LINCOLN SQUARE — Dave and Megan Miller aren't the likeliest of revolutionaries — they're pie bakers, for heaven's sake — but they're about to cause a major disruption in a segment of the food industry that they say has been stagnant for far too long.
Flour.
The husband-and-wife duo, former partners in Bang Bang Pie Shop and the current owners of the coming-soon-to-Lincoln Square Baker Miller Restaurant, formally announced via Kickstarter on Thursday their plans to change the way flour is made by getting back to basics.
The Baker Miller Flour Co. will produce stone-milled flours made from "ethically-sourced" grains grown from heirloom seeds — nothing genetically modified, nothing enhanced with "whitening" chemicals. Think Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur Flour.
The couple, who are financing the Baker Miller restaurant and flour company out of their own pockets, turned to Kickstarter to generate interest in their new enterprise, share their vision and raise the necessary cash to invest in more grain, more seeds and a larger mill.
Dave Miller intentionally low-balled the Kickstarter goal at $500.
"We're going to do it no matter what," he said. "This just launches us."
The figure was exceeded within hours of the campaign posting online. People can continue to contribute through Aug. 20.
"The more we raise, the more we can do," said Miller.
His "dream scenario" is to create two separate Baker Miller brands.
The restaurant, set to open within four to six weeks at 4610 N. Western Ave., will stay small and community focused, serving pastries and breads, grain-centric meals and selling homemade jams and butters, he explained.
Baker Miller Flour Co. will share space with the restaurant initially and then hopefully outgrow it, he said.
"There's a space close by that would be suited for a bigger mill," said Miller.
Eventually, he envisions the flour company having its own storefront, just for milling and selling grains, allowing customers to experience the restaurant and flour operation as individual entities.
"If we hit $30,000, we could do that," he said. "If we can't get bigger, we'll start small. You can scale to any size and the quality doesn't change when you grow."
One of the biggest challenges in starting Baker Miller Flour Co. has been convincing farmers to grow the types of grains the Millers want. Half the acreage in the Midwest is devoted to corn and soybeans, Dave Miller said, and farmers have been reluctant to switch to wheat and other grains.
"To do that, you need to create demand," he said. "Opening our own restaurant, that immediately creates demand."
Though the concept behind Baker Miller Flour Co. is forward-thinking, bringing flour production to Chicago is a blast from the city's past.
"General Mills started in Chicago and then moved out," said Miller. "And nobody's thought about flour for the past 25 years."
He points to the success of the city's independent coffee roasters as a blueprint for the mark Baker Miller could similarly make in flour, with one notable difference.
Said Miller, "I don't want to take grains to $15 a pound."
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