The partners renovated an old, abandoned building in South Sacramento into a bakery.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A once-forgotten space on Stockton Boulevard in South Sacramento is getting new life.
Owners Robbie Naim and Paul Darragh opened the bakery in March in an old, abandoned building that Naim said had been abandoned for more than a decade before they decided to renovate it.
“We wanted this space to be a shared space for the community, a place where people could meet each other and feel at home,” Naim said.
The building is currently under renovation and is now a space for the community to dine in. Forgotten Bakery combines bagels and empanadas, family recipes from Naim and Darrah’s childhoods.
Naim and Darah are business partners and life partners. They met in Miami and have been together for five years. They moved to the Colonial Heights neighborhood a few years before the bakery idea came to fruition.
“Actually, it was my partner who came up with the name. It actually has to do with the location,” Naim says.
Darrah told ABC10 that the small building was a bar called Sea Shanty before it became vacant. The Stockton Boulevard area has seen better days, but the shop’s name isn’t just a reference to its location. The pair revived old family recipes for their baked goods.
“If we don’t learn these recipes, they will be forgotten, so we’re excited to be able to provide these recipes to the community,” Darragh said.
The Forgotten Bakery on the corner of Baker Avenue is a place filled with fond memories for Naim and Darrah: Naim’s father and mother were bagel makers who ran a bakery in the Bay Area for 20 years, and Naim grew up behind the counter.
“When I was 5 years old, my parents would take me to bake bagels and play with dough,” Naim said. “My partner, Paul, is from Chile and has been making empanadas his whole life. We decided to combine the two and make something fun.”
“When I make them, I think of my mother,” Darrah said. “Empanadas are a labor of love. They’re like tamales, an all-day event. We all help make them on the holidays, so when we make empanadas, we’re part of the family.”
The empanadas are hand-folded and come in a variety of savory and sweet flavors, including beef, spinach and cheese, and guava cream cheese.
Darrah’s favorite is the Chilean beef empanada with onions, olives, raisins and boiled eggs.
Naim’s signature dish is the Forgotten Bagel, which is filled with chive cream cheese, bacon and jalapeño.
The menu also offers a variety of bagel sandwiches, including egg and cheese, smoked salmon and cream cheese, and Nutella and crunchy granola.
Naim told ABC10 that what makes the bagels special is the beer-fermented dough, which is left to rise overnight, stretched by hand, and boiled in honey water. The bagels are baked fresh every morning.
Forgotten Bakery has been garnering attention from locals and tourists who come out to support the new business.
“Seeing so many people from around here coming every day made it really special for us,” Naim said.
Forgotten Bakery is open Thursday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is located at 4650 Stockton Blvd.
See more food articles: Sacramento highlights | Visit Kin Thai Street Eatery, Fresh Off Da Boat, and Southside Super
