68 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {food coloring} I saw an ad for the executive pastry chef job at Craftsman and Wolves and I couldn’t believe it,” she says. “I applied and, within a day, they emailed me back.” Even during the extensive interview process where she was tested on everything from laminations to confections to entremets, Sam knew she was exactly where she belonged. “Before I even got the job I said to myself, ‘I like this place. I’m gonna stay here,’” she recalls. for the employees as well as their customers. “We have a very nurturing workplace. We make and share big family meals with each other, we celebrate each other’s birthdays, we give each other gifts during the holidays. It’s just a big family,” she says. “I want customers to know that everything we make here is with a lot of care and love. We aren’t pulling things out of a package. Everything is made from scratch and is well-thought-out, down to the gram.” She adds, “We’re making recipes that were inspired by my grandfather, my family and Lawrence.” At the Mountain View location, find savory items like the famous ‘Rebel Within,’ a savory muffin with a perfectly runny soft boiled egg inside, as well as elegantly decorated desserts and confections, and a lunch menu that includes sandwiches and salads. “Everyone loves our house-made baguettes, sourdough and milk breads. But to have it on a Sam and Lawrence Lai, the owner of Craftsman and Wolves, worked so seamlessly together that she considered Lawrence and his wife Ann to be her closest friends. But tragedy struck in April this year when Lawrence died of late-stage esophageal cancer. Sam and Ann were left to finish the job he’d started, opening their first Craftsman and Wolves outside of San Francisco less than two months after his passing. “The Mountain View store was the last thing Lawrence worked on and what he was training me to manage,” she says with emotion. “He asked for my input on every little thing and he valued my opinion. I felt heard, like he cared about me. So I want to keep his vision and make this place come to life.” Lawrence managed the two San Francisco locations of Craftsman and Wolves like a family. It is now Sam’s goal to continue that legacy and foster the same kind of environment
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