By Clarisse Kim

The smell of toasted cheese, warm spices and light notes of sesame beckon passersby to the Richmond District’s latest hidden gem.

Tucked away on Fourth Avenue around the corner from Clement Street, Batches Bakehouse leads people to its storefront with the scent of freshly baked bagels and pastries. The business whips up about 25 dozen bagels a day alongside sandwiches, cookies and cupcakes.

Co-founders Ashley Zografos and Ashlee Thompson were proud to open Batches Bakehouse on Dec. 1, 2023. For Thompson, this grand opening marks the resolution to a childhood dream.

“I’ve wanted to open up my own bakery since I was 13,” Thompson said. “I’ve kept a picture of a bakery I drew when I was 13 that I wanted to open someday; founding Batches is just a dream come true.”

Thompson first ventured into the culinary world about eight years ago when she quit her job to pursue her passion for cooking. She developed her skills primarily in the Greater Boston Area, where she first worked as a bread baker for Boston’s Tatte Bakery. After learning how to bake bread, Thompson focused on baking pastries in Boston’s South End Buttery where she learned to bake cupcakes, brownies and the occasional wedding cake. Thompson then transitioned to baking as a pastry cook for a number of different restaurants along the East Coast.

“I picked up most of my cooking and baking skills from hands-on experience,” Thompson said. “I’m completely self-taught.”

In 2019, Thompson moved to the Bay Area to further develop her skills as a pastry chef at Michelin-starred The Village Pub; she later worked for San Francisco’s Atelier Crenn and Victory Hall and Parlor. Thompson first met Zografos around this time.

“We had met through mutual friends, and the idea just came up one day,” Thompson said. “We just asked each other: ‘What if we started a bakery?’”

The pair began to plan their business in the spring of 2022. The duo decided to base their bakery on their shared love for bagels and collaborated on a bagel recipe to sell as the main feature of their shop. Most of the start-up process, which included acquiring and preparing the space as well as sorting out the necessary permits, were completed within a year and a half.

However, the road to opening day came with a couple of challenges. Due to various construction, permit and contractor delays, Batches’ nascent period was difficult. According to Thompson, the business is still trying to find its flow, especially when it comes to how many baked goods they need to make each day.

“You could say getting started was a little chaotic,” Thompson said, “We opened quickly, and we didn’t know how busy everything was going to be. But we’re now finding our footing in the neighborhood.”

In spite of all the setbacks, Thompson and Zografos opened their doors in December 2023, where they’ve since been serving up a medley of toasted bagels and freshly baked pastries. Customer favorites include the Hot Batch Bagel Combo, a bagel toasted and served with hot honey and scallion cream cheese; the Bodega, a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich; and the BLAT, a bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato sandwich.

“Our chocolate chip cookie also seems to be an absolute best seller,” Thompson said. “It seems like I can never bake enough of them.”

Thompson’s personal favorites are the walnut brownie and the asiago bagel toasted and served with house-made scallion cream cheese. One of her personal specialties include the hummingbird cupcake, which features a banana and pineapple dough packed with carrot-cake-like spices.

Overall, Thompson believes that starting and running Batches has deepened her passion for the culinary arts.

“The reason I love cooking and baking so much is it feels like I’m taking care of people,” Thompson said. “I’m feeding people something they really enjoy, and that means a lot to me.”

Thompson also appreciates how this new experience has tied her closer to the Richmond community. She hopes that in the future, Batches Bakehouse will be able to further understand and integrate themselves into the community’s rhythm (and need for bagels).

“When I first moved to San Francisco, I had a hard time finding my place,” Thompson said. “But after opening Batches for just three weeks, I can walk down Clement Street and be greeted by a lot of different people. It feels good to be in this community – I think I found a home here in the Richmond.”

Batches Bakehouse is at 298 Fourth Ave. Instagram: @batchesbakesf.