Ready to organize her life differently, Sarah Dodge left restaurant work to devote herself to making excellent bread and to spending time with her dog Fergus.
You won't find Jenn Robbins or Sarah Dodge in a restaurant kitchen, working the line from 4 p.m. to midnight, or in the pastry kitchen every day at 5 a.m.
Instead, you can find Robbins, 34, spending Saturday mornings at a local farmers market. She'll be in front of her 3-foot cast iron propane-heated plancha, probably flipping tortillas on a griddle with one hand while frying eggs with the other, then topping those tortillas with duck mole or chorizo.
A weekday morning usually finds Dodge, 32, awake at 6 a.m., shaping and proofing the day's loaves of bread. After baking the bread, she takes an hourlong walk with Fergus, her hound-pit mix pup. By 9:30 a.m., she's planning and shopping for her private chef clients, or preparing a small-batch pastry order, or getting ready for a pop-up market.
Robbins and Dodge have done their time in restaurant kitchens, but now they've found a way to be part of Atlanta's food community on their own terms.
After two semesters working on a master's in mental health counseling, Dodge left grad school to become a baker, building on something she already loved. She started by baking for Rob Alexander at H&F Bread, then worked with Sarah O'Brien at the Little Tart Bakeshop, and with Angus Brown at 8ARM. She gives them credit for turning a love of baking into professional skills.
Creating businesses wasn't easy for these women, but both say they've learned to trust themselves, believe in their skills, and enjoy using those skills to make a living.
In the meantime, she works as a private chef for a few clients and calls that her "day job." She's getting more into teaching, including sourdough and biscuit classes for the Learning Kitchen, and as part of a fermentation class at Culture South.
Dodge has what she calls an "underground bread subscription thing," where folks follow her on Instagram and claim whatever fresh baked bread she has available that day.
She's doing biscuit and toast pop-ups at places like Mashburn on Howell Mill Road and the Spindle in Studioplex, or breakfast pop-ups at Queen of Cream in the Old Fourth Ward. "They have opened their doors so I can do what I love," she said.
She also teaches classes, and cooks at fundraising events across the country.
Breakfast pop-up, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Oct. 14, Queen of Cream, 701 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta.
Dessert pop-up, 6-10 p.m. Oct. 21, A Mano, 587 Ralph McGill Blvd., Atlanta.
More breakfast pop-ups are planned over the holidays at Mashburn, 1198 Howell Mill Road, Atlanta.
Afternoon in the Country, 1-4 p.m. Nov. 4, Foxhall Resort, 8000 Capps Ferry Road, Douglasville. ldeiatlanta.org/afternoon-in-the-country.
Breakfast pop-up, 8-11:30 a.m. Nov. 10 and 17, Morningside Farmers Market, 1393 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta; Nov. 24 and Dec. 1, Freedom Farmers Market, 453 Freedom Parkway NE, Atlanta.
Kimchi cooking class, 2-5 p.m. Nov. 11, the Learning Kitchen, Sweet Auburn Curb Market, 209 Edgewood Ave. SE, Atlanta. preservingnow.com/learning-kitchen.