(IBIE photo: William Leaman, left, and team after 2nd-place continental finish)

By Anne Higuera

Reporting for West Seattle Blog

William Leaman ’s suitcase is packed again.

As his wife and business partner Heather Leaman predicted, the chef’s schedule this fall is also packed, but he is energized and full of new ideas, and his enthusiasm is infectious. Bakery Nouveau ’s West Seattle founder is headed to an unglamorous Chicago warehouse for the weekend, and every other weekend until January, coaching an American team that aims to bring home the same international baking award he and his team won 20 years ago. It’s a bit of déjà vu and 20-20 hindsight all at once.

“If I‘d known I would have ended up coaching, I would have sat there all three days,” he says, thinking back to the

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