Pandemic Baking Turns Into Bread Business For Upper West Sider

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Loaves of sourdough bread have been appearing in lobbies across the Upper West Side. The culprit is Adam Simon, a former financier who this Friday will launch his first-ever baking venture, an idea first started to keep his kids busy during the pandemic.

As the opening months of COVID dragged on into the summer of 2020, Simon and his family realized they needed a new way to pass the time.

"I was with my wife and two daughters and we needed something to do over the summer, we were driving ourselves crazy," Simon told Patch. "The kids loved baking too, they're more into sweets and pastries, so we said alright — let's start a bakery."

The family would go on to spend the summer in Long Island putting out fliers, going door-to-door with samples, meeting new people, sharing sourdough bread, pastries, and other goodies with the neighborhood, and donating around $1,000 to a local charity.

The kids had to return to virtual school in the fall, but Simon, a self-described foodie who began focusing on his bread-making abilities a year or so before the pandemic — was hooked.

When the family returned to the Upper West Side in the spring of 2021, where they have lived for 15 years, Simon began volunteering at a bakery in Brooklyn before getting a gig at a local storefront.

"It was fun. It was awesome," Simon told Patch about his first ventures into a professional bakery. "I learned how a real bakery runs. Waking up at 4 in the morning, going in and shaping bread and learning from some really nice guys who were patient with me."

"At this point, I said 'this is hard work but I love it," Simon added. "I think it was working in the bakery where I said, 'wow, this is something I could see doing all the time.'"

After the realization, Simon sat down with his wife and decided he could financially take the risk of starting his own baking business for the next year and give it a go, "and that's what I'm doing, giving it a go," he said.

Thus, Sourdough Gambit was born.

Simon has spent the past few weeks handing out flyers and samples in his own building and nearby Upper West Side addresses.

“A woman emailed me, and said, ‘OMG I’m a foodie, I’m from San Francisco, this (the bread) is on par if not better than the sourdough in San Francisco,' which was totally flattering," Simon told Patch. "To get that from someone who just sent a random email was really nice, and then she went ahead and ordered a loaf for Friday.”

His first official Bake Day is on Friday, with the order deadline set for 6 p.m. on Wednesday. For the first bake, deliveries are only possible to the 10025 ZIP code.

With the big day coming, Simon is "nervited" — a term coined by his daughters.

"This is all very new. My kids call it nervited. I'm excited, I'm a little nervous, it's a great feeling," Simon said. "I'm loving doing this. I'm loving trying to start a small business and we'll see where it goes."

For the first Bake Day, Simon's business Sourdough Gambit is offering a Sourdough Country Loaf, a Cranberry-Walnut Loaf and a Sesame Loaf.

“I’m in love with a classic country sourdough, it’s a standard bread that I work the most on," Simon told Patch as he passionately spoke about each variation of his bread.

A description of Sourdough Gambit's bread reads as follows: "Better bread tastes better. It has wonderfully contrasting textures and memorable flavors. It makes you want more after each bite. Better bread is more nutritious and easier to digest. It starts with just flour, water, and salt and never has any artificial ingredients."

The bread is made with only organic flour and mostly whole grain ingredients.

The Sourdough Gambit name comes from Simon's love of chess, which his father taught him how to play when he was young.

"Chess demands discipline and precision, but allows for beautiful creativity as well," reads a section on Sourdough Gambit's website. "I would say the same about sourdough baking."

You can read more about Sourdough Gambit and how to order the bread — here.

This article originally appeared on the Upper West Side Patch