Baker Miller Bakery mills own grains
CHICAGO (WLS) -- You wouldn't normally think much about toast, but Dave and Megan Miller sure put a lot of thought into theirs. That's because, as the owners of Baker Miller Bakery and Millhouse, tucked in among the pet shops and Thai restaurants on Western Avenue in Lincoln Square - they are milling all of their own grains.
"It tastes better, I mean it starts there. It's a more ethical business approach, but really we're trying to revive a lost trade which is flour milling," said Miller.
In a tidy store room a block away, wheat, oats and grits become powdery, gluten-packed flavor enhancers that taste so much different than commercial flours.
"The second part of that is that we can grind flour to be any particle size that we like; so we can do something very light and fluffy or we can do something kind of coarse and heavier," he said.
Dave handles savory: that means grain bowls with soft cracked wheat, heirloom black beans and crme fraiche, plus a perfectly-cooked soft egg and some toasted pumpkin seeds. Grits are crowned with pickled cabbage and parmesan with a giardiniera of roast beef hidden below. A Ploughman's breakfast features black pepper bacon sausage along with a few of his breads of the day.
Megan handles the sweet side: from her homemade pie crusts with daily specials like a citrus meringue, to standards such as child memory-inducing chocolate chip cookies and salted caramel chocolate versions; pear-cherry cobblers, apple caramel hand pies and a cinnamon roll that's a world away from what comes out of a Pillsbury tube.
"We really want to showcase the wide spectrum of our products, so you'll come in and you'll see anything from cookies to muffins to pies," Miller said.
Not only do the Millers have the freedom to change the coarseness and the texture of the grains they're milling, but they also have the freedom of course, to change their menu which happens about every three weeks.
The bakery typically offers four pies. You can get them by the slice or whole.
Baker Miller
4610 N. Western Ave.
312-208-5639
