Background: I come from a Polish background, cooking and baking has always been important in my family. Buying fresh ingredients and local products has been a way of life for me from the beginning.

Education: I started out going to Youngstown State for Business/Marketing, and then moved to Columbus to attend Columbus State for their culinary program. However, I stopped taking classes a few quarters short from graduating to open The Angry Baker.

Hometown: Salem, Ohio.

Favorite Dessert: DQ Ice cream cake. But don’t tell anyone, you’ll ruin my reputation. I love the crunchies in the middle.

On opening shop in Olde Towne East: Olde Towne East is such a great neighborhood. The people that live here are so supportive of every new business that opens, and are very involved in revitalizing the neighborhood. Even growing up in a small town, I have never truly experienced that “everyone knows your name” kind of feeling until I moved to Olde Towne.

On being part of neighborhood revitalization: It is such a great part of Columbus that has so much to offer. We get new customers every week from parts of town that typically wouldn’t venture to the East side of Columbus, and LOVE it. I like knowing that I have a part in bringing positive attention to Olde Towne.

On eating seasonally: I try not to get too preachy about the subject; the truth is, though, that when it comes to food, the most important factor is taste. That’s it: taste. The fact that food tastes better and is better for you the closer it grows to your mouth, that’s a bonus. We change our breakfast and lunch menu seasonally as well as change the flavors of some of our desserts. People get upset sometimes when their favorite item leaves, but are usually equally excited when a new seasonal item appears.

On sourcing locally: Most of our dairy and meat is sourced locally. We also get a lot of our grains and ingredients we use for our breads from Stutzman Farms in Benton, Ohio. There are so many reasons why it is important to source locally. I really like just knowing where my ingredients come from, and what goes into them. If I can’t buy local, I just try to buy as close to home as possible.

On being an entrepreneur: Every day is something different. I am close to my one-year anniversary since opening and everything that could have happened has. It has been a crazy roller coaster ride, and I wouldn’t change any of it for the world.

On serving a specialty, or niche: We really do a little bit of everything at The Angry Baker. I don’t think we have just one specialty. That is the worst question to ask a chef – what is your specialty? I like to constantly evolve, and create new exciting items using new ingredients or a new technique people aren’t familiar with. The main focus is really to create everything 100 percent from scratch, I guess that’s my niche: creating the best food I possibly can, using as many local ingredients I can get my hands on, and making everything from scratch from start to finish.

On the future of Columbus dining and restaurants: Columbus is becoming more of a destination spot for dining. There are so many great restaurants, big and small. I would love to see more and more restaurants and markets come to downtown. There really is a need.

On being unique: I never really looked at what I was doing as unique. I just get these ideas in my head, and can’t focus on anything else until I complete that idea. I guess it took for so many people to tell me how unique it really is. I am learning to embrace it.