The Indian-inspired coffee shop Chai Guys will open a new bakery concept in Notting Hill next month as the group considers expansion across London and New York.
Founders Abhilash Jobanputra and Gabriel Unger currently have two sites in the capital — Covent Garden and Spitalfields — but their upcoming west London branch is by far the biggest to date and sees the rise of Notting Hill's substantial food and drink scene continue.
As well as serving Chai Guys’ spiced tea, a drink hugely popular in India and growing in prominence in the UK, the latest outpost will be a bakery and café, serving breads, sandwiches and seasonal pastries.
Jobanputra and Unger said the bakehouse will use mostly British ingredients and only “carbon negative flour”. On the menu will be cardamom buns, dhoklas (savoury sponge cake with green chilli and coriander chutney), spiced milk bread, an egg sando, and a chai crème brûlée Danish, among other items.
The duo said the idea for their Portobello Road café draws on the baking traditions of India, Scandinavia, France and Japan, and will use sustainable produce and the “highest quality” imported spices.
The great thing about chai is that it’s not a fad. It’s slowly gaining popularity
Jobanputra and Unger told the Standard: “We’ve always wanted to create dishes that compliment our chai. We took a trip to New York and were inspired by some of the bakeries there.
“One in particular — called La Cabra — made a ‘life-changing’ cardamom bun. Its flavour stuck with me all the way back to London. After that, we discussed the idea of opening a bakery that also had a Chai Guys in the same space.”
Following the Notting Hill venture, both said further expansion could be on the cards, with more people in the UK choosing to drink chai.
“We are talking about new Chai Guys locations in central London, and possibly New York,” said the founders. “The popularity of chai is rising. You already have a large South Asian community in the UK that makes chai at home.
“The great thing about chai is that it’s not a fad. It’s slowly gaining popularity because it’s a great alternative to coffee.”
