Who is the blogger behind Bread Furst?
Mark Furstenberg, founder of Bread Furst — one of Washington D.C.’s most beloved neighborhood bakeries — became a baker in 1990 at the age of 52, following a long (and occasionally enjoyable) string of other careers.
He moved to Washington in 1961, straight from college, and quickly began working at ABC News, then the White House in 1962, and eventually the Boston Police Department in 1972. He later served as chief operating officer of a large manufacturing company, and eventually joined the Washington Post.
In 1989, restless and ready for something new, Mark decided to open a bread bakery on the bock of Connecticut Avenue where his sister had her bookstore, Politics and Prose.
Marvelous Market was Washington D.C.’s first bakery of traditional breads. The concept and quality of Mark’s breads were so novel to the city that customers stood in lines that extended down the street to buy the two loaves to which they were limited. The bakery quickly became a retail sensation until he lost it to a too quick expansion in 1994.
In 1997, Mark opened The BreadLine — a restaurant a block from The White House serving traditional bread-based street foods that won him nominations from the James Beard Foundation as best chef in the Mid-Atlantic, ratings as a top restaurant in America by Zagat, and selection as one of the Washington Post’s favorite spots.
In 2005, Mark sold The Breadline and started consulting with other bakeries like Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery and Zack Golper's Bien Cuit. He developed the bread program for the Napa Valley campus of the Culinary Institute of America.
In 2014, frustrated that Washington once again lacked a true neighborhood bakery, Mark opened Bread Furst in upper northwest D.C. which offers a wide variety of award-winning breads, pastries, and prepared foods — and other than this blog, he swears it’s his final venture.
Mark’s work at Bread Furst has earned him some serious recognition:
Winner of the 2017 James Beard Award for Outstanding Baker (after nominations in 2015 and 2016)
Named Outstanding Baker in coverage from The Washington Post, Washingtonian, Eater DC, and DCist
Featured in Bake from Scratch talking about his signature dark‑crusted bread
Profiled on PBS’s Signature Dish, where he demonstrated making the ultimate jambon‑beurre
Invited by Smithsonian Associates to speak about neighborhood bread baking and his DC bakery legacy
Now, when he’s not in the kitchen, he writes about the DC food scene — past and present — his travels, and the many foods that excite him.
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