The artisanal bakery in Bangkok with a sad past that few customers know of
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The artisanal bakery in Bangkok with a pitiful by that few customers know of
Bangkok'south trendy Holey Artisan Bakery in Sukhumvit is renowned for its sourdough loaves and flaky croissants. Simply something tragic happened at the original Holey in Dhaka, People's republic of bangladesh, back in 2016.
The Holey Mothership in Phra Khanong, Bangkok. (Photo: Holey Artisan Baker)
nineteen Jun 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 09 Aug 2022 xi:43AM)
At the Holey Mothership in Phra Khanong, Bangkok, customers swoon over tangy sourdough loaves and beautifully aerated, flaky croissants. Slow, Cute and Precise is the bakery's motto, a tagline that reflects founder Nasirul Alam Porag's insistence on strict quality control.
It was Porag's Brazilian wife, Lilian Guerra, who planted the seed that gave nascence to the Holey concept. Guerra and Porag, who is Bangladeshi-American, moved from New York to Dhaka in 2005 when he set a natural pharmaceuticals business. The lack of decent bread in Dhaka led Porag to remedy the situation.
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A unmarried-minded quest to make – equally he calls it – "the best bread in the globe" involved emailed consultations with global bread experts. This procedure finally led Porag to Maurice Chaplais, an internationally renowned artisan baker consultant from the UK.
Chaplais had the experience of baking in Bangalore, Republic of india. That made him the perfect person to school Porag on the intricacies involved in nurturing perfect sourdough loaves, baguettes, croissants and other pastry products in a hot and boiling surroundings.
"He [Chaplais] came to Dhaka for iii days. He brought some flour and a flask of yeast with him, and within hours we were making bread that was far superior to anything I had attempted before," Porag recalled.
Nonetheless, multiple challenges remained. Chaplais had provided a listing of the expensive Bongard equipment Porag would require to achieve his mission. But getting it delivered to Dhaka was a process fraught with difficulty.
"Nosotros had to accept it delivered to Malaysia and then shipped to Dhaka," explained Porag. "I'm very friendly with the people at Bongard now, but they just wouldn't believe that everyone was serious almost using such advanced equipment in People's republic of bangladesh."
Porag and his business organisation partner, Sadat Mehdi, achieved what many doubted was possible. Through a painstaking process of trial and error, they had introduced world-class bread and other baker items to People's republic of bangladesh, a country where dhal traditionally takes precedence over sourdough.
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To provide a showcase for their products, they created a gastronomic hub by the banks of Gulshan Lake in one of Dhaka's most desirable residential areas, an enclave that is home to many strange embassies.
Opened in tardily 2022 in a villa overlooking the lake, Holey Artisan Bakery was honey of expatriates and wealthy Bangladeshis akin.
Merely this gourmet utopia was shattered on the evening of Jul 1, 2016.
Porag was at his new home in Bangkok when the call that would upend his life came through from Bangladesh. Mehdi was on the other end of the line, informing him of an armed siege on their Dhaka cafe.
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"Information technology was surreal," recalled Porag. "We were in the process of opening our outset bakery in Bangkok, and then it was a busy period. I was at home with my family and friends visiting from New York when Sadat chosen to allow me know what was unfolding in Dhaka."
When five militants stormed the restaurant just before 9pm, the venue was packed with customers dining and conversing at tables dotted around its interior and expansive grounds.
Thousands of kilometres away in the Thai capital, Porag was in near-constant communication with his partner.
"I was the only ane who had access to our internal photographic camera with a partial view within the bakery store area, then I was watching what was going on throughout the siege," he recalled.
By the time it was over, 29 people had died. A domestic terror group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, was afterwards blamed for the attack.
"It was something we – perhaps naively – never saw coming," reflected Porag. "There'southward a tradition of warmth towards foreigners in Bangladesh so it was unexpected. In Gulshan, security is very tight. Therefore, the thought that anyone would have the audacity to conduct such an human activity is across the pale."
Such a horrifying incident would have spelt the end for many businesses. It takes a tough constitution to compartmentalise tragedy and move forwards. That Holey Artisan Bakery has managed to do so successfully reflects its loftier-level production and the forcefulness of Porag's resolve.
Porag's pursuit of perfection continues to this day. In Bangkok, in that location are currently 3 branches of Holey Artisan Bakery. And more are on the way. Porag is as well eyeing a post-pandemic entry into the Japanese market, with a venue planned for Tokyo.
Holey's performance in Dhaka is also support and running, admitting at a different Gulshan location. Nearly 5 years on from the attack, Holey Artisan Bakery is reasserting its credentials as a Bangladeshi success story.
Nonetheless, indelible scars remain.
"When something similar that happens, you lot try to remove yourself from the horror to an extent," said Porag. "I don't talk much about it. I try to remain positive, but I lost some smashing friends in the attack that day. I'll conduct that injure forever."
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/experiences/holey-artisan-bakery-bangkok-thailand-249726
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