Michelle Boland
Pastry Chef | Oak + Rowan | Boston
September 2020
Groveland, Massachusetts native Michelle Boland didn’t stray far from home when she began her formal culinary training. While studying baking and pastry arts at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, she cut her teeth at local bakeries D’Orsi’s and Pralines (now Sweet & Flour). After graduating in 2013, Boland baked and decorated cakes at Eat Cake! in Newburyport, Massachusetts, before becoming a pastry intern at legendary Chef Frank McClelland’s fine-dining institution L’Espalier, which closed in 2018 after 40 years of service. Boland moved on to the Chestnut Hill location of Davio’s, where she perfected the Italian steakhouse’s famous popovers. During her four years at Davio’s, Boland moved to the Lynnfield location.
In 2017, Boland joined Chef Matt O’Neil for the opening of his new Salem restaurant, Ledger. For two years she stood as the executive pastry chef and helped the team earn Boston Magazine’s “Best of Boston” award for brunch in 2019. When the pastry chef position at Rising Stars alum Nancy Caswell’s Oak + Rowan opened up, Boland jumped at the opportunity to create a menu that reflects her varied experience and a global pantry. Today, she has joined the team at NightShade Noodle Bar in Lynn, bringing her many refined talents to an audience just outside Boston.
