Our Story
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The Wild Crew
Artisan Breads and Pastries since 2003
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Nishon has been working in kitchens since he was a pre-teen. He began his glamorous career in the dish room of a local diner, and quickly worked his way up. He has cooked in a variety of eateries, ranging from diners to ultra-high end, and has had the privilege to work for some extremely talented chefs along the way. When he made his way to Philadelphia in 2001, he quickly found a spot working in the pastry shop at the Striped Bass under the Executive Pastry Chef, Jonathan Thomas, and Executive Chef, Terrence Feury. This is where Nishon’s passion for baking, especially bread baking took off.
Soon Nishon began a small bread baking shop in the pastry kitchen that would bake bread not only for Striped Bass, but also the sister restaurants; Rouge, Bleu, and Avenue B. Nishon worked his way up to Executive Pastry Chef at Striped Bass, but then decided he wanted to start his own venture: baking bread for all the city’s restaurants.
So in October 2003, after returning from their honeymoon, Nishon and Laura opened their little artisan bread bakery in a small shared space out of Black Bird Bakery in South Philadelphia. Nishon began as a one-man band; prepping, mixing, baking, packing, cleaning, and delivering all of his custom made breads 7-days a week. As the bakery grew, so did the staff, and the first employees were hired the following year. The space was the only thing that remained the same, and after a couple years, the bakery outgrew it.
In April 2006, the bakery moved to our current location in lovely Upper Holmesburg, in the Northeast section of Philadelphia. The space had been a successful wholesale pastry bakery at one time, but in more recent years, had fallen under new ownership and was struggling to survive. On the first tour, in January, it was rather overwhelming. It was freezing, cluttered, and a mess. Frankly, the place needed a lot of work. Nishon was thrilled. Laura less so. However, that marked the bakery’s big move to its new 3600 sq foot spot, and allowed the opportunity to expand offerings to include pastries, and special occasion cakes as well.
Shortly after the move, the bakery began participating in some local, open-air farmers’ markets that began opening in and around Philadelphia. This really helped bring the bakery’s products directly to the public, and allowed the bakery to diversify its product offerings and experiment with new items. Since this time, our seasonal participation has grown to include 6+ markets weekly. The feedback has been amazing, and has sparked the discussion of a permanent retail location.
Over the last 19 years, there have been so many wonderful and challenging events the bakery has experienced. As Wild Flour enters its 20th year, there are so many exciting adventures still ahead, and we have never been better prepared to meet them. Wild Flour Bakery is committed to consistently producing and delivering amazing bread, and we work every day to ensure that happens.