Ordering | Mon-Sat: 8-6pm, Sun: 9-3pm | Call: 214.350.0007
Who We Are
About Empire Baking Company
Our long-time employees bring knowledge, experience, and skill to their work. Many have been with us since the beginning, honing their craft bringing a consistency to our products that is unparalleled.
Meaders and Robert Ozarow, Owners
Meaders Moore Ozarow started Empire Baking Company in 1992 with her husband Robert. Both were raised to appreciate real food, and great food became their passion. Leaving successful careers, the Ozarows turned to bread-making after finding a dearth of options in Dallas.
When Empire Baking Company opened there were few alternatives for buying fresh-baked bread. “If you bought bread, it was at the grocery store,” Meaders says. Empire was the first in the region to bake with King Arthur unbleached and unbromated flour and has continued that long relationship through today.
The original location was on Oak Lawn with Robert focused on strategic planning and Meaders concentrating on sales, while a team of craft bakers manned the kitchen. Six months after Empire’s inception, Chris Cutshall, a Houston chef who wanted to be a part of their all-natural process, joined the team. Empire now has approximately 45 employees. They staff the operation around the clock at its manufacturing facility near Greenville Avenue and at the flagship store at Inwood Road and Lovers Lane.
When she is not slinging bread, she is cooking food for her husband and two boys, volunteering with Meals on Wheels and local non-profit NTARUPT.
Head Baker - Chris Cutshall
Chris Cutshall is the son of an engineer and a foodie mother. After a brief stint in bread making sparked Chris’ curiosity, he approached Empire Baking about his interest in bread. According to Meaders and Robert, “Chris has a natural curiosity for learning, that’s why he’s so good at it- he’s intrigued by it and he’s constantly learning about this complex product.”
Chris came on board shortly after Empire Baking Company began and within five years they had amassed a team that is still roughly in place today. Chris says, “Loading baguettes in the oven becomes like a dance between two people. I’ve been working with some of these guys for 20 years and what makes a difference is the knowledge and experience that comes from skill and repetition, it’s almost meditative- slinging flour, shaping dough, and slicing the tops of loaves before they get shoveled in and out of the oven.”
