Meet the Maker: Executive Head Baker, Chef John Ward

Chef John Ward, in the bakery

photo by Sophie Farro

Precision & dedication

photo by Sophie Farro

We are incredibly excited to introduce our community to Stockton Market’s new Executive Head Baker, Chef John Ward.

We’ve been lucky enough to have Chef John working alongside us as a consultant for the past several months - and, admittedly, we were secretly hoping he might decide to stay. His talent is undeniable, but it’s his drive to continually master his craft, his respect for the fundamentals, and his pursuit of what he calls a “good bake life” that make him so special.

That dedication has taken him into some extraordinary kitchens throughout his career, but we couldn’t be happier that his next chapter is here with us.

Chef John brings an incredible depth of experience, curiosity, and intention to our bakery, along with a genuine love for the craft that you can see - and taste - in his work. We are beyond excited to officially call him a member of the Stockton Market family and even more excited for our community to get to know him.

So, without further ado, meet Chef John Ward.

Tell us an overview of your career to date.

I began baking in 2014 in Houston at Pondicheri, a celebrated Indian cafe, for multiple-time James Beard semifinalist Anita Jaisinghani. Pondicheri has a unique bake program of 'typical' Euro-American pastries that have unexpected and unique flavor profiles that fit into Pondicheri's Indian street food idiom. Anita is a cultural anthropologist through her cuisine, and all of this was a very stimulating beginning to my professional bake life.

Following nine months at Pondi, my life changed immensely as I moved to New York to begin working for Thomas Keller Restaurant Group. I was unprepared for this step in many ways and the adjustment was a strenuous test of my desire to be a baker and kitchen pro. After many months, I acclimated and absorbed much about life in a demanding, fast, consistent, high-caliber kitchen environment. I worked from bottom level to head baker at Per Se and the NYC Bouchon Bakeries in a little over two years. 

As with many kitchen workers, my career entered a fluid state during COVID, but I had interesting opportunities to build and lead baking programs in Cleveland, OH and Los Angeles, CA. I returned to the east coast in 2022 to lead the bakery at Carissa's in East Hampton, NY. This was a lot of rewarding baking with a good bake team in a setting that made culinary inspiration flow easily. It was also here that I met Dana Ashburn. Following the birth of my cosmically beautiful daughter, I rejoined my wife in NJ after having been long distance for over two years, and took a break from the kitchen schedule to be around as much as possible for the baby's first two years. During this time, I had very interesting employment with RONDO, a leading bakery technology company. This time tremendously broadened my perspective on the baking industry, making me appreciate in a new way its dynamic nature. However, some recent consulting work - including for the Market - in recent months made it clear to me that I needed to return to the kitchen and continue my path on the bake life. 

Have you always been a baker? If not, please expand on your previous path.

I have bachelors and masters degrees in music performance. I played professionally for several years and taught students and group classes as well. While I don't have formal culinary training, my conservatory experience gave me fundamentals in work ethic, execution standards, a need for extremely consistent performance, and the necessary mentality for accepting criticism that proved surprisingly useful in helping me acclimate to an environment that demanded all of those things when I began working for Thomas Keller.  

What led you to baking?

While in the conservatory, like mostly everyone else, I was practicing quite a bit and I needed a little side hobby, and a side hobby that could feed me was a bonus. I was very interested in how to make bread. So I baked and I remember the sunlight in the kitchen and the steam coming off the bread that afternoon, and when my friends joyously devoured it, an obsession was born.  

What is your most memorable baking experience?

I think most in the culinary industry have memorable services or bakes for both good and bad reasons. I really struggled to complete the morning bake at Bouchon by 7:50am as a rookie baker. When I finally completed on time, I started to feel like I belonged, and that gave me some much needed confidence. I came back to this bakery a bit later as a manager and completed at 6:50am - this was extremely satisfying and validated the work I had put in over a year and a half. It was also very memorable baking through the seasons in the Hamptons at Carissa's with my friend and colleague Denis Bernard. Baking in front of a wall of windows, during big snowfalls, burnished autumn sunrises, and hot, brilliant summer mornings, anticipating the seasonal crush that was incoming, I'd take a few minutes every day to step outside and see the beauty of the early morning hours, and the transition of night into day. Those mornings will always remain some of my favorite baking memories. 

Who did you learn the most from, and why?

As a baker, my chef at Bouchon/Per Se, Francois Heigel. Francois taught me so much by making baking look effortless. Speed, consistency, organization, cleanliness. I loved his approach to small details. His attention to perfect proofing became foundational to how I work. His ease in competing with our team in shaping races (usually when doing hundreds of pretzels a day) was very motivating when it came to improving my hand skills. And the easy and natural way in which he ran production has stayed with me over the years.  

I must also mention here my mentors in music, Scott Rawls and Stanley Konopka, who taught me and helped me grow in ways that are well beyond the scope of this interview. Even though our relationships are through music, without their mentorship, I 1000% would not be where I am in my culinary career. I was extremely blessed to end up with teachers who are supreme men in every sense, and I strive with purpose to emulate the huge impact they've had on my life. 

How would you describe your baking style?

I came up in environments, both in music and food, where refined and elegant performances were expected through rock solid fundamentals. I think about this every day that I'm on the bench and I'm constantly working to elevate my performance, technique, awareness, and the quality of products I produce. 

What is your greatest food memory from childhood?

My mom's family is large and most of my favorite food memories involve all of us being together: at the lake on holidays, tailgates on the weekends, all of the big feast days. We all love eating, and these occasions were always fun and happy. My grandmother would always make peanut butter pies for me for my birthday. I also loved getting buckets of spaghetti from Little Caesar's with my dad on the weekends. But maybe the memories that influenced my path the most were just stepping outside to go to school in the morning. There was a Sunbeam bread factory down the street from my home, and the neighborhood would be enveloped with the smell of fresh bread in the mornings. I found an amazing Sunbeam poster in an antique store a few years ago, and it hangs framed in my kitchen. 

What is something you want to master?

I'm very interested in what my 'adult' hobby will be. Whether it's woodworking or car repair or something else, I'm excited for the next thing that I'll do with my hands. For now, I would settle for mastering some type of reasonable sleep schedule. 

What are you looking forward to about being at Stockton Market?

I love the natural surroundings of the market and I look forward to working in that environment. I look forward to working with the team in the bakery. I also look forward to helping grow the market, its reputation, and place in the community.  

What is your go-to Stockton Market order?

I haven't been here long enough to have a go-to, and I've been trying to eat through the full menu. But I will say that I love Chef Chadd's new Lyonnaise salad and will be eating it a lot. And of course our cold brew is like my personal gasoline. To those I would add an apple turnover to round out a pretty solid order. 

What does a day off look like for you?

I have a two year old daughter to whom I'm very happy to give all of my non-work time. Thankfully, she doesn't wake up too early, but we're normally up around 8am and it's off to the races. I also catch concerts whenever I can, whether it's a classical concert at Carnegie Hall or a metal show in a club or anything in between. I'm so excited to finally be seeing The Strokes with my wife this week. 

If you could eat only one dessert or pastry for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I always exchanged Walker's shortbreads with my late grandmother on special occasions. Because of this, simple shortbreads really hit me with satisfaction and nostalgia. I'd be fine if that were all I had forever. Thank you Mama Lou!