Greg Wade

Coming Up

Formal training at Illinois Institute of Art’s Culinary Program gave Greg Wade the kitchen fundamentals that baking asks for: repetition, timing, and control. The first professional seat was baker at Taxim in Wicker Park, where those fundamentals were tested in service. In 2010, the opening team at Girl & the Goat put Wade inside a high-tempo restaurant built on coordination, and by 2013 the work had narrowed into bread baking overseer at Girl & the Goat, Little Goat, and Little Goat French Market. That title points to the scale of the responsibility: bread as daily infrastructure, not side work. Since 2014, Publican Quality Bread has marked the next stage of that progression, first as Head Baker and now as Managing Partner. The movement is linear and legible: each step adds range, authority, and responsibility over production. The craft remains the same, but the scope has widened until Wade’s name is effectively attached to the bakery’s daily standard.

Where They Are Now

At Publican Quality Bread in Chicago, Wade works at the level where baking becomes management without losing its technical base. The arc runs from culinary school to baker, opening-team member, bread overseer, Head Baker, and partner. That sequence tells you what kind of bakery discipline is in play: consistency over spectacle, process over noise, and a clear point of view on what bread should do at the table. That same outlook shows up in the way Wade talks about food systems and the work around the bakery. On Dough Wines, he said, "I thought Dough Wines was a good fit for me, aside from the obvious Dough/bread baker correlation, because of their commitment to supporting and developing new kitchen culture where equality and food sustainability is paramount." He has framed his own practice in the same terms. "In my work at Publican Quality Bread, as well as the non-profits I have worked with, my goal has been to promote, create & develop a more equitable food system focused on food security which aligns perfectly with Dough Wines." Even the tools matter in that environment, and Wade has been plain about the demands of production. "In the bakery, we go hard … so to have well-built, crafted [equipment] from Vollrath really makes it so much easier to accomplish the monumental task of running these bakeries every day."

Signature

Greg's signature dishes include Chocolate Jam Bars, lamb phyllo pies, Dreamsicle Sourdough Croissant, and Bread Head: Baking for the Road Less Traveled. Those names show range inside a bread-focused practice: structured bars, savory pie work, a flavored sourdough croissant, and a book title that places technique in public view. Together, they suggest a baker working comfortably across form, texture, and presentation without leaving the core discipline of the craft.

In Their Words “I thought Dough Wines was a good fit for me, aside from the obvious Dough/bread baker correlation, because of their commitment to supporting and developing new kitchen culture where equality and food sustainability is paramount.” “In my work at Publican Quality Bread, as well as the non-profits I have worked with, my goal has been to promote, create & develop a more equitable food system focused on food security which aligns perfectly with Dough Wines.”