You may say the word “passion” is overused just like “sustainable,” “organic,” “natural,” and “artisanal.” But guess what? You cannot go on with business these days without believing in any one of those words.

A popular high-sugar “snack food” manufacturer in the USA has recently announced its closure and the lay off of 17,000 or more jobs. A vegetarian grill chain has recently been adding stores across the USA. Everyone but everyone now has a natural style of its mainstream products, organic versions of its banner products and the most common household staples are available in organic, no “high fructose corn syrup” versions.

What could be more basic than bread? Has it also gone the organic way? You bet it has. I met a French man who used to be a software engineer and at age 53 decided “he just wanted to bake bread!” And not just bake, but bake artisanal versions of French breads he grew up eating like the standard ones: Baguette, Pain de epi, pain de campagne (country bread). He also has pain au chocolat (my favorite!) and the coffee companions like Pain aux raisins and madeleines.

Richard Denoix and his wife Lenore (she of Italian descent-from Napoli or Naples) open their cozy café called Casse Croute every morning at 7 a.m. and stay open only until 2 p.m. But Richard is there as early as 3 a.m. to check on the dough and his secret: his own leavening mix. He does not use yeast as most commercial bakers do. He intimated to me that even in Paris, no one does it the old-fashioned way anymore. Tsk Tsk. At least in Livermore, California they still do. That is where Richard and Lenore opened their boulangerie just five months ago.

He proudly states that he only uses three ingredients: organic flour, sea salt and purified water. Of course during the olden times, that wasall our forefathers (in Europe at least) had: bread was made with just flour, salt and water.

Bringing his science and math prowess from the software lab to the kitchen, Richard is a perfect fit for an artisan baker. Baking, as I know it, is an exact science. You cannot guess or approximate (like a soup or stew) because a wrong measure makes wrong bread. It could get tough, too chewy or stone-hard.

Lenore also left a corporate job with a major telecommunications company to help Richard with his new passion and career. She proudly says her age (even if I did not ask) because she looks younger than the ever-passionate Frenchman who is seriously timing his batches in the oven. Lenore did the details. She ably decorated their café with Frenchy touches like frames from Paris, antique chests, a really old grandfather’s clock and down to the cute red and yellow latte cups which they use for coffee—done with a French press (plunger), of course. There is no espresso machine and if you asked for a latte, you would get Café Au Lait. Truly French to the last detail.

The only clue to Richard’s software background is the modern Point of Sale system or POS which uses a cool iPad to ring up customers’ bills and orders.

Their staff are part-time college graduates who have finished high courses like Nuclear Science and as basic as Microbiology. Truly, this is a café you might say had overqualified staff, and since they are mostly part-time workers, the total brain power on any given shift can make a nuclear bomb if you put their heads together. But they all serve coffee and pastries, croissants and café au lait with passion. They could very well get higher jobs, but people sometimes enjoy working the other side of their brains. The right side? The passionate side?

Yes, it is a busy schedule now for Richard and Lenore, opening the café at 7 a.m. and taking orders until lunch and closing early at 2 p.m. Lenore makes the soups and sandwiches. She is the cook. He is the baker. And they still find time for spiritual get-togethers being part of the Carmelites’ Secular Discalced Order. What a life. Spiritually and physically sated while mentally being challenged in another way. From software to soft bread. From telcos to iPads. And back to basics like bread and coffee.

It is never too late to find your passion and do what you have always wanted to do. With your right brain, this time.

Chit Juan is a founder and owner of ECHOStore sustainable lifestyle, ECHOmarket sustainable farms and ECHOcafe in Serendra and Podium malls. She also heads the Women’s Business Council of the Philippines and the Philippine Coffee Board Inc., two non-profits close to her heart. She often speaks to corporates, youth and NGOs on social entrepreneurship, women empowerment, and coffee. You can follow her on twitter.com/chitjuan or find her on facebook:Pacita “Chit” Juan. Email her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .