Pascal Rigo
Encyclopedia
Pascal Rigo is a French-American Restaurateur
who owns a small "empire" of boulangeries, restaurants, and wholesale and retail bakeries in San Francisco
and Mill Valley, California
that operate as Bay Bread, La Boulange, and (formerly) Cortez, Chez Nous, Gallette, and others.
, was certified as a professional baker, then worked for several years with his father as a wine merchant. He first moved to California in order to begin importing local wine to France, but stayed to open a bakery in Los Angeles
then later, San Francisco.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s Rigo and his business partners invested in, and founded, a number of restaurants including Soleil, Rigolo, Gallette, La Table, Le Petit Robert, Chez Nous, Americano, and Plantanos. One, Cortez, earned a Michelin Star. In 2001 Rigo and partners bought Oh-La-La, one of San Francisco's oldest coffee house chains. The group later divested of most of its restaurants to concentrate on its bakeries. In 2009 it bought a share of Miette, a small chain of candy stores and cupcake bakers.
Bay Bread sales were $12 million in 1999. As of 2008 it used 700,000 pounds of flour per month. In addition to its retail operations the company supplies bread to fine dining restaurants and hotels in the area, as well as grocery stores. Some rival food entrepreneurs in San Francisco's small French entrepreneur community have criticized Rigo for his fast, and sometimes unsuccessful, expansion efforts. The New York Times called Rigo "the only real entrepreneur" among the community. Rigo has intentionally avoided publicity so as not to encourage a backlash from critics.
In 2003 Rigo co-wrote a cookbook, The American Boulangerie: Authentic French Pastries and Breads for the Home Kitchen.
Restaurateur
A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of the restaurant business.-Etymology:The word...
who owns a small "empire" of boulangeries, restaurants, and wholesale and retail bakeries in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
and Mill Valley, California
Mill Valley, California
Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge. The population was 13,903 at the 2010 census.Mill Valley is located on the western and northern shores of Richardson Bay...
that operate as Bay Bread, La Boulange, and (formerly) Cortez, Chez Nous, Gallette, and others.
Early life
Rigo was born in Bordeaux, France, and after running a daily errand to buy two baguettes for his family, apprenticed at his village's bakery at age 7. He earned a business degree from the University of BordeauxUniversity of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux is an association of higher education institutions in and around Bordeaux, France. Its current incarnation was established 21 March 2007. The group is the largest system of higher education schools in southwestern France. It is part of the Academy of Bordeaux.There are seven...
, was certified as a professional baker, then worked for several years with his father as a wine merchant. He first moved to California in order to begin importing local wine to France, but stayed to open a bakery in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
then later, San Francisco.
Bakery
In 1996 Rigo founded Panissimo Group, which ran the bakery on Pine Street that became Bay Bread. He chose to live, and have an office, at the central location in a former French laundry on the busy thoroughfare so that he could travel to anyplace in San Francisco within fifteen minutes to personally attend to his businesses. Rigo bought, and continues to operate, San Francisco's oldest flour mill, which Bay Bread uses to produce organic flour for its loaves. Rigo originally intended to operate as a wholesale bakery, but soon began selling loaves and then croissants to the public. A positive review in the San Francisco Examiner initially popularized the bakery. Rigo renamed it the "Boulangerie", after painting the word on the colorful awning over the sidewalk, then opened similarly themed dine-in bakeries throughout the city. One, in Cole Valley, is the site of the former Tassajara Bakery, where San Francisco's modern artisan bread movement began.In the late 1990s and early 2000s Rigo and his business partners invested in, and founded, a number of restaurants including Soleil, Rigolo, Gallette, La Table, Le Petit Robert, Chez Nous, Americano, and Plantanos. One, Cortez, earned a Michelin Star. In 2001 Rigo and partners bought Oh-La-La, one of San Francisco's oldest coffee house chains. The group later divested of most of its restaurants to concentrate on its bakeries. In 2009 it bought a share of Miette, a small chain of candy stores and cupcake bakers.
Bay Bread sales were $12 million in 1999. As of 2008 it used 700,000 pounds of flour per month. In addition to its retail operations the company supplies bread to fine dining restaurants and hotels in the area, as well as grocery stores. Some rival food entrepreneurs in San Francisco's small French entrepreneur community have criticized Rigo for his fast, and sometimes unsuccessful, expansion efforts. The New York Times called Rigo "the only real entrepreneur" among the community. Rigo has intentionally avoided publicity so as not to encourage a backlash from critics.
In 2003 Rigo co-wrote a cookbook, The American Boulangerie: Authentic French Pastries and Breads for the Home Kitchen.
External links
- baybread.com - official site