I want to learn.’” Throughout his young career, Ardor founder and head baker Cody Scogin has sought every opportunity to learn and pursue his passion. “Nobody else in my age group even knew what I was talking about! But I was like, ‘I know this … I want to eat his food.
“I was going out as a single diner to a five-course tasting at a James Beard-nominated restaurant in Atlanta,” he chuckles. “It really sparked my creativity for cooking-for what food could become.”īarely into his early twenties, Scogin started pouring his money into cookbooks and traveling for unique fine dining experiences. “Just looking at the pictures and reading about the craft of cooking, the sourcing, the ingredients… I was obsessed,” he recalls. But it was a book, Vegetables by 40 Great French Chefs, which really kickstarted his culinary career. After college, he got his start in the food industry at a local hospital, quickly working his way up to director of food nutrition services. Growing up in Mackinaw, Scogin has fond memories of fishing and fish fries, frog gigging in ponds, and foraging for wild mushrooms-“a very central Illinois, Midwestern tradition,” he summarizes. And I think we get better every day.” When Scogin came back from Los Angeles in 2016, he had no grand plans to start his own business. “To be honest, we were in the weeds the first three weeks,” Scogin admits. The early days of any new business are difficult-restaurants doubly so-and that’s without the added uncertainties of the pandemic. “I think people were ready for something,” suggests Scogin, who had to limit the amount of pastries they could buy as the day went on. It was a beautiful morning to escape quarantine and check out the buzz for themselves. On the third of May, a line wrapped around the corner of Water and Liberty streets as anxious Peorians waited patiently, six feet apart. “I didn’t have high expectations… I was just hoping somebody would show up.” Within 36 hours, Peoria’s newest riverfront establishment was ready to welcome its first customers-albeit without the hoopla of a pre-COVID grand opening. “I had to get this place open.” Fast-forward a month and a half, and Ardor’s final inspection was approved at last. “It was really frustrating,” he concedes.
Without a license, Ardor did not qualify for a PPP loan or small business grant while Scogin, categorized as self-employed, could not receive unemployment in the early weeks of the pandemic. “The place was finished the utilities were up we had occupancy. The eatery’s final health inspection, scheduled for just two days later, was cancelled. “You could stay open through grab-and-go and curbside, but the state was not going to be adding any new licensed facilities,” explains Cody Scogin, founder and head baker at Ardor Breads and Provisions. Pritzker ordered all Illinois bars and restaurants closed to dine-in customers at the end of the next business day.
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