About Wildflour

Wildflour Bakery & Cafe opened in 2009.  The original concept was a bakery and sandwich shop.  However, after two and a half years it became clear that Cakes were beginning to steer the ship.  In addition, there were a lot of requests for specialty baked goods for our clients who were Gluten Free.  This change of direction also brought some key staffing changes.   Annie Rath, who started with Wildflour a few days after opening day will step into the role of Assistant Manager and will be helping Kristi Loucks with the day to day operations.  She will also be working on Cake Design, Breads and Overall Production Baking! 

Annie holds a degree in Hospitality Management From Boston University.  Her love of Baking started at an early age and led her to pursue her passion at Wildflour Bakery.  She has tremendous artistic ability and has translated that over to her cake decorating.  She came to Wildflour just after we opened during her summer break and has remained a part of our staff.  Annie has gained experience in every aspect of the bakery.  From cashier to cake design.  She began her cake decorating at Wildflour early on, but graduated to the more elaborate cakes in the summer of 2010.

Kristi Loucks is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Chicago (Patisserie and Baking).  Wildflour was a dream for her, and Lake Forest is her hometown.  So, Lake Bluff was a natural fit!  Kristi specializes in cakes that are over the top.  However, that  particular skill set wasn't evident in  Pastry School and for much of her career.  Her focus had started on Breads.  Including many of the breads featured at Wildflour Bakery.   Thanks to Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes, the demand was there for more outrageous designs.    Over the years, as the orders started to increase so did the challenge of making bigger and better cakes.  We found a niche as we started to work on the more elaborate cakes and have really never looked back.  And that was how it all started.  

 Currently, we are closed for our annual holiday break for our staff however our schedule has remained chock full of cakes and dessert trays throughout the holidays and New Years.  So, we will be extending that beyond the New Year a little later this Winter.