Since its March 2022 opening, long lines have formed to wait for Bakery Four’s delectable sweet and savory baked goods at its location at 4150 Tennyson St. in Berkeley. There’s no guarantee that service time will be any shorter, but the bread promises to be just as good at the bakery’s upcoming spin off, Rich Spirit Bagels at 80061 W. 26th Ave. in Wheat Ridge. First reported by Westword, the stand-alone shop will focus on an expanded menu of its 300-plus famous sourdough bagels once it opens in late spring or early summer.
“We’ll essentially be doing an expanded version of what we already do at the bakery on Tennyson, so bagels with cream cheese (assembled as well as take out/dine in),” Bakery Four owner Shawn Bergin told What Now Denver in an email. “We do veggie, lox, classic, and fruit cream cheeses currently at the bakery to go along with the (approximately) 300 bagels.”
Standard poppy seed, salted sesame, everything, and other classic bagels will remain available for standalone and sandwich bites with more flavors rotated in as the shop grows. Its unique sourdough foundation — influenced by a fusion of Bergin’s background in upstate New York and nearby Montreal with California cuisine — will remain the base for Rich Spirit’s bread. According to Bergin, this is a lighter product than denser wheat yeast.
“Everything I’ve ever formulated uses sourdough as the main leavening agent. Natural leaven breaks down the gluten more effectively during fermentation making it easier to digest,” Bergin said. “It is much more flavorful, and more shelf stable than traditional yeasted breads.”
Buildout and permit plans are in the works, so there’s no cemented blueprint, but Bergin anticipates the shop to be about 1,100 square feet. Hopefully this will be enough space to accommodate what promises to be a big demand for Rich Spirit bagels.
