Instructors

Our talented faculty are dedicated to providing a comprehensive learning experience that provides rigorous hands-on training while fostering creativity. We deliberately maintain small class sizes to provide our students with the benefits of collaborative learning as well as individualized instruction.

Brian Wood
Baking and Pastry Instructor
On the cusp of his graduation from The Evergreen State College with a Bachelor's degree in Cultural Anthropology, Brian realized that his true passion lay in the world of baking. During college, Brian enjoyed working with breads and pastries in restaurants. But, in his determination to earn his Bachelor's, he had not considered that the trade he loved so much could be his life's work.

Immediately after graduating from Evergreen, Brian began his study of baking in earnest. While working as a Pastry Chef at Café Ambrosia, Brian completed the Pastry and Specialty Baking Program at South Seattle Community College. He also worked in the pastry department at The Essential Baking Company in Seattle, where he helped develop and launch a line of organic chocolates.

During a six month internship with the San Francisco Baking Institute, Brian taught pastry classes, conducted product demonstrations, assisted instructors and completed an intensive study in artisan breads and vienoisserie. Brian received additional training in chocolate work at the Barry Callebaut Institute and classic and contemporary French Pastry and regional French specialty breads at the Institut National De La Boulangerie-Patisserie. Most recently Brian trained at the Atelier Pierre Herme at the Ecole Supérieure de Cuisine Française in Paris.

Brian is now in his fifth year as a consultant and instructor at SFBI. Most recently he finished a project of writing for and coordinating the SFBI book Advanced Bread and Pastry: A Professional Approach.

Miyuki Togi
Assistant Baking and Pastry Instructor
Miyuki Togi graduated from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island with a Bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts and an Associate degree in Baking and Pastry Arts. For completion of her Bachelor’s degree, she took an intensive culinary art course at DCT Swiss Hotel Management School in Switzerland. Throughout her school years, Miyuki staged at restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts. During this time, her interest slowly shifted from cooking to baking, and she decided to pursue the baking profession upon completion of her study.

Miyuki came to the San Francisco Baking Institute to gain further understanding of artisan baking, starting an internship in 2006. During the six month internship, she assisted instructors, and contributed to demonstrations and special events held at SFBI. She also developed pastry formulas for consultation, taught pastry classes and private lessons on vienoisserie, and accommodated students from Japan by interpreting during artisan bread classes.