Publican Quality Bread bakery rises
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James Beard Award-winning baker Greg Wade has stayed behind the scenes until now. But he's stil not showing us his face. Photo courtesy of Publican Quality Bread
For eight years, Greg Wade quietly produced some of the city's finest bread at Publican Quality Bread's wholesale bakery in Fulton Market — which is not open to the public.
- But life is now changing for Chicago's only James Beard Award-winning baker.
Driving the news: Wade has opened the Publican Quality Bread bakery in West Town to continue making his long-fermented, stone-ground, heritage-grain loaves along with newer treats.
His goal: To be a neighborhood gathering place full of warm surprises.
- "We'll have different items coming out of the ovens all day long," Wade tells Axios. "Whenever folks pop in, there will be something fresh for them — what's there in the morning might be different in the afternoon."
Fan favorites: "So far it's the Big Sandwich for savory items," Wade says.
- "And for pastries, folks are gravitating toward the tiramisu cruffin, which is a decadent, coffee-flavored croissant muffin filled with an oozy cream center. "
The intrigue: Wade is proud of the little details at PQB, like bakery paper designed by Tempered Label to look like "the bubbles created in our bread crust during fermentation."