One of the things we love about this city is the never ending entrants to the foodie scene. Never have we been more excited surrounding the opening of Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery in the West Village. We were privileged to help the owner locate her first brick and mortar store on Greenwich Avenue. You should taste her delicious treats, but if you need some more encouragement, see below!
Straight from the NYT:
Umber Ahmad was an investment banker whose specialty was the global expansion of food brands. Tom Colicchio was a client, and they talked food. After Ms. Ahmad treated him to samples of her cakes and cookies she grew up baking with members of her Pakistani family in northern Michigan, he encouraged her to go into the business. Since founding Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery in 2013, she has been baking in a commercial kitchen with Shelly Barbera, her executive pastry chef and partner, and selling her finely wrought pastries online to consumers as well as to wholesale clients like Jet Blue. And finally … she has a spacious West Village shop, opening Thursday, that’s done in pearl gray with a tufted banquette and marble displays for her lush tarts, cookies, cream puffs, bars, cakes, brioche doughnuts and other sweet and savory items. There’s a back room with a communal table that she plans to use for classes, and a big kitchen downstairs. The name of the company is based on the Urdu word mazedar, meaning “the essence”: Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery, 28 Greenwich Avenue (10th Street), 212-498-9810, mahzedahrbakery.com.
Eater.com covered her here, Grubstreet covered her here, the NYT raved about her doughnuts here, while Food & Wine named her cheesecake one of the best in America here. I mean, come ON! Aside from adoring her food, we have a special connection to Umber and her bakery. Run, don’t walk, to Mah-Ze-Dahr!
