SAM BUTARBUTAR
Co-owner + Chef of Third Culture Bakery
"I love the 62% Mosaic because it strikes such a perfect balance between fruity notes, milky notes, and creamy notes. I love these flavors because they are bright and cut through all of the sweetness and creaminess in a pastry."
About Sam
Sam Butarbutar is the Co-Founder and Culinary Director of Third Culture Bakery. He started Third Culture Bakery in 2017 with his now-husband Wenter Shyu. Their signature item, the Mochi Muffin®, was the debut pastry that placed Third Culture Bakery on the (culinary) map. Sam currently oversees kitchen production and recipe development for the bakery with locations in California and Colorado. As a third culture kid himself, Sam grew up in both Jakarta, Indonesia and New York City. He draws inspiration from his childhood memories of cooking with his mom in the kitchen and eating tropical fruits like passion fruit and guava. Sam started Third Culture Bakery to simply recreate all of the childhood flavors he missed, but over time, the bakery grew and evolved. It became a safe space for the LGBTQA+ community, immigrants, people of color, and other third culture kids like himself. Third Culture Bakery started because two people fell in love, so Sam and Wenter hope that they can spread love and kindness one Mochi Muffin® bite at a time.