Team
Jay Spencer – Owner/Founder
French Press Bakery & Cafe was founded in June 2015 by Jay Spencer in Needham, MA. Mr. Spencer has enjoyed a successful career for over 20 years in operations management, strategy and finance. He is a graduate of The French Culinary Institute in Culinary Entrepreneurship and holds an MBA in Strategy from The University of Michigan and Bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and Mathematics from Edinboro University.
Mr. Spencer began his career in food services as a cook and transitioned to front of the house and eventually a shift manager, leading over 15 employees by the age of 18. Since then he has taken on operations management roles in various industries, having worked at General Electric, Accenture and JPMorgan. He has held various roles from Project Manager to Chief Financial Officer.
At French Press Bakery & Cafe, he is the owner and General Manager ensuring all guests feel welcomed and are given responsive, friendly and courteous service. Moreover he works with his team of bakers and baristas to create, produce, and sell premium French inspired pastries, desserts, food, coffee and tea. In his free time, Jay enjoys hosting dinner parties for friends and family, growing produce, and training his poodles. Although he and his husband Jose came from Brooklyn, New York they currently reside in South Natick, MA.
Arthur Davtian – Executive Pastry Chef
Arthur’s interests in food started with helping his grandmother cook classic Armenian dishes and watching his mother do all the baking. In Arthur’s high school home economics cooking class he realized that he could have a career in food. Working with his teacher, he entered a baking competition sponsored by Newbury College. He won the competition with an almond torte and raspberry coulis dessert. Shortly after he enrolled in Newbury College and graduated with a Bachelors in Culinary Arts and Management and a certificate in Pastry Arts.
His career began at Marriott with 10 years of service as the main baker, working on morning pastries, restaurants desserts, and banquet events. Wanting to focus on wedding cakes and learning the intricacies of baking to decorating and customizing for a particular occasion he transitioned to Icing on the Cake.
For 5 years he grew his experience in all aspects of cakes, learning to create simple designs to extravagant wedding cakes. From here he took a new path into catering at La Bonne Maison. For the next several years he refined his passion for desserts and pastries, ranging from sweet breads to mini desserts. This gave him freedom to bring his own creations to life with unique flavor combinations and vision.
In 2015 Arthur joined the French Press team and throughout the years brought his knowledge, experience and vision through all his baking. He is the Executive Pastry Chef and works with his team to ensure quality and consistency in all products so every guest enjoys their experience at the cafe. On his free time he enjoys playing soccer, traveling and enjoying time with friends and family. Arthur enjoys being a family man and spending time with his wife Anna and their 3 daughters.
Ana Jaramillo – Head Chef
Ana was born and raised in Medellin, Colombia, where food and cooking were an integral part of her life. Starting as a prep cook at Petit Robert Bistro, she quickly rose to line cook, sous chef, and Chef de Cuisine. Ever the constant admirer of French cuisine, she excels at game meats, seafood, and classics. Her specialty is lamb and duck breast.
In 2018, Ana came to work at French Press Bakery & Cafe as Head Chef. Her focus was to create a more informal and approachable style to French Food. Working with the team she has guided the development of our sandwiches, salads, and tartine menu.
Ana enjoys spending Quality time with her two children who also share in her love of cooking. Her daughter is fond of making pasta while her son enjoys creating Columbian specialities.
Jules Petrunich – Lead Barista
Jules, originally from Scranton, PA, became interested in coffee as a teenager when she would have weekend rituals with her mother around coffee. Watching her mother froth milk at home, Jules developed a fondness for cappuccinos. This led to her first job as a barista at Starbucks. She honed her skills on the basics and then sought out smaller specialty coffee shops to master her craft, eventually working at an independent shop in Scranton that focused on local roasting techniques, single-origin beans, and pourovers.
In 2018, Jules came to Massachusetts and fell in love with French Press. Quickly moving from barista to lead trainer to head barista, Jules brings a wealth of talent and energy to our team and our guests.
Jules loves making coffee because it delivers a personal moment of reflection and joy. She makes every drink as if she were drinking it herself. Effort and love are her motto and she wants to ensure everyone has a pleasant experience in starting their day. Her favorite beverages at the moment are a rissetto cortado or a light roast pour-over.