Chef
Bobby Schaffer
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
i. Biography
A year in Spain on a scholarship from the trade commission of Spain put bakery work in direct contact with daily bread culture, followed by pastry work in a renowned bakery in Barcelona. That sequence matters less as travel than as training in how grain, fermentation, repetition, and retail rhythm shape a bakery. For Bobby Schaffer, that work also became a way back into family lineage through flour and bread.
The Path
Grain-centered training at The Breadlab at Washington State University set the frame: flour as the starting material, not a neutral carrier. Bobby Schaffer carried that approach into pastry work where structure, finish, and consistency were non-negotiable, then into leading the pastry program at Blue Hill at Stone Barns and serving as executive pastry chef at Grace. Bakery ownership narrowed the field back to bread. As Executive Chef & owner of Lost Larson (since 2018), Bobby Schaffer works in a format where fine-dining discipline is applied to daily production: dough, milling, proof, bake, counter. The bakery holds craft, family history, travel, and grain work inside a retail practice rather than separating them into concept and execution.
The Work Today
Place gives the bakery part of its working grammar. Lost Larson sits close to a public marker of Swedish American history, and the menu uses Scandinavian classics and the Swedish fika tradition as living production, not display. The work is sweet, fragrant, practical, and social because fika is a counter habit as much as a repertoire. Bread sets the product line. Bobby Schaffer’s specialty is European-style breads, and the pastry case stays tied to flour, fermentation, and grain rather than treating pastry as detached finishing work. The central question remains practical: what can grain become when milling, dough handling, and baking are given the main attention? Freshly milled regional grains organize the daily rhythm. Whole-grain flours are milled in front of customers, and a mill on the premises processes the flours used by the bakery. Milling stays visible and audible, so the raw material is part of the craft before it becomes dough, loaf, bun, or slice. The Scandinavian repertoire was developed by Bobby Schaffer and Bree through travel in Sweden. Limpa loaves, sweet cardamom buns, and Swedish princess cake sit within that body of work, alongside cardamom buns and smørrebrød made with whole-grain flours milled in front of customers. The vocabulary is specific: European-style breads, Swedish fika, regional grain, and a Chicago counter built on daily repetition.
Signature
Signature dishes include Cardamom buns and smørrebrød and Limpa loaves.
Acclaim
Recognition here comes from exacting rooms and a bakery with a clear material position. Bobby Schaffer led pastry at Blue Hill at Stone Barns and held the executive pastry chef role at Grace before opening his own Chicago bakery and café. The 2018 opening gave that training a production site, a neighborhood, and a family through-line. The formative year in Spain now sits inside a Chicago bakery where Swedish fika, regional grain, and European-style bread share the same counter.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Bobby
What is Bobby Schaffer's current role?
Bobby Schaffer is Executive Chef & Owner.
Where did Bobby Schaffer train or study?
Bobby Schaffer trained at The Breadlab at Washington State University.
What is Bobby Schaffer known for?
European-style breads.
