A longtime Chicago pastry chef is behind a new Bucktown bakery that caters to all diners, whether they’re looking for sweet or savory treats. NBC 5’s Steve Dolinsky has the story.
One of Chicago’s best bakers recently closed her restaurant after 15 years of business, but she’s found a second wind, in the form of a bakery.
Mindy Segal worked as a pastry chef at Charlie Trotter’s, Ambria and MK. Then she ran Hot Chocolate in Bucktown for more than a decade, closing it at the start of the pandemic. The plan was always to reopen a bakery, and she’s done just that, a few blocks away.
With decades under her belt as a pastry chef, she’s going back to her roots in some respects with her namesake bakery in Bucktown, but she’s also whipping up some impressive new creations.
“So I started out in this career as a baker, and I worked on my craft for 35 years," she told NBC 5's Food Guy Steve Dolinsky. "We collectively came together, and we worked on our craft for three years. It was very much a team effort.”
You need this many people to churn out as much as they do, but also to keep up with the line that never ceases to let up on the weekends. Raspberry crumble bars and narrow brownies; bagels and rugelach. Yet Segal is just as interested in savory treats as she is sweets.
“I do these two savory tarts and one is made with bacon fat and the other is made with brisket fat," she said.
The brisket fat pastry houses – not surprisingly – brisket. The other contains a humble knob of pork belly.
“Our macaroni and cheese sauce with corn, and then roasted pork belly and Parmesan cheese.”
Don’t overlook the sweet versions. Segal is a big fan of combining laminated pastry and Michigan fruit.
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“Nectarine, and they have literally been soaking for days in this blueberry liquid that I used when blueberries were in season," the bakery owner said. "Lemon cream and graham cracker streusel.”
“We take challah, and laminate that with brown butter, then make babka with that so it’s hot fudge babka.”
Her most popular offering? A morning roll made with the scraps from her delicate croissants.
“We make cinnamon rolls," Segal added. "People want simple, familiar, delicious, warm and fresh.”
The bakery is only open Thursday through Sunday, and it's recommend getting there early before everything runs out. Also, there are only a couple of seats at the window as the bakery is mostly carryout.
Here's where you can go:
1623 N. Milwaukee Ave.
773-489-1747
