Neil has been kind enough to share his story, following the insights Henry and Bruce offered earlier this week. I asked him to pin down the exact moment he realized he could never go back to "grocery store" standards. Here is what he had to say: Neil’s Story "Crossing the line for me was when I started working at the Dorchester under Anton Mosimann, way back when Moby dick was a sardine. I had been working in a few undesirable places and got the opportunity at the above mentioned Hotel. It was here where I learned so much. The produce was top notch and it was a joy to work with such amazing ingredients from all over the UK and Europe. But what struck me the most was the way Mosimann conducted himself, he was/is a perfect gentleman. He always wore a bow tie and everyday he would come and shake everyone's hand and ask how they were? how was their family and he knew everyone's name. He taught me respect, from the Farm to beyond the plate and more. He never raised his voice or threw his toys out of the cot. He built confidence in the team and we all benefitted from that. He taught me what quality produce was and how important it was to have good communication with the people who produced the ingredients. I was lucky to be invited to a local farm and see how much work went into one of the products we were using and how the purchase of that product benefitted a whole community of people's livelihoods. In a world full of process foods, GMO's, foods that have ingredients you can't even pronounce. My personal view is we need to get back to basics, grow our own food, trade with others if we have too much of one product and make life simple again and where better to do it than right here in NZ." Thank you for sharing that, Neil. Having worked alongside him as fellow tutors in Auckland - Neil in cuisine and myself in patisserie - I can personally attest to the incredible depth of knowledge he brings to the table. Neil is a fantastic character, blending expertise with a great sense of humour. I am honoured to have him leading within our community and look forward to the wisdom he’ll continue to share.

I did end up breaking the butter on the first fold 😩 but for my first attempt at sourdough croissants I really can’t complain! I realize they’re not all evenly sized/shaped but once I knew the butter was broke I was not going to put all my time and patience into that part 🤣

Welcome to the kitchen, everyone. I’m about to open our first Free Classroom module! To kick things off, I will upload a video I originally made for the Crust & Crumb Academy. But I want to build the next one specifically for you. In the spirit of "Raw Talk," let’s get honest: What is the one pastry technique that consistently ruins your day? Whether it's a split ganache, a collapsed souffle, or temperamental choux that won't behave - drop your biggest headache in the comments. Otherwise, I have a poll to get us started. I will film the "fix" for the most common struggle and add it to the Classroom. I’m learning the tech side of this as we go, so bear with me, but the craft stays precise. Here are some "poll" options to get the ball rolling, but feel free to add another in the comments... Let’s sharpen the edge. What are we fixing first?

Within the Skool ecosystem, we are incredibly fortunate to have direct access to experts across every niche. For our community, the focus remains on the crafts we love within the wider hospitality industry. I reached out to a few community owners in Skool, all with diverse backgrounds, to ask one pivotal question: Could you tell me the specific moment you realized you couldn't go back to "grocery store" standards? Here are the responses from two of the experts. Bruce Nollert - Chef, Coach & Entrepreneur. Bruce is the creator of the Cultivated Cooks community. His evolution from the professional kitchen to holistic advocacy is a masterclass in culinary purpose: "My journey has led me from starting out learning how to properly prep, clean and cook through really great systems. Then I got really interested in fine dining and all the fancy molecular techniques. Then I realized those were more for me and vanity metrics. I then shifted into fermentation and foraging and started to feel reconnection to nature, that led back to the farms. Then I got into feeding the community during Covid wand working with foodbanks and teaching underserved folks how to cook. That’s when I started to reconnect to the power of food for connection and keeping us connected to Mother Nature. I became interested in holistic nutrition and began to study that. I also became aware of the corruption behind food with the big corporations and how them so well engineer food to hijack our biology and psychology to keep us hooked and also saw from my time as an R&D chef how much shit goes into food to save money and increase shelf life. Now I focus on how food can literally shape your reality and how it impacts your gut and brain and more importantly brings and keeps people together in world that is designed to keep us isolated while tricking us to think we are connected." @Henry Hunter - Author & Founder of Crust & Crumb Academy. The legendary Henry Hunter manages a community of over 50,000 bakers and authored the compelling book, The Loaf and the Lie. His "threshold moment" began with a humble apprenticeship in Germany:

I am so excited to announce that our little corner of the world has grown to 12 members! Whether you’re here to finally get those first words on the page or to share the wisdom you’ve gathered over years of expertise, I’m so glad you’ve joined us at the very start of this journey. A massive welcome to our newest faces: - John: Bringing that Park Hyatt CBD energy to the group. - Alisa: Our Silverdale-based acupuncture extraordinaire. - Neil: An incredible chef joining us all the way from Spain. - Palavi: A former student of mine, now navigating the wonderful world of motherhood. - Christoph: A German pastry chef and business owner right here in Auckland. - Pam: My beautiful mother—thank you for the support, always. 💌 What’s next? I’m currently busy behind the scenes polishing the first wave of content and activities for you all. But before I hit "post," I want to hear from you. What are you hoping to find here? What would make this community a "must-visit" for you? Lastly, I’d love to have a quick chat with each of you to learn more about your goals - both within this group and in your own lives. Thank you for being part of the foundation. Let’s build something amazing together.