Jazzfood? Evil Ronnie? Need new bread distribuiter ASAP!

The owner of Cafe Ciao! on Madison near Halsted just lost her regular bread distributer and needs a new one by the end of the week. She needs regular, small deliveries of ciabatta and focaccia rolls large enough for paninis. Anyone know of any good ones, that are inexpensive? Jazzfood and Evil Ronnie I know you guys are in the biz, got any ideas?

i have worked with biondillo's baking company at a couple restaurants and have found their products to be excellent. i currently use ciabatta and foccaccia from them.

they do daily early deliveries to me, and i'm downtown, so i doubt they'd have a problem adding you to a route, regardless of the size of your order.

talk to jack.

(773) 921-8282

Thanks, elakin! What did you like about it? Do you remember the pricing on it? I'll let the cafe's owner know about it.

Do D'amatos or Bari deliver bread to restaurants?

most of the projects i'm involved in aren't in chi. when in town though, i've used red hen w/excellent results. i don't have any current pricing but just check their website or call them and ask.

bnowell724 wrote: She needs regular, small deliveries of ciabatta and focaccia rolls large enough for paninis. Anyone know of any good ones, that are inexpensive ?

Good bread isn't cheap. Most wholesale bakeries require a minimum daily order as well. A high quality frozen pre or par baked product might therefore be an option with less waste. Ben E. Keith carries many of Eurobake's products.

http://www.eurobake.com/

One of my favorite Chicagoland commercial bakeries is Highland Baking Co. Their product is in found in the breadbasket at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab, and also in those of other major players. Many of their sandwich breads are also outstanding.
http://www.highlandbaking.com/index.html

Thanks for the replies. I told her about Biondillo's, and it's actually the distributor she used to have. Red Hen does have good bread, though they may be too expensive. The frozen par-baked idea sounds good, too. I forwarded this thread to her, hopefully it helps.

If she is willing to consider frozen/par-baked, then she should definitely evaluate the La Brea Bakery breads (carried locally by my friendly, neighborhhood Sysco). They have a dozen or so different sizes and shapes. She should NOT follow the heating directions on the box which is way too long and destroys the delicate texture and flavor of these beauties. Just heat enough for the crumb to warm up and the outside to crisp up -> much better than most fresh-baked breads, probably much less expensive, and very convenient.

Bill/SFNM

bread is always a nitemare. if you're not making it, which is a hassle in its own space and labor wise, you're storing it in the freezer or losing it. only so many croutons, breadcrumbs and bread puddings you need. even when you purchase wholesale from a bakery or distributor, you need 48-72 hr lead time to change an order.

Okay, so a few bakeries were supposed to stop by her cafe and show her samples yesterday, but only one showed up- D'amato's. They brought some focaccia, ciabatta, and sliced sourdough. Wow. I thought the bread was sooooo good. Authentic, and so flavorful. We tested a panini with the new ciabatta and the bread added so much more to the sandwhich! IMO its about ten times better than Biondillo's.

Not sure what Julie will do, she may stick with Biondillo's now. They originally called her this week and said they were dropping her, then called back yesterday and changed their minds. She may just stick with them to avoid change. We'll see.

I'd suggest La Briola in Alsip, I've been really happy with the product quality, and customer service.

I used La Briola for a restaurant out in the suburbs. Their ciabatta is unbelievable. Good service also. Expensive though. Biondillo is good and runs much cheaper.