A few years (and jobs) later, I found myself in Seattle working under William Leaman, a brilliant baker who would shortly bring great honor to American baking as captain of the winning team at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie—the Super Bowl of bread making. His training, technique, and precision bear the hallmarks of his teachers, all of whom were classique French bakers and pastry chefs. Like a true French chef, the only way William wanted things done was his way, yet he didn’t so much explain what he wanted as tell you his goal and leave you to figure out how to get there. His recipes were the roughest of sketches, and from them he expected me to execute finished paintings. I knew that he wanted his bread to have a particular open crumb structure and a certain flavor, which he felt could only be achieved if the loaf was at least 70 percent white flour. He left the remaining mix of flours up to me.
