About Michael Rhoads and Jen Bones, owners of B&R:

After studying at New England Culinary Institute, Rhoads came to Boston to work with famed chef Frank McClelland at L’Espalier in Boston. Next, Rhoads held a highly coveted position at the Inn at Little Washington in Virginia, and later at the French Laundry in Napa Valley with renowned chef, Thomas Keller. In addition, an apprenticeship with brick-oven builder Alan Scott provided Rhoads with further expertise in the tradition of his craft.

In 2000, Rhoads and his wife, Jen Bones, relocated from Napa Valley back to Boston after he was recruited by Chefs Frank McClelland and Geoff Gardner to join the opening team of Sel de La Terre to launch their bread baking business.  In fact, Rhoads credits this relationship with Frank McClelland, his long-time mentor, as the linchpin to his success. Rhoads ultimately shed his Pastry Chef role at Sel de La Terre to start-up a wholesale bread business operating a 24-hour baking program from the restaurant.

Later Rhoads joined the team at Via Matta in Cambridge as Pastry Chef before embarking on the planning for B&R Artisan Bread. During that time, Michael was honored as a semi-finalist for the Bread Bakers Guild Team USA 2005, with the goal of competing in France at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (as seen on the Food Network).

B&R is co-owned by the wife-and-husband team of Jen Bones and Michael Rhoads with their last names providing the initials. Rhoads handles the baking duties while Bones works the front of the bakery.  Bones has years of experience in restaurant retail, including a stint in Napa Valley.

The Product

Michael Rhoads has reintroduced his artisan breads to Boston with the opening in 2006 of his new bakery, B&R Artisan Bread. The bakery specializes in the production of hand crafted artisan breads and morning pastries. With a focus on using the highest quality ingredients available, the bakery’s  product offerings include yeasted and naturally leavened bread such as dark rye, light caraway rye, prune walnut wheat, levain, ciabatta, and of course, the famous Michael Rhoads baguette.

The artisan breads include a prune walnut whole wheat and levain-a whole wheat bread that ferments for 36 fours before becoming a 4-pound loaf. The bakery also offers a daily selection of classic viennoisene including traditional croissants, danish, brioche varieties, and morning pastries such as scones and muffins.

We handcraft all our breads to get the most amount of flavor out of the flour. All is made with real butter; there’s no Crisco in this house. The bakery also has a new French built oven.

Primary focus is on wholesale business to local restaurants, but the bakery also operates a retail store out of their Framingham location.