Shelby Kibler: "The Principal"

Born in Michigan's upper peninsula and raised in its agricultural heartland, Shelby early on thought he might be President of the United States. Luckily for him, studying History and English at U of M got him so excited he shed his dreams of politics and became a poet who donned an apron and baked at home.

Shelby began baking professionally in 1995 at Palmer's Pastry Shoppe in Sterling Heights, MI, mastering the production of pastry shells, cakes, éclairs, and cannoli. Then he moved to Portland, OR and worked in the bread bakery Grand Central. He knew then he had become a "breadhead" and moved back to Ann Arbor to apply at Zingerman's. He joined the Bakehouse in 1997 and became the bread manager in 1999.

During his tenure as bread manager here, Shelby took several professional bread courses with Didier Rosada and took a 2-week trip to bake in Paris and south France. He created our line of bagels and an additional shift of bakers to make them, all from scratch. He also developed a new bread for Zingerman's Roadhouse when it opened, the loaf we know as Roadhouse Bread.

In 2003, Shelby left the Bakehouse to move to California, where he cooked and baked in restaurants for 4 years, eventually landing at A 16 in San Francisco. There he made pizzas 5 nights a week and acquired other skills like butchery, scoring him a sous chef position under chef Nate Appleman.

But the lasting temptation to come back to Ann Arbor proved too strong, so in 2007 Shelby took the job of "the principal" of BAKE! here at Zingerman's. He has helped to grow our little school and at the same time develop new products and improve others. His love of baking and teaching really shows.

Alejandro Ramon: BAKE! Instructor
Baking since the age of nine, Alejandro started baking for his family. Being the middle of nine kids, this was a good skill to have. In 1988 Alejandro started culinary school in Dallas, Texas and later became pastry chef at the Plaza San Antonio. There he received "Best of Dessert" in 1992 and 1993 from the San Antonio Express-News for his Caramel Pecan Tart and Raspberry Lemon Almond Tart, respectively. From 1995 to 2000 Alejandro was the owner of La Dolci Vita Bakery and Catering in San Antonio, Texas where he specialized in wedding cakes and also created an educational program. In 2003, Alejandro fulfilled his dream of building a traditional wood-burning oven. Stay tuned for upcoming classes utilizing this historical method.

Alejandro joined the Bakehouse in 2001. He is very excited to be in the role of teaching once again. He feels there is nothing more satisfying than learning to bake something that's good to eat and sharing it with friends and family.

Barb Alpern: BAKE! Instructor
Ann Arbor born and raised, Barb attended the UofM and began her passion for baking at a small co-op house on campus, where it was her job to bake for 15 residents and 15 boarders. This was back in her hippy youth and she learned to bake from books like Recipes for a Small Planet and The Tassajara Bread Book, which still adorn her recipe book shelf at home. From there she spent two years baking at Wildflour Community Bakery, a whole grain collective bakery and former Ann Arbor institution. This was way back in the late 70's and early 80's! She's had many adventures since then, including raising four boys, getting an MA in English, and teaching literature and composition at the college level. The highlight of her college teaching career was teaching literature on a study abroad program. She spent the fall of 2001 backpacking all over Europe with 30 college students and 6 staff members and got to teach Kafka in Prague, Dostoevsky in St. Petersburg and Homer in Athens! Family demands and an itch to return to baking lead her to apply for a job at the Bakehouse in September of 2002, where she spent 7 happy years baking bread. At the beginning of 2010 she joined the BAKE! staff and is overjoyed to be able to unite her baking and teaching skills in such a fun and enriching environment. She's learning pastries from the masters—Shelby and Alejandro—and bringing a bit of her own style to the bread classes. She even tries to sneak in her literary powers occasionally: who knew that kneading bread could be seen as a romantic endeavor?

Kandie Waggoner: BAKE! Assistant
Originally from Dexter, MI Kandie lived in NYC for 20 years. Trained as an architect, she has chosen to see what she can construct with the building blocks of baking. She is ecstatic to be learning in such a dynamic organization!

Amy Emberling: Managing Partner, Zingerman's Bakehouse
Amy Emberling is a Managing Partner at Zingerman's Bakehouse. She has been an avid food lover and baker since her childhood in Nova Scotia, Canada. After high school Amy moved to Cambridge, MA and received her bachelor's degree from Harvard College. She then followed her passion for food and learned to cook and bake at L'ecole de Gastronomie Francaise at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, France as well as in Michigan restaurants. In 1999 she received her MBA from Columbia University.

Amy came to Zingerman's Bakehouse when it opened in 1992 as one of the original bakers on the staff of eight. She soon became the first manager of the bread department, then the manager of the pastry department and in 2000 she became a partner.

Amy has been working in the food world for over 20 years and is passionate about hands on baking, teaching about baking and business, developing businesses and people. As well as teaching at BAKE! Amy presents for ZingTrain on our business practices. A few of the Bakehouse items she is personally responsible for developing are the Old School Apple Pie, Buenos Aires Brownies and our Gingerbread Coffeecake. In addition to developing items Amy is a promoter of classic bakery favorites from many cultures and has brought traditional standards to the Bakehouse such as Paris Brest, Hummingbird Cake, and Maple Cream Cookies.

Frank Carollo: Managing Partner, Zingerman's Bakehouse
Born in Detroit, Frank has made Ann Arbor his home since 1972. With an engineering degree from U of M, Frank didn't necessarily set out to become one of the premiere bread makers in the country. But after growing up in a Sicilian-Austrian household, one in which food was held sacred, it's no surprise that he ended up making food. Frank met Paul and Ari when they all worked together in a restaurant in 1978 and after partnering with Paul at Monahan's Seafood Market for 7 years he became the managing partner of the Bakehouse when it opened in 1992.

Frank has been training, coaching, and teaching for nearly 30 years. Through BAKE!, Frank coaches the fundamentals of baking, helping both novices and experts.