MEET THE BAKER
DAVID CLINCO
HEAD BAKER & CHEF
Meet the Baker
I'm David, the baker behind Due Ragazzi Focaccia Co., proud father to two little ragazzi, Travis and Malia, and a lifelong student of Italian cooking and baking traditions.
My love for baking began long before I ever stepped into a professional kitchen. It started around family tables, learning from Italian relatives, watching how simple ingredients, patience, and tradition could create something truly special. Over the years, those lessons grew into a career that included more than 15 years working as an Italian chef and restaurant operator, along with decades spent baking for family, friends, and anyone willing to enjoy a warm loaf of bread.
What makes this journey especially meaningful is that it comes after a lifetime of dealing with autoimmune and digestive challenges. For more than five years, I lived gluten-free, believing gluten itself was the problem. Through travel, research, and countless conversations with bakers and chefs, I discovered something that changed my perspective: quality and process matter.
The breads I experienced in Italy were different. They were made with simple ingredients, natural fermentation, and generations of knowledge. No unnecessary preservatives. No seed oils. No mass production. Just flour, water, salt, time, and craftsmanship. I found them easier to enjoy and appreciate because they were made the way bread has been made for centuries.
That experience inspired the philosophy behind Due Ragazzi Focaccia Co. My goal isn't just to sell bread—it's to share a small slice of authentic Italian baking culture with our community here in Pasadena.
When I'm not baking, you'll usually find me being a stay-at-home dad, coaching football at San Marino High School, or spending time with my family. I played football at San Marino High School and continued my career at USC, and many of the same values I learned on the field—discipline, consistency, teamwork, and preparation—show up in every batch of dough.
As for Travis and Malia, they're officially our Chief Taste Testers and Chefs-in-Training. While they occasionally help in the kitchen at home, any focaccia they make is reserved strictly for family consumption. We love our customers, but we're not quite ready to unleash their experimental recipes on the public just yet.
At the end of the day, Due Ragazzi is about family, tradition, and sharing good food with good people. That's the way I learned it, and that's the way we'll continue to do it.