Bakeri which opened last summer to much fanfare in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has a new head baker. This cozy little cafe and bakery more likely to found in a European village than in hipster Brooklyn is the brainchild of its Norwegian founder Nina Brondmo. Known for its home made jam, tasty tortillas and freshly baked bread it will get new energy with recently hired head baker Aileen Semenetz.
Aileen, four years ago would have seemed an unlikely candidate for such a task. Raised in the Catskills of upstate New York she was both an active student and athlete earning MVP of her high school soccer team. In 2006 she graduated with a B.S. in Business from Penn State University. After graduation she made it to a second round of interviews at Citigroup but changed her mind about a career in banking and decided to enlist in The Institute of Culinary Education in New York City instead. Food had a stronger calling to her then finance.
A school internship landed her at Sullivan St. Bakery where the owner, Jim Lahey, hired her as a bookkeeper on account of her business degree. There she began her first stint in baking as she moved from the office to the kitchen floor. After leaving and working in the pastry department of two B.R. Guest restaurants she was recruited by a former Sullivan St. Bakery baker to work as an overnight baker at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery. She jumped at the chance and has never looked back. Her specialty at Bouchon were the city famous baguettes as well as the table breads served fresh at the three Michelin star restaurant, Per Se, also associated with the bakery. She now hopes to bring her experience and passion for bread to Bakeri as the artisan shop continues to evolve.
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