Seeking Founding Baker / Partner – New Breakfast Sandwich Concept (Denver, CO)
Do you dream in toasted nooks and crannies? Are English muffins your ideal canvas for ridiculous breakfast sandwiches? I’m looking for a partner, not just an employee, to help build a new breakfast sandwich concept from the ground up – centered around sourdough English muffins and high-quality, craveable sandwiches.
We’ll start with test bakes, pop-ups, and farmers’ markets… and if we get it right, we’ll build a brand that can scale nationwide.
The Big Vision
This isn’t just “let’s do a cute brunch pop-up.” The long-term goal is bold and clear:
In 10 years, we want to be known as the #1 quality breakfast sandwich in the country.
The path to get there:
Years 0–3: Test, learn, refine.
- Dial in the sourdough English muffin and core sandwich lineup
- Build the brand, systems, and a loyal local following
- Prove we can run a tight, repeatable operation
Years 3–10: Scale with intention.
- Multi-unit expansion (more locations, more cities)
- Potential CPG/retail opportunities (packaged muffins, sauces, etc.)
- Grow a team and culture people want to be part of
If building something this ambitious excites you more than it scares you, you’ll probably fit right in.
Who You Are
1) Obsessed with English muffins
You don’t just like them – you care about crumb structure, flavor, tang, toastiness, and how they hold a sandwich
You’re excited by the idea of making the best English muffin anyone’s ever had and serving it every day
2) A baker with serious chops (especially sourdough)
Deep experience with yeasted doughs and sourdough, ideally including breads, buns, or English muffin–style products
Comfortable working with sourdough starters, fermentation timing, hydration adjustments, and iteration to get the perfect texture and flavor
3) Comfortable on the line, not just at the bench
You’ve worked in a professional kitchen (restaurant, café, bakery, or catering)
You’re happy making sandwiches, working a station, managing tickets, and holding standards during a rush
4) Process-driven
You love building clear, repeatable processes – not just “I keep it all in my head”
You can document, teach, and enforce those processes so others can follow them
You’re comfortable changing and improving systems as we scale and learn
You naturally think: “How do we do this consistently 100 times a day in 10 locations?”
5) An excellent communicator & teammate
Clear, direct, kind communication – especially when things get busy
You can give and receive feedback without ego
You’re comfortable collaborating on menu, operations, and long-term strategy
6)Organized, driven, and entrepreneurial
You like prep lists, clean stations, labeled containers, and knowing where everything lives
You care about consistency, quality, and food safety
You’re excited by the messiness and opportunity of an early-stage build, not just punching a clock
The Brand and Culture We’re Creating
Think: fun, energetic, creative, and a little tongue-in-cheek.
We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we take the food and the guest experience seriously
Guests should feel like they’ve joined a little breakfast-obsessed community, not just grabbed a sandwich
In the kitchen, we value:
Curiosity: “What if we tried it this way?”
Ownership: “This is our brand, not just a job.”
Candor: Honest, respectful communication
Playfulness: We’re allowed to have fun while executing at a high level
If you like the idea of building a place where the energy is high, the playlists are good, and the sandwiches are better, we’re on the same wavelength.
What You’ll Do
Lead recipe development & refinement for sourdough English muffins and core sandwich builds
Run test bakes and document formulas, timing, and techniques
Own kitchen operations during pop-ups/markets: prep, execution, and close
Build and improve SOPs (prep, cooking, service flow, cleaning, food safety)
Collaborate on menu development, sourcing, and potential retail products
Be a core voice in brand, culture, and growth decisions
What I Bring
15+ years in operations and growth in startups
Experience building systems, teams, and scalable processes
A clear Go-To-Market strategy
Brand concept and development
Sandwich menu development
What This Is (and Isn’t)
Is:
A partner-level role with real influence and potential for equity/ownership
Hands-on, early-stage, scrappy: early mornings, dough under your fingernails, market days
A chance to put your baking and operations brain at the center of a brand with real ambition
Isn’t:
A fully built machine with every system already in place
A safe, low-engagement “just show up and follow instructions” role
Ideal Basics
Based in or able to reliably work in the Denver/Boulder metro
Able to commit to regular R&D sessions and weekend markets/pop-ups
Food safety certification a plus (or willingness to get it)
How to Reach Out
If this sounds like your kind of crazy, reach out with:
1) A short intro about you and your experience
2) Any portfolio/IG/website with your breads/pastries/sandwiches
3) A quick note on what you love about English muffins and how you’d level them up
We’ll start with a conversation and a test bake. If the chemistry is right – in the kitchen and in the vision – we’ll figure out how to build this thing together.
