BY BRIA SCHIRRIPA

Harris Bakes - a woman owned bakery on Bedford and Commerce opened in the winter of 2020. More than a year and a half later, the bakery found its footing and hasn’t missed a beat.

Tucked in a row of brownstones on quaint and quiet Bedford Street, the gleaming marble counters and bright lights draw the attention of a passerby to the bakery and the scents of chocolate croissants and fresh brewed coffee are enough to get them in the door. Harris Maizels, owner of Harris Bakes, has worked very hard to get to this point.

Ms. Maizels grew up baking and cooking - think: elaborate gingerbread houses around the holidays and above average birthday cakes for family and friends. But when it came to choosing a career path, she pursued elementary education. As a kindergarten teacher she was sure to incorporate baking into many of her lesson plans. “I never truly considered it as a career” Harris says. It was on a spring break trip to visit her sister in France that she spent time with a Parisian bakery owner that realized she might want to consider pastry making as a full time job. “I didn’t know it was possible to switch career paths, I assumed that everyone in the industry started right out of high school or sooner”. Harris came back inspired and ready to fully jump in.

That fall the teacher became the student.

After her inspiring trip to France, Harris enrolled in the 6 month pastry program at the French Culinary Institute. This led her to spend some time at Gramercy Tavern for an externship while continuing to make custom cakes and pastries on her days off for friends and family. 

In the summer of 2019, Harris, then a West Village resident, noticed an empty storefront with a kitchen. She saw an opportunity even when others warned her about taking on a lease and opening her own commercial kitchen. She decided to go for it and nearly a year after signing, Harris got the green light from the health department. She held a soft opening with friends the last week of February 2020. 

After being shut down due to COVID, Harris felt conflicted over how to move forward. The original concept of Harris Bakes was to be custom cakes, but since people weren’t gathering, Harris had to pivot. By April, Harris was eager to get back into the kitchen in any way, so she began to make batches of bagels, cinnamon rolls, croissants, cookies available for preorder and available to patrons at a distance. What she had considered to be daily nice-to-have pastries were now the focal point of her business “I wish I could say I had a whole curated idea opening the shop, but the truth is a lot of what I am doing is being done on the fly” Maizels says.

Five days a week, you can find Harris in the shop around 6 A.M. rolling out dough for the day’s baked goods. Everything is made fresh each morning and while Harris was faced with some challenges about the purpose of her shop, she knew from day one that everything she produced would be made with organic, high quality ingredients. “I didn't want to use anything that made you feel like crap after eating”.

While there are several facets of the business Harris did not know about until she began her operation (kitchen technicalities, waiting on nightly deliveries, running social media, etc) she runs her one woman show with grace and a community she can trust “ I knew how supportive the neighborhood is to local, small businesses”

Speaking of small local businesses, Harris calls out West Village restauranteurs Jody Williams and Rita Sodi as two of her greatest inspirations “I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon with them, not only are their restaurants incredible, but they’ve made me feel like everyone has a seat at the table”.

The store brings in a wide range of clientele - people of all ages, locals and visitors alike. “ The new customers who come in tell me I'm growing and the my regular customers tell me that they liked what they had”.

At the end of our conversation, a buzzer goes off and Harris takes out fresh dough for the busy holiday weekend ahead. 

The bakery owner has many ideas and long term goals. One being acquiring a larger space that can act as both a bakery and cafe but also can host after school programs for kids who have an interest in the kitchen “I’ve noticed there are certain extracurriculars available to kids and to certain groups of kids, and I haven’t seen a lot of after school programs for baking and that’s really important to me. The skills and lessons are endless” Harris says. While her croissants are flaky, Harris is not. She has achieved a lot in a short amount of time and is living proof that it is never too late to do what you love.

For more info go to Harris Bakes website.