Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah and Ben Lustbader. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Ben grew up in Western Pennsylvania, attended college at the University of Rochester in New York, graduated with degrees in Political Science and Judaic Studies, and then moved to Washington, DC for an internship at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. After his internship ended in 2002, Ben found himself working at Butterfield 9 with Chef Martin Saylor. Although he hadn’t previously been pursuing a culinary path, he found himself inspired by a new world of knowledge he hadn’t yet tapped. He decided to dedicate himself to it. Following Martin’s guidance, he pursued and landed a job at Michel Richard Citronelle. In 2006, Ben moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he met and worked with Ashley Christensen at The Raleigh Times Bar. After Ashley’s departure, Ben remained and led the kitchen as the Chef de Cuisine until he moved to Chicago in late 2007.
Ben felt an immediate kinship with the culinary scene in Chicago, working at North Pond and then most impactfully, at Lula Café with Jason Hammel and Jason Vincent. Ben would continue to work with Jason Vincent on and off for the next 12 years. They opened Nightwood Restaurant together in 2009. The duo opened the widely acclaimed Giant in 2016, where they became one of Bon Appetit’s Ten Best Reatuarant’s of 2017. And they opened Chef’s Special Cocktail Bar in 2020. In between Nightwood and Giant, from 2014 through 2015, Ben worked at City Farm and Publican Quality Meats, honing his skills in the garden and the butcher’s table.
At the end of 2020, Ben decided to put all his efforts into his life’s dream, opening a bakery/sandwich shop with his partner in life and business, Sarah Mispagel. The two of them signed a lease in December of 2021, and their bread, pastries and opened Loaf Lounge in August 2022!
Growing up in San Diego, Sarah’s initial culinary inspirations came from her uncle, a fine dining professional who worked throughout Los Angeles and often hosted family gatherings that centered on his complex homemade creations. In awe of his culinary talents and the happiness they brought him, Sarah realized she could make a living doing the same thing. Her interests leaned toward baking and pastry, and she enrolled in The Art Institute of California in 2009. After graduating, Sarah got her first baking job at Jimbo’s…Naturally, a natural foods market in San Diego.
Sarah got her next baking job at Delphina’s, Portland, Oregon’s oldest artisan bakery. After a move the following year to Cincinnati, Sarah racked up more baking experience at both Sugarplums Cupcakery and in the commissary kitchen of The Relish Restaurant Group.
Empowered by her growing resume, Sarah moved to Chicago and into the restaurant scene. In 2011, she became the Pastry Sous Chef at MK The Restaurant, working with Chef Tony Galzin. After two years with MK, she joined Sofitel Chicago Water Tower Hotel’s Café des Architectes as the Pastry Sous Chef under Chef Leigh Omilinsky.
Having established a strong reputation in the city, Sarah achieved her first job as Executive Pastry Chef at Nightwood in 2013, where she would meet Executive Sous Chef Ben Lustbader. During her tenure, she garnered two Chicago Tribune write-ups, had recipes published in Middlewest, and Who’s Hungry? Magazine became an Eater “Young Guns 2014” semifinalist and earned a Jean Banchet “Rising Pastry Chef” nomination. After three years at Nightwood, Mispagel moved to St. Louis to work as the Executive Pastry Chef at both Farmhaus and 801 Fish. She soon returned to Chicago, reconnected with Chef Ben Lustbader at Giant, and then, in January of 2017, landed the Executive Pastry Chef job at the Michelin-starred Sepia. Later that year, she would also take on opening the sister restaurant, Proxi. During her three years as Executive Pastry Chef of both restaurants, Sarah maintained Sepia’s demanding Michelin Star reputation and created and expanded Proxi’s globally inspired pastry program contributing to its overwhelming success and Bib Gourmande. She was nominated for Jean Banchet “Pastry Chef of the Year 2019” and was featured in many articles by Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine, Food and Wine, Chicago Eater, and TimeOut Chicago.
In January 2020, she departed the restaurants to return her focus to bread baking at Lost Larson and then Aya Pastry in preparation for opening a bakery/sandwich shop with her now husband, Benjamin Lustbader.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not always been a smooth path. We started our journey to opening a restaurant in late 2019, and by spring of 2020, Covid had totally changed everything; it wasn’t until middle of 2021 that we decided that regardless of the state of the world, we wanted to move forward with trying to open. a restaurant. Since opening, the cost of goods (butter, eggs, etc.) have skyrocketed.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Loaf Lounge?
Loaf Lounge is an all-day cafe in the Avondale neighborhood of Chicago. We are a husband-and-wife team. Sarah’s background in pastry and baking combines with Ben’s background butchering and cooking to create both sweet and savory offerings. We are very proud not just of our menu but of the comfortable setting we’ve created for our community and neighborhood. We have a thoughtful selection of beverages, both coffee-centric and boozy.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Sarah was the pastry consultant for the first season of The Bear, and the chocolate cake seen in that season is available to purchase in our cafe!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.loafloungechicago.com
- Instagram: @loaf_lounge
- Facebook: Loaf Lounge
Image Credits
Jacob Hand
Jenny Volvovski
