Publican Quality Bread Opens in Oak Park
Plus, Chicago startup Daly's Donuts Takes a Lighter Approach to Beloved Treat
Chicago’s Bread Head Heads West
Greg Wade has achieved a lot in his nearly 10 years as head baker for Chicago’s famed One Off Hospitality group, in which he is now a partner. His Publican Quality Bread (PQB) business earned him the James Beard Foundation Award for the nation’s best baker in 2019 and spurred him to write a bread-baking book published in 2022 and titled Bread Head: Baking for the Road Less Traveled. He is a leading advocate for baking with flours produced locally with sustainably grown grain.
And now, he has not one, but two brick and mortar outlets for Publican Quality Bread, with a new store in the west Chicago suburb of Oak Park (211 Harrison Street). This bakery, where an official grand opening ceremony was held today (February 27), follows upon the original stand-alone at 1759 W. Grand Ave. in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood.
The new PQB differs from the original in a couple of major ways. Unlike the Chicago store — which opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m. — the Oak Park store is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and has dinner service focused on Roman-style pizza.
And unlike its tiny predecessor, the new store has room for a handful of tables.
The event was also attended by One Off Hospitality’s CEO Karen Browne and its high-profile founders, Executive Chef Paul Kahan and Partner Donnie Madia. Like Greg, they are both James Beard Award winners, Paul for Best Chef Great Lakes in 2004 and the nation’s Outstanding Chef in 2013, and Donnie for Best Restaurateur in 2015.
PQB Oak Park joins the One Off Hospitality lineup, all in Chicago, that includes The Publican, Publican Quality Meats, two Avec restaurants, three Big Star restaurants, Dove’s Luncheonette, and The Violet Hour, an early pioneer in the spirits mixology trend.
And surely you didn’t think I came home empty-handed. On the way out, I bought a loaf of PQB’s seeded rye pullman and a bag of their amazing seeded crackers.
Nothing Says Lovin' Like Donuts from the Oven?
If you visit South Loop Farmers Market’s Saturday indoor market through the end of March, you’ll almost certainly run into Conor Daly and Alejandra Peña, the engaged couple behind Chicago startup Daly’s Donuts.
Now, donuts may not be the first thing you think of when it comes to farmers markets, which preach the need for a healthier food system. But Daly’s Donuts have a critical and welcome difference: They are baked, not fried. That means fewer calories, lower fat content, and a lighter — almost fluffy — snack that doesn’t hit your stomach like a sugar bomb.
OK, disclaimer time, I do like fried donuts too, even if I don’t overindulge. But I have liked Daly’s Donuts since I first met them during a brief debut at the end of The Lincoln Park Farmer’s Market 2023 season. And in terms of connecting with customers, it doesn’t hurt that Conor and Alejandra are kind of an adorable couple.
Getting that placement at The Lincoln Park Farmers Market was not only affirmation that they were on the right track, but also darn convenient. Their apartment/production kitchen/order pickup location is at 2158 N. Halsted, just a third of a mile north of the Saturday outdoor-season market in the parking lot of Lincoln Park High School.
Alejandra is the one with the baking skills. “My family has always been really into cooking, into baking. I've just done it my whole life,” she said. “And it's just like my love language. So obviously, when we started dating, I was always trying to impress him with all my cooking and baking.”
Conor came into the relationship with a career in health care real estate, but he said, “I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur.” After getting lots of positive feedback on Alejandra’s donuts, they decided to launch their business last year. And in the process, Alejandra persuaded Conor — who had never cooked or baked — that her donut recipe was easy enough for him to learn and pitch in on their “baked fresh daily” promise.
“What gave me a lot of confidence in the business model and plan, and the future probability of us actually being able to sustain it, was the fact that she could teach a doorknob like me how to bake,” Conor said. “Because when she said no experience, she was being really honest, like a bowl of cereal is about as good as I could do. And now, we're pretty much interchangeable.”
The conversation turned to why Alejandra focused on baked donuts. It turns out it is a preference she has harbored since childhood.
“So that's the only way I've ever made donuts,” she said. “A fun fact about me is I actually do not like fried donuts. I've never been a fan. My whole family loves them, and they all think it's hilarious that I started a donut business, because I was always the one at family gatherings and stuff who never touched the donuts. I just don't like the fried.”
She added, “So that was an easy decision This is just the recipe I've always used and I love it. It's easy to do, and they are a lot healthier than frying in oil.”
There is a practical element as well, considering that they make their products at home. “I would never want it to just smell like oil all the time. Instead it smells lovely, like a baked good,” Alejandra said.
Conor shared that the timing may just be right for their alternative take on donuts. “We've noticed that people, it's almost like a breath of fresh air that something has come out that's just simple…,” he said. “I can get a great product that can fit right into our routine or I can bring into the office or just enjoy myself.”
Daly’s Donuts currently come in four varieties: cinnamon sugar donuts and Dunkers (their version of donut holes), chocolate glazed donuts, and their newest flavor, chocolate churro, a mashup that has both cinnamon sugar and chocolate frosting.
You can find them on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through the end of March at the South Loop indoor farmers market, located in the Roosevelt Collection Shops at 150 W. Roosevelt Rd., or you can order online for pickup at 2158 N. Halsted. Daly’s Donuts also caters for corporate events and weddings. Conor and Alejandra also have applied to vend at several farmers markets this upcoming outdoor season.
The couple hopes to grow the business, but if it does take off, Alejandra may face the dilemma familiar to entrepreneurs who created their recipes with their own hands: having to turn production over to additional employees or, if they get really successful, a co-manufacturing producer.
“I am so protective of it because I'm a perfectionist to a fault,” Alejandra said. “I want things to be perfect and look perfect and taste good. So that will be difficult for me. But I think it'll also be a great learning experience to bring people on and teach them.”
And the couple’s personal experience encourages Alejandra to think she can ace this part, saying, “If I could teach Connor how to do it, that makes me confident that I can make anyone else easily learn how to do it.”
Grazing in the Grass is a Goose
This unusually warm February weather is a) a terrifying harbinger of advancing climate change or b) an absolutely delightful excuse for taking a long walk outside or c) both.
In any case, I set aside my apocalyptical fears Monday and rambled down to my beloved North Pond, the subject of my photo exhibit currently on display on the 2nd floor of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum nearby (sorry but not sorry about the shameless plug).
Along the way I ran into a few gaggles of geese having a late lunch, and the pun above struck me. This led to the following trivia question (okay, fellow Boomers, this should favor you).
The headline is a play on the song “Grazing in the Grass” and its catchphrase, “Grazing in the grass is a gas.” The group that had its biggest hit with the song, which they released in 1969, was:
a) The Rolling Stones
b) The Fifth Dimension
c) The Friends of Distinction
d) The Temptations
Answer in tomorrow’s Local Food Forum, but if you think you have it, feel free to email me.