Today we’d like to introduce you to Rebecca Masson.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Rebecca. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am a late bloomer to the culinary world. I went to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris at the age of 28. I completed my studies with a Diplôme de Pâtisserie and an 8 month internship at the Hôtel Le Bristol in Paris. I then moved to NYC where I worked as a pastry cook at db bistro moderne and Restaurant Daniel. I was the pastry chef at The Biltmore Room, The Red Cat and BLT Prime. In 2007, I moved to Houston to work with Chef Ryan Pera at *17 Restaurant at The Alden Hotel. I left there to be the pastry chef at Catalan working with Chef Chris Shepherd and Ibibza with Chef Charles Clark. In 2011, I started Fluff Bake Bar in a commissary kitchen selling wholesale to Revival Market, Agora, Double Trouble, Southside Espresso and a few others. I also competed on Bravo’s Top Chef Just Desserts that same year. Four years later, I opened the brick and mortar, Fluff Bake Bar. We will be 3 in May 2018.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Ha! I can laugh at this now. It is nothing like I thought it would be and it is everything I thought it would be… if that makes sense. There are so many little things you don’t think about when opening. You cover all your major bases but did you remember to get change for the register on opening day?
Last year was the toughest year. In October, a tenant on the third floor busted a pipe and it rained in my bakeshop for 3 hours. Half of the shop had to be torn out and rebuilt. It took about 3 months. It was heartbreaking to watch but also motivating to get back open and be the best bake shop possible. The shop has been reopened since January 20, 2018, and it has been so amazing seeing our regulars and new folks come into the shop. It felt like we hadn’t skipped a beat.
Please tell us about Fluff Bake Bar.
Fluff Bake Bar is a unique bakeshop. Yes, we have the basics of cookies, bars, cakes, and pies, but we do so much more. We have our regular events like the Saturday Morning Bake Sale and Thursday Night Take Over where we invite chefs from Texas and beyond to come in and bake with us or take over the kitchen for a night making delicious savory foods. We have beer and bubbles on our menu. Our sweets are all unique. Some are from childhood memories but elevated. Some are results of our minds thinking of the most delicious and sometimes, over the top ideas. We have homemade ice cream and amazing Katz Coffee. We do so much more than bake awesome cookies.
For me, I am proud of my team, past, present, and future. I have the opportunity to expose them to so much more than cookie dough. They never quite know what might be thrown their way. One day, making chocolate cake, the next, making crawfish pies. It is an educational and exciting experience for them and I am so happy I can help them grow and learn. We are so lucky that the world holds our profession is such high regard and I want them to go out into the world prepared to be the best pastry chef they can be.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Move to France… lol! Exactly the spot I need to be in right now. I had to cross a few raging rivers to get here but I am here and I am now looking to where I need to be next.
Contact Info:
- Address: 314 Gray Street
Houston, TX 77002 - Website: www.fluffbakebar.com
- Phone: 713-522-1900
- Email: eatmoresweets@fluffbakebar.com
- Instagram: @fluffbakebar
- Facebook: fluffhouston
- Twitter: @fluffbakebar
Image Credit:
Julie Soefer, Kirsten Gilliam Photography
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