Greg Wade

ABOUT HEAD BAKER GREG WADE: Leading America’s bread renaissance in Chicago is Greg Wade, Head Baker at Publican Quality Bread, the wholesale bakery under the Publican family of restaurants. A graduate of the Illinois Institute of Art’s Culinary Program, Wade started his career at Taxim in Wicker Park, where he specialized in breads and pastries. To deepen his knowledge of bread-making, Wade joined the opening team at Girl & the Goat in 2010, excelling under Chef Stephanie Izard’s guidance. In 2013, Wade moved to Izard’s Little Goat to oversee bread baking at Girl & the Goat, Little Goat and Little Goat French Market. Wade was a founding member of the Artisan Grain Collaborative and served as the Chair of their Steering Committee for three years. The Collaborative’s mission is to improve the quality, integrity, accessibility & equity of the Midwestern grain value chain. Since joining Publican Quality Bread as head baker in 2014, Wade has transformed the concept’s baking program from a seedling operation within Publican Quality Meats to a highly successful wholesale division that works hand-in-hand with One Off Hospitality’s other concepts as well as the top chefs, farmers and retail owners in the Windy City. Specializing in whole grains and fermentation, Wade was honored with a 2017 and 2018 James Beard nomination for “Outstanding Baker” and won their national recognition for Outstanding Baker in 2019. Wade was featured in the documentary, "Sustainable: A Documentary on the Local Food Movement in America.”