Crew

 

Bob Oswaks
Proprietor/Boulanger

Bob’s Well Bread was started by an executive-turned-baker who was looking for some balance in his life, and found a passion and a new calling that was both delightful and unexpected.  “When you make something naturally, and with your hands, there’s a magic to it.  If you’re eating a loaf of our bread, or drinking a bottle of our local wine, and you know that someone put in the time to make it by hand, there is just this personal connection.  It may not change the way it tastes, but it changes your experience,  and that is what everyone wants—the experience.”  

Bob and Jane Oswaks designed Bob’s Well Bread out of an old 1920’s gas station in historic Los Alamos, opening their doors on August 1, 2014.  They pride themselves on the finest ingredients, sourced locally and seasonally, in all of their products, including Jane’s house made jams, marmalades, marshmallows and gluten-free specialties.  

Using natural fermentation for yeast and allowing the dough to rise slowly, Bob’s Well Bread makes artisan breads by hand in small batches, in a custom built stone deck oven.  
True artisan bread is made from the simplest of ingredients: flour, water, salt and yeast.  But, with this natural fermentation process, these most basic of ingredients become something that is fundamentally beyond their basic origins. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scott grew up a military brat, traveling and moving often. Helping his mother in the kitchen grounded and comforted him as a kid. He learned that food brought people together and that he loved to eat. After high school, he attended culinary school in San Diego. During his first position as a cook, he laid eyes on his first loaf of Levain bread and was entranced. Scott asked how they achieved the firm crust and soft inside and the chef replied, “It’s like wizardry – I don’t know.” Scott reached out to Bread and Cie bakery to find out exactly how this wizardry worked – this bread spoke to him. Scott began working at Bread and Cie and spent seventeen years working in all aspects of artisan bread making and production. Yearning to get back to the basics, he joined Bob’s Well Bread Bakery in 2017. He brings a wealth of knowledge in breadmaking and bakery management to Bob’s. 
 

Scott Smith
Head Baker,

David Jeffers
Chef,

David Jeffers is a local, raised in the Santa Ynez Valley. He got a feel for restaurants working  as a dishwasher and moved his way up to from a busser to a prep cook. Finally as a line cook, he fell in love with food. He enrolled at the Cordon Bleu in San Francisco for a two year culinary program and came back to the Central Coast, cooking his way from Paso Robles to Santa Barbara. With a resume that includes work at the Granada Hotel and Bistro, Toma and Firestone Walker Tap Room, David settled in as the head chef at Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos. Now at Bob’s Well Bread Bakery, David’s culinary philosophy matches that of the founder, Bob Oswaks – using ingredients that are fresh, local and honest and creating menus that feature that showcase the breads from Bob’s Well Bread in irresistible and delicious ways. He loves food that isn’t fussy and comfort food that fits the season, making the flavors sing with the simplicity of the ingredients.