Rise Up! The Baker Podcast with Mark Dyc‪k‬ Mark Dyck: Baker and lover of bakeries

Adam Christie grew up in Regina and used to visit Mark's bakery before heading West.  After working in bakeries in Vancouver, he and his partner Jess moved to the Island and set up Working Culture Bread just a few blocks from Mark's apartment.  Now the roles are reversed!

In this episode, Mark sits down across the bench from his local baker to learn about how he built his bakery, what their first five months in business have been like and what's in store for the bakery and the bakers. 

Brant Stewart came to Beirut as a photographer who wanted to tell the stories of the refugees fleeing the war in Syria. Before long, he was fundraising and starting food related projects in and around Beirut, including Mavia bakery.

In this episode, Mark learns of Brant's constant drive to help his community in Lebanon thrive, even as he faces political revolution and deals with the explosion that damaged his home and bakery. And he learns of the myriad of projects both underway and planned to begin.

Ed Tatton travelled the world as a chef who baked, before coming to Whistler, BC  where he took a look around and settled down to do some serious baking.  Before long, baking for neighbours wasn't enough and Ed and his wife Natasha got to work, opening Ed's Bred bakery and coffee in 2019 so they serve locals and tourists alike. 

In this episode, Mark learns about Ed's start in the UK, being a plant based bakery, and being forced to shift on the eve of the bakery's first birthday due to Covid.

Jen Zeuner and Anne Keller came to Fruita for the awesome mountain biking and stayed. Visitors kept asking where to find good food in town and they took the hint and opened Hot Tomato Pizza to feed the people. But they aren't just feeding cyclists; they are building community across all social groups in town.

In this episode, Mark, Jen and Anne talk about the rise and rise of Hot Tomato, what it means to serve the whole community and how they are evolving their business to serve the owners too.

Jason Bowman worked in a bakery as a youth in the UK before following his father into the insurance industry and eventually bringing his family to the USA.  Now he's a feeding the people in Pound Ridge with his weekly pop-up bread and pastry shop, Breads-n-Bakes.

In this episode, Mark and Jason talk about their mutual love of family, baking and cricket before getting into the nuts and bolts of Breads-n-Bakes, how it started and how Jason's dining room now contains a sheeter and spiral mixer. 

Jimmy Alderson Benitez baked in New York and Paris before settling down in San Juan, Puerto Rico and opening Cultura Bread in 2019.   Due to open just before the Covid pandemic, he was forced to re-work his plans and start his bakery on a smaller scale. 

In this episode, Mark learns about the current version of Cultura Bread and gets a glimpse into Jimmy's remarkable life and baking education. They also dig into Jimmy's new 'slow growth' plan for the bakery that takes the realities of Covid into acco