Daily Inspiration: Meet Adam Mackey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Mackey.

Hi Adam, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve enjoyed cooking, for myself, and for others, as long as I can remember, and have enjoyed it as my career for 17 years now. Early on, I gained a lot of skills and experience baking at Off the Beaten Path in Steamboat Springs, then working at Steamboat Meat and Seafood, as a pasta maker and sous chef. In 2012, with a small loan from my mother, I began Embers Wood Fired Pizza, building a wood-fired oven on a custom trailer, as a mobile operation at the Farmers Market, which quickly developed into catering as well.

As we became more busy, operating only in the summers with an open-air trailer became frustrating, leading us to build a second, larger oven in a custom food truck made from my father’s generously donated Tioga RV! In 2015, we moved to Hayden, finding a permanent home for Embers eventually in the Historic Hayden Granary, and I became a baker for Wild Goose Coffee, where I have continued to work and bake on and off for the past 9 years.

After an incredible 11 years of Embers being open, serving wonderful, supportive customers, and making thousands of incredible, wood-fired pizzas, we closed at the beginning of 2023, due to various reasons. I now work full-time at Wild Goose Coffee as the morning baker and as a barista.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Obstacles and challenges.. when I owned Embers, I used to say, quite frequently, that owning a restaurant is “one long constant emergency”… Early on, we had many issues with our licensing as we were one of the first mobile vendors in Steamboat, and the health department codes were pretty vague for that at the time.

Then, the usual challenges of any restaurant over the years…finding the right location, figuring out the items people wanted, and did not want… walking that line of offering comfortable, classic pizzas, while offering some truly unique and different combinations for people to try, and finally navigating slow times, and deciding when it was possibly time to end the business.

I’d say one of my biggest challenges over the years was the ownership/business side of Embers, as I considered myself a chef first and owner second, and was never as comfortable on the ownership, and financial side as I should have been.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Until Embers closed last year, I’d say I was known as “the pizza guy” in Hayden. I believe we truly made some incredible, unique wood-fired pizzas, and I am extremely proud of the products we put out for those 11 years.

Working for Wild Goose Coffee baking has been, and is currently a truly awesome job. The owners and staff pride themselves on quality products and exceptional service, in a truly unique space (Historic Hayden Granary)! As one of the bakers, I make a variety of muffins, croissants, scones, gluten-free options, and sausage rolls each morning. We make everything from scratch, in-house, and that quality shows. Our customers love the sausage rolls (house-made sausage or veggie filling wrapped in puff pastry), the quiches, and breakfast burritos, and various customers certainly have their daily favorites as well. I see time and time again from customers’ reactions, that we serve exceptional food, and offer some fun daily specials that our customers can’t find in other places.

I think my passion for baking and cooking, shows through what I prepare at the shop. I’ve always loved to have jobs where I get to see the happiness in the customers when they enjoy whatever it is I’m making. Providing baked goods, foods, and drinks for people to enjoy is, and will always be, one of my biggest motivators for the work I do.

How do you define success?
Success, for me, is defined by positively contributing to the community, society, and others, in a way that also brings me happiness and joy.

Contact Info:

• Website: wildgoosegranary.com