Eric Sartenaer was a baker and breadmaker who established several eateries in the Berkeley and Kensington area. Born in Belgium and raised in New York from the age of five, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, from 1974 to 1976 and secured a job at Say Cheese before moving on to The Cheese Board, a popular Berkeley eatery, in 1978. In 1984, he left The Cheese Board to establish Semifreddi’s cafe and bakery on Colusa Avenue, where it remained following Sartenaer’s departure and selling of the business in 1987. After several years in Oregon, he returned to Berkeley in 1993 and founded a pasta restaurant named The Phoenix Next Door or Phoenix Pastificio. In this interview, Sartenaer discusses his early life and college years, the restaurant scene in Berkeley, Cheese Board and other popular eateries, and bread-making techniques. This interview is part of a group of interviews documenting food and wine.