About Us

“Peace goes into the making of a poem as flour goes into
the making of bread” – Pablo Neruda

Daniel Leader is the owner and baker of the Bread Alone Bakery in New York's Catskill Mountains. Dan's food career began when, nine months short of his undergraduate philosophy degree from the University of Wisconsin, he realized his need to work with his hands as well as his mind.

He enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, graduated at the top of his class, and worked as a chef for some of New York City's hottest restaurants, La Grenouille and the Water Club. Then, after eight years of cooking food "too fancy to eat," he became obsessed with the idea of creating something wholesome, timeless, and beautiful. Great bread and Bread Alone were born.

 

Sharon Burns-Leader is the owner and pastry chef of Bread Alone Bakery. After graduating from Fairleigh Dickinson, Sharon moved to the Catskill Mountains and, in the grand tradition of English majors, began working as a professional gardener.

In 1985 she took on the task of helping Dan build the team of people who make Bread Alone Bakery one of the finest places to be in the Hudson Valley.