On the Rise: Meet the Baker Serving Bread at Top Phoenix Restaurants

As a chef, Mark Bookhamer could find just about any ingredient or product he needed. But one item that eluded the Valley resident time and again was something that would seemingly be among the simplest and most ubiquitous: a perfectly pillowy, flavorful hamburger bun.

His search started simply enough while working as chef at The Normal, the former restaurant and bar concept in the Graduate Hotel Tempe. He joined the team that led the revamp of the food and beverage program, helmed by revered chef and restaurateur Chris Bianco and Tacos Chiwas owners Armando Hernandez and Nadia Holguin.

While developing a classic diner burger for the menu, Bookhamer couldn’t find the kind of bun he wanted locally, so he settled on a King’s Hawaiian bun.

In the years since, he never forgot that challenge. It launched a chase for an ideal bun that has taken Bookhamer from cooking in restaurants to baking his own bread.

From his garage in Tempe, Bookhamer launched Nice Buns Bakery and has churned out thousands of baguettes, loaves, and buns over the past two years. His bread can be found across the Valley, from the casual shipping container kitchen Sink of Swim to the upscale French bistro Sottise. Little Rituals, Bacanora, Underbelly Meat Co., and Virtù Honest Craft are also among the celebrated eateries that serve his bread.

Now, Bookhamer is taking the next step with his bakery. As of this month, he is the new resident baker at Hayden Flour Mills' new facility in Gilbert.

‘Arizona’s Luckiest Baker’

Bookhamer called himself "Arizona's luckiest baker," for the opportunity to work with the Queen Creek farm and miller, whose flour he has used from the start.

The move will not only allow Bookhamer to expand his baking business, but as Hayden's resident baker, he will also answer customer questions and test new flours and blends, according to Hayden Flour Mills co-founder and co-owner Jeff Zimmerman. Bookhamer anticipates he'll also teach baking classes.

Zimmerman's team has seen Bookhamer go from buying a few bags of flour to a full pallet, which clocks in at 2,000 pounds. Seeing this growth, paired with his commitment to quality and glowing reputation throughout the community made him a natural partner, Zimmerman says.

Starting with Sourdough

Bookhamer’s entry to baking was not dissimilar to many who found themselves at home during the pandemic, making their own sourdough starter and bread.

“It is every bit of the stereotype you can think,” he says.

He had stepped away from working as a chef, quit drinking, and wasn’t sure if he wanted to be in a kitchen full-time. Baking became part of a daily routine he established to support his sobriety.

Meanwhile, he was subbing in for chef-friends who needed help with prep work.

While helping in the kitchen of Tacos Chiwas, he brought in his country loaf. Breaking that bread led to a tip and his first customer. One of Bookhamer's fellow chefs mentioned that Kevin Rosales, the executive chef for Those Pour Bastards Hospitality Group, whose bars include Killer Whale Sex Club and Disco Dragon, was in need of brioche.

Prior to meeting with Rosales, Bookhamer anticipated he would write a recipe. Instead, he walked away with an order to bake 200 buns.

“What’s great about what he’s doing is he’s a chef for chefs,” Rosales says, noting that Bookhamer tweaks his recipes or develops new offerings based on their needs. Rosales currently orders country loaves from Bookhamer for charcuterie plates and sandwiches at Roosevelt Row’s Pour Bastards.

At Rosales’ suggestion, Bookhamer started playing with a recipe for milk bread, a soft, fluffy Japanese white bread. He baked daily for three months to refine it.

“I’ve wanted this hamburger bun I’ve been dreaming of since the hotel – this old-school diner hamburger bun,” Bookhamer says. “It triggered that memory and became an obsession for three months, every day.”

A Cheeky Name and a Unique Approach

As Bookhamer began selling to other customers, including his former team at Gertrude’s Restaurant, he realized he may have a viable business. The idea for his bakery’s cheeky name came when he dropped off an order at the Desert Botanical Garden’s restaurant.

“Every time I sold to them, it was, ‘Oh, nice buns, chef,’” he says, laughing.

Bookhamer was pleasantly surprised to see the moniker was available, so he took it. But since naming the business, he’s expanded his repertoire beyond buns, adding other bakes like focaccia and baguettes – which are among his most popular.

Initially, his inclinations as a chef were in conflict with baking.

“I hated people that baked. I hated recipes. I was that guy,” Bookhamer says, adding that while he does use recipes now, they're more guidelines than gospel. “My best bake days, I ignore my recipe just a touch, and the more I pay attention to the dough, the better it works out.”

One thing that makes Bookhamer’s bread a little different is that he applies a technique used in milk bread called tangzhong to almost all of his doughs, which keeps the bread tender inside.

Through this process, Bookhamer combines and cooks water and flour, similar to making a roux. “You can add so much more moisture to the dough,” Bookhamer says.

Applying this process to other bread doughs, like baguette, allows for a crispy crust and soft middle, he says.

Poised to Grow

With the success Bookhamer has found so far, and more growth planned, “we both didn’t realize we were creating a monster,” Rosales says.

The new partnership with Hayden Flour Mills will allow him to grow his baking team and supply more restaurants. Bookhamer says what he loved most about being a chef was feeding people and getting to know them, and their experiences, through food. Nice Buns continues that connection.