Though chef Ali Spahr didn’t open Hearth, she moved to Denver just to work there with owner Matt Quinlisk. Now, she is responsible for crafting seasonal delights in baked good form, be that a croissant, danish, or bread.
“I decided I wanted to get back to pasty and was job hunting in NYC, but I had done the New York kitchen thing and wanted a change,” explained Spahr. “I applied [to the Hearth baker job] and Matt flew me out here, and I was like, ‘okay, I am moving to Denver.’”
A Different Career Path
Spahr grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and moved to South Carolin to go to school. At that time, she was working on a French and international studies degree. But, a study abroad trip to Paris changed her trajectory.
“I had always been into baking and in college it was a stress reliever,” said Spahr, who needed to take another class in Paris and ended up getting an internship with a chef. “It was my lightbulb moment. He recommenced a culinary school in Paris and bought me a bunch of pastry books.”
She ended up going to Ferrandi Paris and fell in love with making croissants and laminated doughs. While she finished her original degree, pastry became her obvious career path. When she headed back to the states and subsequently Philadelphia, Spahr’s kitchen adventure began. Eventually, she moved onto bakeries, working at Walnut Street Cafe and other hot spots.
Finding a Home at Hearth
Some people look at job listings when wanting work, but for Spahr, it was social media that brought her to the Hearth team. The bakery opened in RiNo in 2022, and over the past four years it’s grown to four locations, including Denver’s Uptown and Highland neighborhoods, and Littleton. With themes, seasonal flavors, and many styles of pastry, the baking program reminded her of other places she had enjoyed working at.
“When I came out here and met Matt, he was so welcoming and I liked knowing it was an owner-operation and he had a baking background,” said the chef. “It was incredible to have. I can lead a team, but we can always learn and grow together. And, [it’s great] having someone who knows the ins-and-outs of the kitchen.”
Plus, she added, she wanted to live in Denver.
A Year in and Still Growing
Hearth doesn’t just have the coffee and bakery shops, it also does six or seven farmers’ markets around town. As the season starts, production ramps up. When we spoke to Spahr, she mentioned that during that particular week, the team made an “insane” number of about 12,770 pastries.
“It’s a ton of work and requires everyone on the team to give it their all, but it’s nice to see that, yes we can do these crazy numbers and I am still getting my cooks out after eight hours,” she said.
The inspiration for each seasonal pastry comes from what Spahr would want to eat, or what would catch her eye when walking into a bakery. In general, she added, Quinlisk gives her creative freedom just as long as it tastes good. One of her favorite ingredients to work with is Earl Grey tea. Right now it’s used inside an apricot scone, but she’s already figuring out the next tea-focused treat.
The pastries and breads remain the same across each location, though the selection tends to be less at the markets. Features always include chocolate, almond, and plain croissants, a seasonal fruit danish, a seasonal vegetable danish, brown butter chocolate chip cookies, a kouign amann (pronounced like “queen a mon”), and gluten-free financier.
The Hearth Chef Takeover
You can expect to see bits of Spahr’s life outside the bakery, be that running around Sloan Lake, hiking, or playing with her 14-year-old cat, Olivier. The chef also loves going to the movies, and tries to catch one each week with her fiance. Speaking of, she’s also planning for their Italian wedding next year, complete with pizza and Negronis.
Other than home life, Spahr enjoys visiting other bakeries in town, like GetRights, which is near her home and the bakery production center in Wheat Ridge. We’ll get a behind-the-scenes view of that facility, as well as a look at other bakers working hard to bring us some of the best breads in the city.
“I have a great team and it’s been really nice,” said the chef, who came to Hearth after a break in hospitality. “I had kitchen burnout, and it was a grass-is-greener situation. But then, it was like I belonged in the kitchen and now it’s so nice to be in production.”
Catch Spahr and Hearth on DiningOut Denver’s Instagram stories on Thursday, May 14. Tune in and enter to win a $50 gift card to the bakery (any location) by commenting on the post and following both our account and Hearth’s.
