![]() ![]() Keeping costs low at the bakeries means the baked goods cost less, too. 8, 2021.Īs important as the group is for these bakers, it also serves Chicagoans. If I’m having a problem with something, I can text 12 people immediately and get their feedback.” Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago Freshly baked chocolate doughnuts for sale at Weber’s Bakery, 7055 W. “I’ve even said the meetings are unimportant because with text messaging and emails, there’s a meeting every day. “Sometimes we may have to skip a meeting, if there’s a snowstorm,” Weber said. The meeting format has shifted a bit, as well, thanks to cellphones. “All of a sudden the numbers come back and you realize, ‘Wait a minute, I’m getting charged too much by my supplier.’ So they may not like it, but they have to keep their pencil sharpened.” “I know a lot of our distributors don’t like the group because sometimes someone will say, ‘Hey, what are you paying for eggs?’” Weber said. ![]() And they share ingredient prices, helping each other out. They talk about sales protocols and new equipment. Now, the group members also discuss technology, like ordering systems and credit card machines. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago Decadent desserts for sale at Weber’s Bakery, 7055 W. “It’s changing because things are becoming more pertinent than the quality of your pound cake,” Downer said. The bakers still taste and discuss their food, of course but the meetings are evolving with the modern bakery landscape. That’s how the Bakers Dozen worked for generations. Once everyone has tried each item and shared thoughts on how to improve it, they all go out to dinner. They put their item on a scale before everyone dives in, and they talk about what the price is for that good. 8, 2021.ĭowner said the meetings are pretty organized: The bakers try one another’s food in alphabetical order by last name. ![]() ’ Then they’d stand around the table, they’d talk about it, they’d taste it, and then he would get ideas to make his better.” Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago A pastry is boxed up at Weber’s Bakery, 7055 W. “He would say, ‘I want you to bring your rye bread and your formula. “Let’s say his rye bread wasn’t coming out,” said Weber’s owner Mike Weber. The bakery owners typically choose a theme based around an item they aren’t satisfied with. “Whoever hosts the meeting typically picks three items to talk about,” Jory Downer, owner of Bennison’s, said during an interview for “ Historic Chicago Bakeries.” When the meetings happen every first Wednesday, they’re themed around specific items. Some of the biggest losses were Gladstone Park Bakery, which closed in 2009 Lovin Oven Cakery in Antioch, after the owner, Ken Slove, died of a heart attack at the start of the pandemic and Swedish Bakery, which went out of business in 2017.Įach new member has to be approved by unanimous vote. ![]() Longtime members include Weber’s, Dinkel’s Bakery, Calumet Bakery, Reuter’s Bakery, Bennison’s Bakery in Evanston, O&H Danish Bakery in Racine, Jarosch Bakery in Elk Grove Village and others - some of which prefer to be anonymous. The secret society’s membership has changed over the years. Weber, the founder of Weber’s Bakery, was one of the original members along with 12 other colleagues - making it 13 members, a true baker’s dozen. The Bakers Dozen formed in the 1930s, but the exact date is unknown. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago Sunlight glints as a worker walks past a shelf of freshly baked bread at Weber’s Bakery, 7055 W. This is the Bakers Dozen, a secret society of leaders from the oldest family-owned bakeries in and around Chicago - and this group is helping beloved bakeries continue to thrive. They stand around a table and the ritual begins: They devour each other’s food. Jennifer Billock covers Chicago’s baking history in her new book, “Historic Chicago Bakeries.” In this story, she shares some of the history she uncovered.ĪNDERSONVILLE - The bakers meet the first Wednesday of every month, each carrying a fresh-baked item. ![]()
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