March 19, 2017

Meet David & Megan Miller of Baker Miller

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to David & Megan Miller.

David, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My wife, Megan, and I are the former founders and owners of Bang Bang Pie Shop and as we grew that business- we became inspired and challenged by farms who grew organic heirloom grains throughout the Midwest. Our inspiration led us to sell Bang Bang and open a restaurant and bakery that worked directly with those farms to grow grains that we milled in house on our own stone mill and developed recipes that featured their unique characteristics.. We launched Baker Miller- which also happens to be our namesake a few years ago. The public received it very well and we have been nonstop ever since. A year ago we opened our “test kitchen” to focus even more on recipe development and pastry production in Ravenswood Manor. We’ve now opened the small front part of it up to the public daily and we serve commuters while keeping our kitchen visible and open to the public. We also use that location to grow herbs, honey and vegetables in our large backyard garden space.

This year we are opening a third location that will allow us to grow even deeper into our long term vision.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It definitely has not. The first struggle was finding staff that either had the skill or willingness and patience to work with our unique flours and grains. We learned quickly that it took a lot of education and a very special person willing to try new things that weren’t “traditional” when it came to baking and bread technique. Then we ran into a capacity issue. We just couldn’t make enough in our tiny kitchen to keep up with the demand while staying high quality. That’s why we opened the second location and dedicated 2/3rds of the space to just a baking kitchen.

Now, a few years in- most legitimate bakeries and pastry schools are teaching about grains. We’re working to increase our milling capacity and working with other farm foundations, no profit and culinary schools to develop curriculum around freshly milled grains.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Baker Miller story. Tell us more about the business.
We are known for working with small farms to produce very high quality organic grains that we then turn into “creative comfort foods”. We’re known for our fantastic pastries and breads as well as our delicious brunch menu.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Hmm right place right time- perhaps. But I’d say karma and hard work are much more important than good luck. You make your own good luck with those two. We started with minimum wage jobs and hustled to get where we are today.

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