This beautiful old building wanted new life combined with the history and memories it has provided for over 120 years.  The Gross Pointe pocket of Wilmette was in need of a place where good people could work, eat, drink and enjoy some time with friends and family.

Welcome to Gratitude  

Gratitude will be serving up a variety of baked goods, some you’ve grown up with and others that may be new to you that could become your favorites.  As important as what we’ll be baking is we’ll do this in a comfortable environment with the exceptional customer service that should be expected.  

We will be working with local farmers and will team up with a local roaster to bring you rich full-flavored coffee drinks that will surely be enjoyed.

 Welcome to Gratitude

Gratitude is a place not about any one individual.  That being said, here’s a little bit about who I am and what has brought me to 418 Ridge.

My family has now been in Evanston for five generations.  I have a love for the North Shore that is hard to describe and impossible to deny.  A few of my first jobs were at Sheridan Shores, Wilmette Movie Theater and Walker Brothers. 

I started working in bakeries out of high school while going to college way back before Jordan had his third ring and Cheers was still on the air.  I moved to Denver and worked in bakeries and when I came back here I continued.  Although I strayed from baking from time to time working construction and other forms of retail, I made it back to baking in Upstate NY where I realized a bakery is where I feel most comfortable and am at my best.  I came back home and found some more bakeries where I could gain knowledge and experience.  It’s time to go out on my own.  Along the way I have worked with and for great people taking in how to create high quality and honest products with the best ingredients while observing how to treat both employees and customers.

I am incredibly humbled by this opportunity.  The depths of my gratitude to all of those that have supported me, taught me, or influenced me is hard to grasp.  I will do my best to express my thanks in the years to come.  

Thank you for your attention and I can’t wait to meet you this fall.

With Gratitude,

J.J.