Mondelez still plans cafe in new West Loop digs

Peak Freens may be “very serious cookies,” but they won’t be on the menu at the bake shop and café planned by their maker, Mondelez International, at its new headquarters in the West Loop. Neither will the upscale emporium, Chips Ahoy!, Nabisco crackers, Oreos, Triscuits, Cadbury chocolates or the host of other mass-market brands distributed under the umbrella of the snack behemoth.

In a move still planned for April 6 as of this writing, Mondelez is moving its headquarters from Deerfield to 905 W. Fulton St. It has partnered with restaurant company16” on Center to open a café on the first floor of its five-story office building, which will house 400 employees.

“Good Ambler,” which Mondelez anticipates opening in the spring, will add the artistry of pastry chef Kevin McCormick, former executive pastry chef at the Beacon Tavern, to the bustling culinary scene in the West Loop. It will feature a full range of coffees along with McCormick’s sweet creations, and some quiches and other savory items.

In February, Mondelez CEO Dirk Van de Put told the Chicago Tribune his company was moving to be closer to the burgeoning food scene in the city and to be able to feel the pulse of modern consumers.

“It’s a small thing but to be surrounded by that and the way they think, and the way they buy and the way they discuss, I think that was the main objective,” the Tribune quoted him as saying. “We want to make sure we are close to the consumer, and sitting in a campus in Deerfield is not the way to be close to the consumer.”

Some of the company’s brands date as far back as the early 19th century although Mondelez itself was incorporated in 2012. The company employes 80,000 worldwide.