Anna Gordon
Anna Gordon is the chef and founder of famed cookie destination The Good Batch. When she opened her bakery in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn in 2014, it instantly became a cookie destination and neighborhood staple. It’s likely you’ve had her baked goods, which are sold at around 200 coffee shops and retailers around NYC. Most recently, Anna launched her CPG line of ice cream sandwiches, which are sold citywide and up the East coast.
She breaks down a day in the life for Busboy - it’s exactly what we would want - starting the day with movement, R&Ding desserts (cookies to be exact), meetings with amazing teams and long walks to end the day, setting the boundaries we all New Yorkers need to teach ourselves to have.
Breaking Down With Anna Gordon
“I try to be the first one awake in the house on weekdays. This gives me about an hour to stretch, move, meditate. I work best when I give my body and mind a morning warm up.”
“Breakfast, pack lunches, drop the kids off at school. My husband and I have two daughters, Roxy and Josephine, who are a beautiful, bouncing handful, so our mornings are pretty full-on. We live in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. Once they’re settled into their day, I either bike or take the train to work.”
“When I arrive every morning, I make an effort to walk around and say hi to my whole team. I’ll usually settle into my office with a coffee, go through emails, have quick check-ins with my managers.
I find that my palate is sharpest in the morning, so I try to do most of my taste testing in the morning. This is one of my favorite parts of the job— tasting and tinkering products in development. I especially enjoy sharing projects with my whole team to see what everyone thinks.”
“Once I’ve gone through my morning routine, I’ll get in the kitchen to R&D. Some recipes come together immediately, others can take months to perfect. Right now I’m working with our pastry chef to develop a really fun line of holiday cookies for December. I love exploring the realms of baking science, pushing new flavors, incorporating seasonal ingredients. My work ranges from one-off specials for our bakeshop, to hearty baked goods for our wholesale program that will be baked by the thousand.
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“Meetings! I have a fantastic group of managers who I try to meet with regularly, making sure they’re on track and have what they need. My husband Steve is my business partner, and we check in pretty regularly throughout the week. I keep a notebook and an active running agenda; it’s the only way I can stay organized and focused.”
“I walk home as much as possible. It’s an hour long walk, half of which is through Prospect Park, so it’s really a lovely commute. I use this time to reflect on my day, organize my thoughts, work through issues, brainstorm., switch gears. I avoid doing any Good Batch work at home, and Steve and I have become fairly disciplined about not talking shop in the evenings. It’s taken years setting up these boundaries, but it’s a necessary balance in being a functioning business owner and sane parent.”
“I try really hard to get 8 hours of sleep a night. Right before bed, I like to sketch or jot down any last minute thoughts floating around in my head, and then read. I always have a book going. This routine is all an effort to avoid dreaming about cookies, which of course happens from time to time!”