4:00 am – On the playlist: “Nicotine & Gravy” • Beck
When the funky, cool grooves of late-90s Beck starts playing in the kitchen, it’s clear that Kelly has gotten a second wind.
In the last hour, the third shifters have swept up mountains of flour and continued their baking. We start to see the first new faces of the day. Bright-eyed but still sleepy, the first shift begins arriving. At once, the clanging of pots and the kitchen chatter escalates. Meanwhile, it’s still pitch-black and a little foggy outside the restaurant. Until a year or so ago, this neighborhood was a mishmash of slightly decaying parking lots. In the period of a few months, dozens of high-end developments have sprung up.
5:26 am – On the playlist: “Just a Friend” • Biz Markie
Bunches of eggs bob around a large water bath, getting poached for the morning rush, which will begin in just over an hour. Kate cuts servings of breakfast pizzas and savory foccacias. Adrian Morgan, the morning shift dough mixer and competitive eater, has taken over a corner of the kitchen to start the day’s loaves. Lisa unmolds, slices, and inspects the cinnamon babka. The silver is polished and the chairs are mostly set. Tall stacks of powdered chocolate-espresso cookies line the bakery counter.
7:00 am – The kitchen jams stop.
For the people queued at Willa Jean’s coffee bar, waiting for their Intelligentsia Coffee espresso, it’s morning. Sunlight is just starting to creep into the high-ceilinged room, and for those coffee-drinking office workers, it is morning. But for Lisa, it’s m’evening—a strange time where sunlight and exhaustion collide, and one to which she’s just starting to acclimate. Before heading home, she has a mimosa. A big one. With the day’s dough proofing safely in the kitchen, she can try to catch some sleep before she and her overnight bakers start up again.
