Issue 2:2 | Excerpt
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Chocolate Artisan Profiles: Michael Mischer

The city scene is quintessentially European. It could be Lausanne. Or
Strasbourg. Even Balzano. Cars move leisurely down tree-lined Grand
Avenue. A young man in an apron wipes down a tabletop at an
outdoor café, while the owner of a small bookstore pauses in his
sweeping to greet pedestrians as they pass. The farmers’ market
bustles with activity as patrons peruse the goods from the season’s
local bounty. At a nearby lake, sailboats glide silently on across the
water in the late-morning breeze. Welcome to Oakland, California, home
of Michael Mischer, neighborhood chocolatier.

Chocolate was not Michael Mischer’s first love. Nor was pastry. “I
was 20 years old when I decided to pursue a career in pastry and
confectionery back home in Germany,” he says in slightly accented
English. “In Europe, apprentices usually start working at the age of
13 or 14, so I was considered “old” at twenty.” He laughs. But the
work captured Mischer’s imagination with near immediacy, inspiring him
to dedicate his life to perfecting his craft. Perhaps it was Swiss master
pastry chef Andreas Haertle that ignited the spark of Mischer’s
interest. In Konditorei Haertle in Braunschweig, a small city just east
of Hannover, Michael Mischer first discovered his skill in creating
pastries and turning the science of chocolate into a delectable art
form. Under his master’s tutelage, Mischer also observed firsthand
how a successful confectionery and pastry business is run.  MORE>>>

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