Baking School
Join us in our Teaching Kitchen for hands-on classes, informative workshops, and behind-the-scenes baking experiences.
What We’re All About
At Rebel Bread, we don’t just teach recipes—we show you how baking really works.
We focus on the why behind each method so that the techniques you pick up here will give you the confidence to create in your own kitchen.
Professional Instruction
Learn from skilled bakers, chefs, and educators who bring real-world expertise to every class—along with approachable, hands-on guidance.
Transparency
We teach exactly how we bake—no secrets, no gatekeeping—so you understand not just what works, but why it works.
Inclusivity
Everyone is welcome here, exactly as you are. We celebrate all experience levels, backgrounds, and baking styles.
Joy of Baking
Did we mention it’s a good time? We keep things fun and approachable, creating a space where mistakes are part of the process and there are lots of wins worth celebrating.
Our Offerings
Explore the different experiences we offer.
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Ever wondered what it takes to run a real bread and pastry bakery? Go behind the scenes of our production kitchen, meet our team, and learn about the people, processes, and tools that power our operation every day.
🕒 1 hour • Offered multiple times each month
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Taste your way through sourdough, grains, cookies, or croissants—while learning the why behind the flavors. These casual, info-packed sessions explore different baking topics in a fun, approachable way.
🕒 1–2 hours • Offered multiple times each month
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Roll up your sleeves and bake from scratch! From rustic breads and sourdough to laminated pastries, cookies, and pies, you’ll learn professional techniques you can take back to your home kitchen—with guidance from our team of expert instructors.
🕒 3–6 hours • Offered at least once per week
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Have questions? Come hang out. Chat with one of our knowledgeable bakers, troubleshoot a recipe, brainstorm project ideas, or just talk shop. No registration needed—just stop by our cafe.
🕒 Every Friday • 10am–12pm in the cafe
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Book any of our experiences for your friends, colleagues, or community. Spend time together while learning something new and enjoying great food.
🔗 Click “Get in Touch” at the bottom of the website to inquire about a private booking.
What We Teach
Each experience is built around one or more of these core themes.
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Understand the art and science of how all bread works—including dough development, fermentation, shaping, baking, and more.
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Learn essential pastry techniques for your baking toolkit, so you can confidently craft your own unique and delicious creations.
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Explore the world of naturally-leavened baking with sourdough starters, and long-fermented doughs.
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Discover the wide range of grains grown in Colorado and beyond. Work with different flours to explore new textures, flavors, and nutritional profiles. All class flour is sourced from our partner mills.
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Use baking as a force for good by sourcing local ingredients, reducing waste, and supporting regional food systems.
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Play with culinary traditions to discover how the food we make and eat everyday connects us across cultures, communities, and generations.
Meet Your Instructors
Elana
Elana Berusch is a baker and food scientist who loves to play with her food and push the boundaries of pastry. She believes that baking can and should be accessible to anyone who has the desire to learn, and strives to demystify recipes and techniques that seem intimidating. When she's not baking,
Elana can be found hosting silly parties for friends, doing arts & crafts, or gardening.
Zach
Zach Martinucci loves telling stories about food, over food, and even through food. He studied Culinary Anthropology at UCLA and the University of Bologna, and Professional Bread and Viennoiserie at the San Francisco Baking Institute. As the founder of Rebel Bread, he now brings his passions for culture and cuisine together to craft story-worthy experiences over food.
Zach is an Italian-Jewish grandmother at heart and enjoys working with all kinds of dough, including sourdough (his first love) and gnocchi (his favorite dough to make at home and to teach).
Meg
Megan Miller’s culinary journey began on a little stool in the kitchen, where she learned the art of Italian cooking from her grandmother and her great aunt Josie, who brought their Sicilian heritage to America in the 1920’s. Some of Meg's best childhood memories involve making sauce and rolling meatballs, soaking up the flavors and traditions that would shape her future.
With a passion for sweets, Meg pursued pastry school and then set off on an adventure along the East Coast, working in various restaurants and exploring a wide range of cuisines. Her goal was to expand her palate and find innovative ways to infuse Italian dishes with diverse cultural influences.
You’ll find Meg assisting in classes as part of her role as the Cafe Operations Director at Rebel Bread.
Jan
Chef Jan Kratzer is a culinary school graduate from Austria who has worked in Switzerland, Scotland, and the United States. Although he initially focused on craft cocktails, his love for food never faded. After working in various fine-dining restaurants, he rediscovered his passion for baking. He ran a small bakery in LoHi and realized that opening his own shop would be the perfect opportunity to showcase his skills in the USA.
While training his employees at LoDough Bakery, he also discovered a deep passion for teaching and mentoring others in the kitchen.
Ellyse
Ellyse Retana is a Midwesterner through and through–she loves to feed those around her and has worked on lots of farms! She brought her experience working in local food systems to Rebel Bread in her role as Bread Lead, and the bakery has since become keen supporters of sourcing sustainably and regionally grown grains.
At Rebel and at home, Ellyse loves cooking and sharing food that puts people and place first. She wants her friends to love what she's eating as much as she does because of where it’s from (hopefully somewhere close by–her garden, the farmers market, or our local mill) and the people behind it. Now you’re a friend too! See you soon!
Joanne
Joanne Collins’s passion for food began early, leading her to restaurant kitchens at just 15 and formal chef training soon after. She studied at The New York Restaurant School at 18 and later honed her skills in artisanal bread baking at the Institute of Culinary Education in 2021. To deepen her commitment to a plant-based lifestyle, she earned a diploma in Plant-Based Cuisine and Pâtisserie from Le Cordon Bleu in London.
Today, Joanne shares her love of bold, flavorful food by inspiring others to explore creative plant-based cooking and baking.