KIRKWOOD, Mo. — From a childhood in Farmington to top pastry chef in the United States, Nathaniel Reid has many titles and accolades but his pinnacle of success was opening a small, unassuming bakery in Kirkwood.
Nathaniel Reid Bakery sits in a small strip of shops along Manchester Road. It opened in 2016 after Nathaniel along with his brother and father rehabbed the space themselves.
Reid’s journey started as a boy in Farmington, Missouri, where he remembers tinkering in his mother’s kitchen.
He graduated from Mizzou and after graduation headed for Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.
“I jumped on a plane without any money. I had $500 to live and survive in Paris for a 1 ½ years and somehow made it out the other end,” he said.
Reid went on to work in California, Las Vegas, and St. Louis as executive pastry chef at our own Ritz Carlton St. Louis.
He worked for famous chefs like the late French pastry legend, Chef Joel Robuchon. He made pastries for celebrities and the awards started rolling in. In 2010, he was named top pastry chef in the United States. This year he was named a James Beard Award Semifinalist. He’s also been featured in countless magazines including “Food and Wine” in March 2019 highlighting his bakery’s brownies.
But after 16 years of working around the world, Reid was ready to come home to Missouri.
“This was always the dream of what I wanted to do. To have a little neighborhood bakery pastry shop and I’m really fortunate that I have the opportunity to do it,” he said.
Check them out here: http://www.nrbakery.com/
Tip: When I asked Nathaniel his favorite pastry in the bakery, he said the hazelnut, citrus and milk chocolate pound cake.