Bennison's Bakery

Bennison's Bakery has been a North Shore institution since 1938, earning a reputation as a high quality full line bakery with emphasis on European style pastries, cookies, and custom decorated cakes. Larry Bennison brought his bakin savvy to Evanston from Janesville, Wisconsin in 1938. His "Dairy State" roots led to high quality offerings in the bakery, made with cream, real butter, fresh buttermilk , and freshly cracked eggs. Guy Downer, who had worked for Standard Brands and sold coffee to Bennison's originally, purchased the bakery from the Bennison family in 1967 and took over operations, continuing on the traditions started by Larry Bennison and expanding the product line, while still maintaing the high quality that people had come to expect. In 1975 Guy's son Jory came aboard, learning the craft from his father and attending culinary school and classes to improve his skill, eventually achieving the rank of Certified Master Baker from the Retail Bakery Association. Jory then used this skill to not only increase the quality of the products Bennison's offers, but to also win the grand prize at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie in Paris in 2005, establishing himself as one of the best bakers in the world. In 2009 a third generation joined the bakery when Jory's son, Guy Jr. completed his studies at Southern Methodist University and the Akademie Deutsches Backerhandwerk in Weinheim, Germany and began working at Bennison's. In 2013 the bakery family expanded once again when Jory's daughter, Jordana, graduated from the French Pastry School and joined Guy Sr. working in the Bennison's Cake Corner decorating cakes, cookies, cupcakes and more.