Each bread share bundle will feature a sourdough boule, sourdough loaf and a dozen dinner rolls. (Photo courtesy Olivia Wilson)
“They're named Venus and Serena [after the Williams sisters], because I love tennis.” Olivia Wilson, executive pastry chef and co-owner of Chairlift and Brenner Pass in Scott’s Addition, is talking about her AP (all-purpose flour) and rye bread starters.
Wilson, who cares for her starters like a devoted mother, is the baking talent behind what she says is Richmond's first bread share, launched earlier this week at Chairlift. Every day she arrives to work between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. when it’s still pitch-black outside and the city’s asleep. While most people are barely getting their day started, Wilson has bread to tend.
Upon arrival, she feeds the starters with equal parts water and flour and breaks off and discards a tiny piece, to ensure the starter stays alive and doesn't get too big.
Wilson repeats the process around 2 p.m., an afternoon snack of sorts. At night, aka dinnertime, the starters receive a larger "meal," a process Wilson describes as “bulking up.”
“When we come in the next day, they’re all bubbly and happy,” she says of the pleasantly satiated starters.
The mixing and forming follows. Wilson uses 20 percent rye flour and 80 percent bread flour, both organic from Central Milling. She visits nearby Scott’s Addition neighbor The Veil Brewing Co. once a week to collect and use their spent grains, or leftover malt, in her bread.
To form the dough, Wilson turns it — no kneading — and builds layers like the laminated pastry of a croissant. During this time the dough is able to take in fresh air, and Wilson, an experienced architect of this process, creates structure and tension to ensure it is healthy and strong. These are the Williams sisters, after all.
The entire process takes three days to complete, the final result a testimony to patience and continual nurturing, and Wilson is excited to share her self-taught baking abilities with the Richmond community.
“I’m excited to show people, yeah, we do this,” she says Wilson. “You can’t push [bread baking]. There will be days when we’re done with everything else, but we have to stay with the bread. It’s like a baby.”
Wilson, best known for her pastries, learned bread baking on her own over the years. Her culinary journey began when she launched a custom cake business in high school and sold her treats at local farmers markets. She later went on to attend The French Culinary Institute — also attended by fellow chef-owner of Brenner Pass and Chairlift Brittanny Anderson, although the duo never met there — and worked at Bouchon in New York City and The Inn at Little Washington before moving to Richmond.
Although bread baking takes persistent time and effort, Wilson says, the rewards are rich.
“We do such a long process because it develops more flavor, and it’s also better for you because the gluten is breaking down so much more,” she explains.
The bread share is offered for $20 per week, in weekly or biweekly installments, and interested participants can sign up at Chairlift or via email. After participating for more than one week, they’ll be gifted a bread share tote bag — designed by a server at Chairlift and Brenner Pass — to carry their carbs. The designated pickup day is Sunday, and shareholders will receive a bundle of bread featuring a sourdough boule, a sourdough sandwich loaf and a dozen olive oil seeded brioche buns.
The dinner roll flavors may vary depending on seasonal ingredients, but the loaf and boule are expected to remain the same. There will also be instructions included on freezing the bread and maximizing freshness.
Wilson describes bread baking as an almost magical culinary adventure, requiring a delicate balance of the hand and the heart, technique, and personal craft.
“Bread is Zen; it is its own thing, and there’s so much you can do,” she says. “Even though we’re only using three ingredients it can vary so much — hands are different, different baking ovens, and different flour.”
On Sunday, Dec. 9, from 4 to 8 p.m., during the Spritz Market at Brenner Pass, guests will have the opportunity to sample breads and sign up for the bread share. There will also be small bites and holiday-themed cocktails.
