The artisanal bakery in Bangkok with a sad past that few customers know of
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The artisanal baker in Bangkok with a sad past that few customers know of
Bangkok'due south trendy Holey Artisan Baker in Sukhumvit is renowned for its sourdough loaves and flaky croissants. Only something tragic happened at the original Holey in Dhaka, People's republic of bangladesh, dorsum in 2016.
The Holey Mothership in Phra Khanong, Bangkok. (Photograph: Holey Artisan Bakery)
nineteen Jun 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 09 Aug 2022 eleven:43AM)
At the Holey Mothership in Phra Khanong, Bangkok, customers swoon over tangy sourdough loaves and beautifully aerated, flaky croissants. Slow, Beautiful and Precise is the bakery'southward motto, a tagline that reflects founder Nasirul Alam Porag's insistence on strict quality control.
It was Porag'south Brazilian wife, Lilian Guerra, who planted the seed that gave birth to the Holey concept. Guerra and Porag, who is Bangladeshi-American, moved from New York to Dhaka in 2005 when he ready a natural pharmaceuticals business. The lack of decent bread in Dhaka led Porag to remedy the situation.
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A single-minded quest to make – as he calls it – "the best breadstuff in the world" involved emailed consultations with global bread experts. This process finally led Porag to Maurice Chaplais, an internationally renowned artisan bakery consultant from the U.k..
Chaplais had the feel of baking in Bangalore, Republic of india. That fabricated 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 environment.
"He [Chaplais] came to Dhaka for three 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.
Still, multiple challenges remained. Chaplais had provided a list of the expensive Bongard equipment Porag would crave to accomplish his mission. Just getting information technology delivered to Dhaka was a process fraught with difficulty.
"We had to have it delivered to Malaysia so shipped to Dhaka," explained Porag. "I'1000 very friendly with the people at Bongard now, but they simply wouldn't believe that everyone was serious nigh using such advanced equipment in Bangladesh."
Porag and his business partner, Sadat Mehdi, accomplished what many doubted was possible. Through a painstaking procedure of trial and error, they had introduced world-class bread and other baker items to 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 past the banks of Gulshan Lake in one of Dhaka'south near 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 beloved of expatriates and wealthy Bangladeshis akin.
Simply this gourmet utopia was shattered on the evening of Jul ane, 2016.
Porag was at his new home in Bangkok when the call that would upend his life came through from People's republic of bangladesh. Mehdi was on the other end of the line, informing him of an armed siege on their Dhaka cafe.
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"It was surreal," recalled Porag. "We were in the process of opening our offset bakery in Bangkok, and so it was a busy flow. I was at dwelling house with my family and friends visiting from New York when Sadat chosen to let me know what was unfolding in Dhaka."
When five militants stormed the restaurant merely before 9pm, the venue was packed with customers dining and conversing at tables dotted effectually 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 i who had access to our internal camera with a partial view within the bakery store surface area, so 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 later blamed for the assail.
"Information technology was something nosotros – perhaps naively – never saw coming," reflected Porag. "In that location's a tradition of warmth towards foreigners in Bangladesh so it was unexpected. In Gulshan, security is very tight. Therefore, the idea that anyone would have the audacity to deport such an human action is beyond the pale."
Such a horrifying incident would have spelt the end for many businesses. It takes a tough constitution to compartmentalise tragedy and move forward. That Holey Artisan Bakery has managed to exercise then successfully reflects its high-level product and the strength of Porag's resolve.
Porag's pursuit of perfection continues to this mean solar day. In Bangkok, in that location are currently three branches of Holey Artisan Baker. And more than are on the way. Porag is also eyeing a post-pandemic entry into the Japanese marketplace, with a venue planned for Tokyo.
Holey'due south operation in Dhaka is also support and running, albeit at a different Gulshan location. Nearly v years on from the assail, Holey Artisan Bakery is reasserting its credentials equally a Bangladeshi success story.
All the same, indelible scars remain.
"When something similar that happens, yous try to remove yourself from the horror to an extent," said Porag. "I don't talk much virtually it. I endeavour to remain positive, but I lost some slap-up friends in the assail that solar day. I'll carry that hurt forever."
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/experiences/holey-artisan-bakery-bangkok-thailand-249726
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