Marcos Muñoz was born and raised in Culver City, California (“the most beautiful place in the world,” he says). He grew up in a sports-oriented family and played baseball throughout high school at Saint Monica Preparatory. He knew from childhood that he wanted to be a baker, and went on after high school to Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena to study pastry. At 22, he moved to New York City, where he earned his chops at various bakeries, including the esteemed Dominique Ansel Bakery– an experience that he says shaped him as a young chef. He spent about eight years in the NYC area, doing a brief stint in Westport, Connecticut to help open a bakery. While in New York, he met baker Kevin Scollo, eventually moving down to Athens to work with him at Independent Baking Co..
Today, Marcos is Head Baker at Independent. He also does pop-ups under the name Rocky’s Patisserie, creating French pastries with a Southern twist. Marcos also volunteers with Wholesome Wave, a non-profit focused on increasing public access to fresh food. He is about to relocate to Normaltown with his girlfriend, Hayley, and two cats, Beans and Pepita.
What do you love most about the work you do?
I would say it’s the people I work with. That’s vital to any work environment. It’s challenging, and there’s always someone like Kevin who’s wanting to make sure the quality of the work is really high. To get to his level of quality, he has to keep the bar high, and the team has to follow. It can take a while to get somewhere without the team around you believing in it, so it comes down to the people around you.
When you’re not working, what do you like to do in and around Athens?
I’ve been loving the festivals and popups. There’s been so many festivals coming to Athens that bring the people around, like people I don’t get to see that often. And also the popups, like Gayle [Norton]’s [dessert] popups [at Nighthawks]. It keeps the fire lit in Athens when people continue pursuing their passions.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I’d have to say Japan. So many people have gone and I’m dying to go there. I have friends who live there— when I worked for Dominique Ansel, he opened a store in Japan, so we had a whole team of Japanese cooks come work with us for a couple months. So I made some really good friends with them. People tell me all the time about just how much better things are in Japan.
If you could put any message on a billboard, what would it say?
Trust yourself. I think we often second guess everything. But trust yourself a little more. You’ve been through it all. You’ve seen it with your own eyes.
Do you have a favorite movie?
I would say 61*. It’s about when these two Yankees players went after Babe Ruth’s home run record. It shows this beautiful moment in history where Roger Maris beats Babe Ruth and gets his 61st home run. But there’s so much that happens in the season, the highs and lows. Working hard and having a horrible time— well maybe not a horrible time— but working so hard to get to that moment. It makes me think about what I’m doing or how I’m living life. It’s about continuing to try, even when it’s hard.
Do you have a favorite book?
I’d say The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. When I moved to New York, I wasn’t a big reader, but one of my friends put me onto it. It’s really poetic, and I always read it as a message about doing it while you’re young. Be beautiful, be brave, be strong while you’re young, because once you get older you can’t do everything. I don’t know if that’s how other people read it, but I saw it as Dorian Gray wanted to stay young and beautiful because he felt like he could do anything.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Express myself more. You can move to New York and do all these things, but you don’t challenge yourself enough while you’re in these restaurants or in these moments. You think you don’t know anything, but you do have ideas. Push yourself, express yourself more in the moment.
If you could see any band/show, anywhere, any time, what would you see and where?
You know, I love music, I’ve been to shows but going to shows hasn’t ever really been my thing. I would like to go watch the Dodgers play Game 7 of the World Series in Toronto [last year]. I wish I was at that game, so I would go back in time to go to that game, to feel that moment of success after that kind of season and just to watch the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays.
If you could have lunch with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and where would you eat?
I’d always hoped when I lived in New York that I’d run into Anthony Bourdain. I heard that he would do that, like if someone recognized him and really was excited to meet him, he’d take them out to lunch. Running into him while walking around was always my dream. I’d want him to take me somewhere, like “oh, I know this great cheeseburger place,” like somewhere hidden that you’d usually walk past.
What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word home?
Laughter, silliness, strength.
