(IBIE photo: William Leaman, left, and team after 2nd-place continental finish)

By Anne Higuera
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

William Leaman’s suitcase is packed again.

As his wife and business partner Heather Leaman predicted, the chef’s schedule this fall is also packed, but he is energized and full of new ideas, and his enthusiasm is infectious. Bakery Nouveau’s West Seattle founder is headed to an unglamorous Chicago warehouse for the weekend, and every other weekend until January, coaching an American team that aims to bring home the same international baking award he and his team won 20 years ago. It’s a bit of déjà vu and 20-20 hindsight all at once.

“If I‘d known I would have ended up coaching, I would have sat there all three days,” he says, thinking back to the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie in Paris in 2005, where he spent a single day baking with his team to win the championship. Leaman was captain of the Bread Baker’s Guild Team representing the United States then, an achievement he says was life-changing. “It really kind of pushed me into having a competition every day,” which led to opening the flagship Bakery Nouveau store on California Avenue SW in 2006, and two more, on Capitol Hill and in Burien.

Though his 2005 Coupe du Monde trophy is displayed proudly on the wall of his West Seattle location, he wasn’t expecting the invitation to return to the competition as a coach all these years later. “Your name came up,” is what Leaman was told, to be one of the working bakers asked to mentor a team. It did give him pause. “How can we get back up to the top of the mountain? I did it before, can I do it again as a coach?” The introspection did not last long. Despite the time commitment of traveling to numerous practices in the Midwest, he was all in. “I’ve never really given up on continuing to learn,” he says. Besides, sharing his expertise with the next generation of bakers moving up in the industry is de rigueur for a baker devoted to constantly improving his craft while encouraging others along the way.

Coach Leaman and Team USA have already made it past the first hurdle during the initial competition at the International Baking Industry Exposition in Las Vegas last month, coming in 2nd behind Canada for teams in North and South America. Both teams will advance to the January finals, where there will be two teams from each continent, plus a couple of wildcards.

Académie Culinaire de France organizes this competition every 2-3 years to “Defend, Improve, Transmit French Culinary Art in the world.” Teams are composed of three members, each specializing on one aspect of artisan baking. This year’s American team includes bakers from across the country: Ambrose Erkenswick from Chicago, Miami-based Sandy Rodriguez (who was born in Cuba), and Nicolas Nayener, who is originally from France. “This is a true all-American team and I love that international aspect,” says Leaman, who sees them as underdogs because they had a much shorter timeline to practice together for the Las Vegas preliminaries than countries like Japan and South Korea, whose teams formed earlier. “It was really good to have a practice under conditions very similar to what they will have in Paris.”

The conditions in Paris can be both intimidating and grueling, with a jury of 10 watching your every move, along with hundreds in the audience and the occasional camera crew taking up space in the work area. Before last month, Leaman said the members of the US team had never competed in front of people. “It’s a little nerve-wracking, and you’re lucky if you sleep the night before.” Throw in other challenges, like a working space that starts out at 50F in the morning and can easily warm to 80F+ with all the ovens going, and the fact that no one knows exactly what kind of flour they’ll be using. The only ingredient bakers can walk in the door with is the starter they bring for sourdough.

All those variables come into play as the team works to meet strict criteria about finished size and weight of what they bake. Erkenswick will be in charge of baking 25 traditional baguettes that must measure a precise length and weight, within 2 grams. Nayener will take on artistic breads – standards like a sourdough levain, and others, including a random bread literally chosen from a hat. That could be a German pretzel, a European rye, or something else entirely. Rodriguez will produce all of the viennoiserie, which are pastries made from yeasted, laminated dough. That means croissants and their like, totaling 16 pastries at 60 grams each, 4 at 300-500 grams, laminated brioche at 80 grams, and some brioche à tête, which has a little ball of dough topping it off. “The most basic things are hardest to make,” says Leaman.

The standards are also not necessarily so standard. Croissants that might be a gentle crescent shape in previous years are now required to have their ends tucked in (see the photo above, on the left), something that Leaman says used to be a sign that croissant was made with margarine rather than butter. They’re still absorbing all of what they need to accomplish on January 20th, their assigned day to compete. “This is an R&D weekend — we just got the rules last week,” he says. There’s also a category of “snacks” —little sandwiches — to plan for the team to produce. It’s just four varieties, but 120 total to make.

This is part of where Leaman’s expertise will benefit the team. Having run the three Bakery Nouveau locations, he and his staff have baked and assembled hundreds of thousands of sandwiches over the years. He’s been poring over ideas for unique sandwiches that fit his formula for a great bite that isn’t muddled by too many elements—just two flavors and a texture. Right now he’s thinking about a brioche sandwich that would feature black cod marinated in shiso, mirin, and sake. “Flavor is #1 what I want them to focus on, but also maintaining authenticity.”

Aside from the food itself, Leaman says he’s coaching his team about the value of how comfortable team members are with each other and those observing them. “Talk to the judge if they come up. They’re bakers too.” He encourages explaining what they’re doing and why, but also arriving looking their best — clothes pressed, clean shoes, fresh haircuts. “Be a showman,” he says, “but don’t let them see everything.” The flourish of a big reveal at the end is worth a little bit of concealment along the way. Leaman was chosen to be team captain in 2005 because he spoke some French, which is required for the captain’s presentation to the jury. It certainly won’t hurt that this year’s team captain is fluent. “I’m really impressed with the chemistry,” he says. “My team [in 2005] had that same chemistry.” On competition day, Leaman will not be allowed inside the working area, but he can give the team advice, as well as being an extra eye on what’s cooking on the stove, or needs to come out of the oven.

As much as the team will learn from Leaman’s experience, he says the benefit is reciprocal. “It’s great to sort of relive my own experience and help a team, but it’s also so enriching for myself as a business owner. I get to bring new and cool ideas back to the neighborhood.” He says he’s ready to look at revamping some of the menu in the new year, with inspiration stirred up in the process of the competition. “Covid took a lot of the fun stuff out. This is forcing me to relook at things that I’ve gotten comfortable with.” He’s also looking ahead not just to the next 20 years, but well beyond. “I want to keep going for another 50,” he says, and continue to focus on quality over quantity. “I don’t want to be the most. I just want to be the best.”

The Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie competition will be held January 20-21, 2026. Team USA will compete on the same day as France, Senegal, Japan, and Brazil.