Slow Rise, Horsforth: Yorkshire-made bagels dubbed ‘the best’ by customers who compare them to ones in New York as bakery reaches 10-year milestone

A Horsforth bakery called Slow Rise has been in business for nearly 10 years and has now carved itself a reputation for ‘the best’ bagels by customers who have compared them to ones in New York.

The inspiration behind the bakery Slow Rise, located on New Road Side, Horsforth, came from when the owner, Nick Simpson, from Wakefield, worked for two years at a cafe called Fine Bagels in Berlin, Germany.

Though his love of the food came from his childhood trip to New York where he tasted his first bagel.

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After moving back to Yorkshire in 2015, he decided to start making bagels and giving them to offices in Leeds to see if they would generate any interest. He then moved on to farmers’ markets and they were a big hit with the visitors.

Nick Simpson, owner of Slow Rise. (Pic credit: Nick Simpson)Nick Simpson, owner of Slow Rise. (Pic credit: Nick Simpson)
Nick Simpson, owner of Slow Rise. (Pic credit: Nick Simpson)

“I’ve always been interested in baking; when I was at university, and probably should have been studying, I was always baking to raise money for our end of year show and parties I went to, that was always a passion,” Mr Simpson said.

“I actually studied photography and I found out that there are similarities in using your hands, timings and so on when you’re making the bagels that are quite adaptable.

“I worked in a place called Fine Bagels, which was a cafe inside a bookshop. My boss was kind enough to allow me to adapt the recipe and move back to the UK.

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“I adapted it because quite a lot of the flours in Germany are different to the ones in the UK; even though they are quite similar bread flour, there are different things that matter when you are making them.

Slow Rise, Horsforth. (Pic credit: Nick Simpson)Slow Rise, Horsforth. (Pic credit: Nick Simpson)
Slow Rise, Horsforth. (Pic credit: Nick Simpson)

“Also Yorkshire water is quite soft, whereas Berlin water is quite hard so there are lots of these differences that I had to navigate and change.

“I’ve also been to New York when I was a teenager. My parents had taken me and my brother over to New York and Boston to visit an aunty who had been living there at the time.

“We had bagels over there on the east coast and they were really good. When I had them in Berlin, it reminded me of having really good bagels in New York and Bagels.”

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Fast forward 10 years later and his bagels are now a huge success with customers who compare them to ones they’ve had in New York.

Nick with his partner Nerys at Slow Rise. (Pic credit: Nick Simpson)Nick with his partner Nerys at Slow Rise. (Pic credit: Nick Simpson)
Nick with his partner Nerys at Slow Rise. (Pic credit: Nick Simpson)

“I think it’s always nice when you hear people say these are the best bagels I’ve had this side of New York or Brooklyn,” Mr Simpson said.

“It makes you feel like that’s someone who knows what they should taste like from experience and this is as close as they’re getting to that.

“It goes hand in hand with the food memory I had of tasting them in Berlin and reminding me of that trip I went on.”

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His business turned into a physical bakery just before the pandemic hit in late 2019.

In retrospect, [the pandemic] helped the business in many ways, Mr Simspon said.

“When I moved back, I was just using kitchens where I could rent them, community kitchens and my parents' kitchen where I developed the recipe,” he said.

“We signed for the shop in late 2019 before anything was known about covid, and then spent the next four months preparing the space.

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“Mark Costello from Horsforth Brewery kindly offered to add our bagels onto his webshop for deliveries alongside his bottles and kegs of beers for doorstep delivery.

“While I'd never want to go through it again, I think the step by step [method] really helped us to adapt well in the situation we were in and it introduced us to our Horsforth customers in a unique way that we still benefit from today.”

When choosing the location of the bakery, he chose New Road Side because he felt that people were yearning for more shops and cafes.

“[Residents] want New Road Side [in Horsforth] to grow and have more shops and cafes in it, so I do feel like we were well supported by those people,” he said.

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“We’ve still got regulars who come in a few times in a week or weekends when they all come out as a family who we recognise and know by name now. That’s really nice.

“I think it’s great to have returning customers, we’re very grateful for that and we try to get involved in the [community], we sponsor girls’ football team and [so on], so we try to give back [to the community] where we can.”

Mr Simpson shared what sets Slow Rise apart from other bakeries or cafes.

“I think it’s quite niche that our core product is the bagel, I was always a bit worried when we first opened about whether the bagels would be popular enough on their own,” he said.

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“I do think bagels aren’t as well known as they might be in parts of London, parts of the United States where they are a staple.

“I think there is a big difference between our product and the ones you can get in the supermarkets. Leeds has a good food scene now and people are looking for that. I think that’s what makes us a little bit unique.

“We also have really great coffee from a guy in Baildon called AJ, his company is called Third Wave Roast and they are really good. It’s a winning combination having a really good bagel and a really nice coffee.”

He listed some of his favourite places to eat in Yorkshire.

“The Swine That Dines is one of our favourites, we love that place,” Mr Simpson said.

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“They’ve just moved, they used to be on North Street and they’ve moved to Headingley now on Otley Road.

“Bavette in Horsforth is doing really well, and that’s really nice French-inspired food.

“We live in Bramley, Silvers is great, from the start you can tell that what they are doing is a little bit special. I really like Bunderbust as well, it’s really great.

“You see new places opening and that is a testament that there is a great food scene in Leeds, so it can support it and [people] want it.

“New Roadside feels really vibrant at the moment with Zero Muda, Scoffs, Three Swords, Horsforth Brewery and our new favourite Hoc Loco all being amazing places plus top tier neighbours for us.”

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