Aloha Bread Lovers
Aloha Bread Lovers – This Sunday we will be serving bagels and lox. Don’t ask me why we chose bagels and lox – the decision came down from senior management (Yael) with no explanation other than “that’s what I decided.” We will also have a limited number of our sourdough, boiled-in-barley-malt freshly baked bagels. AND, of course, we will have our grand Uke Jammers to make things fun. And now, below is a message from senior management:
It happened right in the middle of work where I needed to finish dealing with the dough. I was completely in the zone. I had just finished feeding my sourdough starter, and my hands were deep in the dough—that critical window where every minute counts, and I have absolutely zero patience for distractions.
Suddenly, David calls out from the other side of the bakery “Yael, there’s someone out here. He’s a baker visiting the area, he just bought some flour, and he’s asking if he could have a bit of starter.”
Inside my head, all I could think about was the dough waiting for me. With my classic lack of patience for mid-work interruptions, I snapped back, “Oh, come on, I just fed it! It’s not ready to be used yet! You ll have to tell him it needs few more hours before using it.” Being a baker at heart, I found a small container, scooped in three tablespoons of the starter, and handed it over to David , desperate to get back to my the dough to finish what I started .
But David, being David, wouldn’t let it drop. “Yael, this is someone who really, truly has a bakery. In fact two. You should really come out and meet him.”
“Nu (which is like “come on” in Hebrew) David let me be, I need to finish with the dough!” I pushed back, trying get him off my back…
But he didn’t… and I ended up leaving my dough impatiently and going to meet the baker. He introduced himself as Richard Hart. Told me he has a bakery in Copenhagen, Denmark, named Hart Bageri and one in Mexico City, named Green Rhino.
As it turns out, he and his family are visiting the island, staying in our beloved North Kohala, and loving it! He had bought our sesame sourdough the day before- the one that’s a massive favorite around here—and they loved it so much they came back today to buy three more loaves and some spelt flour.
Of course when I came home I searched and researched about him on the net world and here is a little summary of what I found:
Master baker Richard Hart is associated with two primary, highly acclaimed bakeries:
Hart Bageri – The famous artisan bakery he co-founded with René Redzepi (of Noma) in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2018.
Green Rhino – His newer venture, which he opened in Mexico City after relocating there.
Before launching his own brands, he was also widely known as the head baker at the legendary Tartine Bakery in San Francisco.
Hart is known for his intuitive approach to bread making, his pursuit of the perfect sourdough loaf. He won a James Beard Foundation Award in 2025 for his cookbook Richard Hart Bread: Intuitive Sourdough Baking.
I was so happy when they came back today again. I felt I know him by now. I told him I learned about him and it’s all very impressive! He gave us compliments about Motek which my only regret was that David wasn’t in to hear them (he is still doing our taxes…). We talked for a bit saying how much we love people who are bakers and I told him about my favorite beach here…
Thank you David for insisting I leave my dough for few minutes and get out of the kitchen to meet the world…
Mahalo – David and Yael
P.S. A JOKE – WARNING – Click on this link at your own peril (but it’s funny…): https://www.oldjewstellingjokes.com/2018/12/12/richard-levine-bubbie-has-a-baby-445/