Born and raised in a 125-year-old family bakery, Jimmy Griffin is a 6th-generation baker. He has formally studied in Dublin, Germany and Switzerland, culminating in a M.Sc. in New Product Development from TU Dublin, and an honorary professorship in Stavropol University, Russia. An international competitor from a young age, he was captain of the Irish team which won the bronze medal in the European Bakery Championships in 1997, and recently was a silver medalist in the Coupe du Monde Chocolatine. He is a frequent international jury member of the Coupe Du Monde (Bakery World Cup), and in 2016 was president of the jury.
Jimmy worked in the USA before returning to Galway to take over the family business, Griffin’s of Shop St. He now divides his time between teaching at TU Dublin, lecturing internationally, and consultancy work. He has recently published his first book, “The Art of Lamination: Advanced Technical Laminated Pastry Production” – a clearly explained roadmap as to how to plan and execute the perfect pastry.
An adventurer in baking and beyond, Jimmy is also a divemaster and pilot, and most importantly – “Dad” to Dillon, Janice, and Sophie, and partner to Bogna.
Long Bio
James Griffin, or “Jimmy G” as he is more popularly known, is a sixth-generation master baker from Galway, Ireland. He has forty years’ experience in the bakery industry, growing up in the family business. He is a specialist in viennoiserie, sourdough, bread and cake production. He holds a Master’s degree in New Product Development and Culinary Innovation and lectures to honours degree bakery students at the School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology, Technological University, Cathal Brugha Street, Dublin. He also works as an advisor and consultant to industry. From a young age, Jimmy competed internationally, and as an apprentice, won many national bakery competitions. Later in his career, he represented Ireland and competed in the European Championships as the viennoiserie candidate three times; winning bronze at the Coupe D’ Europe de la Boulangerie 1997. He went on to coach the very successful Irish bakery team from 2002 until 2005. Jimmy has also been an international bakery jury member since 2001 for most of the world championships and world master’s competitions, the Olympics of the baking industry. In 2016, Jimmy was appointed as president of the Jury at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie in Paris. He regularly lectures and teaches overseas and has been involved with baking and competitions on nearly every continent. In 2015, he was also honoured by his Russian colleagues and awarded an Honorary Professorship of Stavropol University in Russia. In May 2019, he came out of competitive retirement to compete in the Coupe du Monde Chocolatine in Toulouse, France, taking the silver medal for his creations in hand-laminated pastry at the event. He is very active on social media platforms, and regularly updates his pages with exciting recipes, procedures, and products. Married to his wife Bogna, Jimmy has three children, Dillon, Janice and Sophie. In addition to his passion for baking, Jimmy is a licenced fixed-wing pilot, aerobatic pilot, and seaplane pilot; a judo blackbelt instructor; a divemaster and a former marathon runner. He enjoys writing, and has recently published his first book, “The Art of Lamination: Advanced Technical Laminated Pastry Production”. His honours degree dissertation, “An Investigative Study into the Beneficial Use of Seaweed in Bread and the Broader Food Industry” has been viewed and downloaded over 3,000 times, and he is currently finishing a book featuring internationally acclaimed bakers’ recipes, a book on the history of the family bakery titled “Fully Baked”, and another book on Panettone and Levito Madre.