Apollonia Poilâne (born 1984 in New York City) is an American baker, CEO and gallerist based in Paris, France.
From a young age, he found himself collaborating with Salvador Dalí, César and other prominent artists using bread as an inspiration and source material.
He was considered a contemporary of the “nouvelle cuisine” movement and the breads appreciated and utilized by France's top chefs, such as Joel Robuchon and Paul Bocuse.
[citation needed] Together, Irena and Lionel Poilâne, conceived of a “Manufacture” (named for the “main” or “hand” in French and “factory” for production”) just outside of Paris, which houses 24 100-tonne wood fired ovens built to replicate the bakehouse at 8 Rue de Cherche-Midi (NOTE: the word "manufacture/manufactory" is an old one in both English and French - see Manufactory House).
For their sourdough, only mechanical materials are used in the baking process eschewing the use of thermometers or refrigeration – save for use of an electric mixer designed to mimic the human arm movement.
She used the time difference between Cambridge, Massachusetts and Paris, France in order to run the business while being a student at Harvard College.