner & Head Baker
Fold Bakehouse · 2019 – Present
Built a wholesale and retail bakery from one deck oven to a fourteen-person team. Daylight-hours schedule, no overnight shifts.
Pastry Chef
Rill · 2016 – 2019
Owned the dessert menu and bread program for a 120-seat restaurant.
Pastry Cook
Maison Verre · 2014 – 2016
Viennoiserie and morning production under a French MOF-trained chef.
Education
Diploma, Baking & Pastry
Oregon Culinary Institute · 2013 – 2014
Awards
Outstanding Baker, Semifinalist
James Beard Foundation · 2023
Semifinalist recognition for Fold Bakehouse.
Portfolio