Team
Executive Pastry Chef/Owner, Maura Kilpatrick
Maura has received enthusiastic reviews of her Middle Eastern-inspired pastries. A renowned executive pastry chef and bakery owner, she was voted Best Pastry Chef by Boston magazine in 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011. Sofra, the bakery she opened with Ana Sortun, has garnered numerous awards and huge acclaim from the public. Maura was a nominee for the 2015, 2016, 2017 James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef and in 2018, 2019, 2020 for Outstanding Baker. She is the co-author (with Ana Sortun) of Soframiz: Vibrant Middle Eastern Recipes from Sofra Bakery.
Maura opened Sofra with Ana Sortun in 2008 and oversees the development of the entire pastry team at Sofra. Her award-winning style is a result of extensive research and experimentation; she is best known for using typical Eastern Mediterranean ingredients such as orange blossom, tahini and rose petals to create contemporary versions of traditional desserts from Turkey, Lebanon and beyond.
Executive Chef/Owner, Ana Sortun
Hailed as one of the country’s “most creative fusion practitioners,” Ana Sortun was named the Best Chef Northeast by the James Beard Foundation in 2005 and has been lauded as “deeply inventive” by the New York Times and “a culinary genius” by Saveur. In 2015, 2016 and 2017 she was a James Beard semi-finalist for Outstanding Chef. She is the author of two cookbooks – Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean and co-author of Soframiz: Vibrant Middle Eastern Recipes from Sofra Bakery (with Maura Kilpatrick).
Trained at La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine de Paris, Ana opened Oleana in 2001 and became known for making authentic Middle Eastern flavors accessible to unfamiliar palates. Ana and her business partner, executive pastry chef Maura Kilpatrick, opened Sofra Bakery & Cafe in 2008. Then in 2013, Ana opened Sarma, a Turkish-style meze tavern, with chef Cassie Piuma. Siena Farms, owned by Ana’s husband, Chris Kurth, and named for their daughter, provides produce to the restaurants, underscoring her commitment to fresh ingredients and healthy food.
chef de cuisine, Pri Paige
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Pri came to Boston at the age of 15. At the age of 22, she began a 10-year career working for Rene Becker, owner of Hi-Rise Bread Company, Cambridge. At Hi-Rise, she ignited her passion for seasonal, scratch cooking and built a strong foundation of classical technique. After Hi-Rise, Pri spent five years at emerging farm-to-table caterer, Fireside Catering, where she gained a wealth of knowledge about full-service catering and worked directly with farmers and local producers.
Along the way, Pri developed a passion for many global cuisines. Pri left Fireside to become Sous Chef at Sofra Bakery to learn about spices and Eastern Mediterranean cuisine. In 2020, she became the Chef de Cuisine and has found a home creating Mediterranean-inspired seasonal menus, using local ingredients. Her passion for local and sustainable food begins at home where she is an avid gardener, growing herbs + vegetables from seed not only to feed her family and friends but also for the sake of recipe development.
pastry chef de cuisine, Feyza Bayrakcıoglu Ozden
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Feyza graduated from Kadir Has University in 2003, with a degree in computer engineering. She decided this wasn’t for her though and wanted to follow her passion for baking and move to Florida to study culinary arts at Johnson and Wales University.
After graduating in 2007, Feyza worked at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami for 18 months, before moving back to Turkey. In 2009, she accepted a job as Pastry Chef at the Istanbul Culinary Institute where she taught many workshops for the students and developed the baking and pastry curriculum for semi-professionals. Known for her seasonal scratch baking and modern approach to Turkish cuisine, Feyza then accepted the position of Pastry Chef at the beloved Gram Bakery, owned by emerging Chef Didem Senol.
In 2019, Feyza moved to Boston and became the Pastry Chef de Cuisine at Sofra. She brings her passion, skills and expertise of Turkish cuisine to her team and works alongside Executive Pastry Chef Maura Kilpatrick to create contemporary versions of traditional desserts from Turkey and the Mediterranean