Renato Poliafito began his career as a designer in New York City aftergraduating from Skidmore College in 1996. Following years of print and onlinedesign work, he felt inclined to entertain his love for coffee and desserts. Beinga self-taught cook (with a little inspiration from watching his mom in the kitchen),Renato changed career paths and traded his creative director status for that ofcafé manager. Renato began working for Jack and Grace Lamb of Jewel Bakofame at their café, The Blue Goose, where he learned the intricate tricks of thecafé trade. After a year of intensive training, research and pinching pennies,Renato teamed with Matt Lewis to open Baked. Baked currently distributes theirgranola to specialty stores nationwide, and in fall 2010 will be debuting theirWilliams Sonoma/Baked brownie mixes across the U.S.Together, they work tirelessly to bring the New York masses outrageouslydelicious desserts made with the highest quality ingredients, and, of course, theperfect cup of coffee.Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito's debut cookbook, Baked: New Frontiers inBaking, was published to national critical acclaim and raved about across theblogosphere. The book received top nods from NPR, People, Amazon.com,Food and Wine, Bon Appetit and many more. Baked: New Frontiers in Bakingwas nominated for an IACP award.Their new book, Baked Explorations, will be published October 2010 and is atribute to beloved American desserts - treats and baked goods that are regionalgems, fading beauties, or family secrets (and a few Baked customer favorites).Some of the stellar recipes included in this volume include: Peanut ButterBanana Cream Pie, Mom's Olive Oil Orange Bundt Cake, The Aunt Sassy(pistachio) Cake, Chocolate Thumb Prints, plus 75 other recipes from breakfasttreats to late-night confections.Matt and Renato have been featured in the New York Times, O Magazine, TheWall Street Journal, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, People Magazine, and manymore. In addition, they have written recipes for Bon Appetit, Food and Wine,Health Magazine and they have appeared on Food TV, MSNBC, Martha, RachelRay, the Today Show, and many more.