Made in Fulham
It never fails to surprise us what a talented bunch you Fulham folks are. Each month Urban Village Ldn introduces you to THe Fulham face behind an idea, product or business and asks them what they love about being a local resident. This month we talk to Gauri Nafrey, the owner of Bridge Baker.
How long have you called Fulham home? Since Summer 2016
Tell us a bit about yourself/and your family I have 2 teenage boys, aged 16 and 18, and we recently acquired a lock-down puppy! A cute Cockapoo & social terror called Cosmo. Many dog owners who frequent Eel Brook common or Hurlingham park will probably have seen him running amuck! My husband (we are classmates from business school) has continued his career in finance and works for a Fund management company which focuses on sustainable investments.
What’s your favourite local haunt and why? We love Harwood Arms. Under the new chef, the food has gone up another notch. Our local, friendly Italian is Nuovi Sapori on New King’s road, where Sergio the owner is a fantastic, welcoming host.
What is your slice of Fulham heaven and why? I just love the relaxed feel of Fulham. Residents are friendly and unpretentious and we are very lucky to have so many green spaces and the river so close by. But the thing I enjoy most is the ability to walk everywhere and get what you need without having to drive. There are fantastic local grocers, florists, butchers, and everything you might need within a pleasant short walk.
What have you missed about Fulham life during lockdown? The buzz! Seeing the restaurants, pubs & shop shut and no social life around them. I hope the street scene will revert to normal especially as the weather improves.
What local shop/service/business has helped make life easier during the pandemic? Having local butchers, & green grocers with great produce, open throughout has been a boon, and luckily we always have Bridge Baker bread!
If you could do one thing to improve Fulham what would it be? I wish the council would spend a bit to upgrade the look of our shopping streets. I think it would be lovely to have some nice hanging plants, planters etc. For example, in the section of Wandsworth Bridge Road, where Bridge Baker is located. That would instantly upgrade the area and encourage more people to walk rather than drive around.
Tell us about Bridge Baker and how it came to be I quit banking about 15 years ago to be a food entrepreneur. I did go back to finance for a bit as it’s really hard being a food entrepreneur. But my heart was clearly not in it. So when we moved back to London in 2016, and having had good experience running a bakery in Singapore (where I was the operating partner) I decided to take the plunge. I was clear that if I am going alone, I need to do something locally. The hard part was finding a property big enough to have a large kitchen as we had to bake everything on site from scratch, which is our mantra. I had been eyeing this corner of Wandsworth Bridge Road, and it took a year of intense negotiations to acquire the lease on it. Then the tough part to convert the space into a bakery, including getting a massive electrical upgrade. Getting council approval to convert the garage into a bakery kitchen, and getting the work done was also quite a nightmare. But now when I look back, it was all totally worth it!
What advice would you give to someone who's thinking about starting a new food venture? My sincerest advice is that you need to visualise what you see yourself doing in that food venture. For many, the joy of doing something goes when you upscale to a commercial level. I run a food business because I love baking, but am clear that I could never bake professionally myself, so we have a great team of bakers who do that. Having good business skills and a head for numbers, sadly, is equally important in my view. Else no matter how good the product, it’s hard to make it a success of it.
