Every Saturday morning, Milly Lorden and her husband would go hunting for the best bagels in Chicago.
“But one day, we decided we could actually make our own,” the now-Denver resident said.
That was over a year ago. Next month, Lorden will open her first storefront at 712½ S. Pearl St. in West Wash Park.
Since late last year, soon after she and her Littleton-native husband moved to Colorado, she’s been slinging bagels and cream cheese out of her home while attending the occasional farmers markets.
She’s grown her clientele through mostly catering and has delivered 2,500 bagels in the past several months.
“The initial plan wasn’t necessarily to sell them out of our house, but it ended up being a blessing in disguise,” Lorden said, explaining that she’s had to tweak her recipe several times because of the higher altitude. She also makes “micro-adjustments” depending on whether it rains or not.
“I’ve iterated on the recipe over 100 times,” she said. “I live about 10 minutes south of the future location, so I’m hoping that a lot of our current customers come. I’d really love to cater to that local audience.”
The menu at Milly’s Bagels will feature sourdough-based bagels. Lorden will have toppings and flavors including sesame, salt, plain, cheddar jalapeño and blueberry cinnamon. Patrons can slather those with plain, veggie, scallion or a special brown sugar raspberry cream cheese.
She’ll also have a lox sandwich, a bacon egg and cheese and a rotating special that will initially be an open-faced bagel with cream cheese and a yet-to-be-chosen local jam. She’ll top that with an herb, like mint or basil, from her home garden.
“If any of those knock it out of the park, they might make the full menu,” she said of the monthly offerings.
Lorden’s bagels are hand rolled, something she says gives them an artisanal touch compared with the machine-rolled products that cause the dough to lose some of its tension.
“Being a sourdough bagel shop, we’re maybe not the first, but I’m one of few,” she said. “They’re healthier for you, better for the gut and the bagels come out fluffier and taller and prettier.”
Milly’s will also be one of the only shops in town where customers can order bagels “St. Louis style,” which involves cutting the bread into strips for dipping. Lorden, who grew up in that city before relocating to Chicago, said that slicing gives people the chance to mix and match flavors rather than commit to just one per meal.
“Itap kind of controversial,” she said. “But itap been really popular with catering orders because thatap a phenomenal way to share orders.”
Lorden worked for Boston Consulting Group in management consulting before starting Milly’s Bagels. She said she enjoyed the people she met, chiefly her husband, and how much she learned on the job.
But spending 48 out of the 52 weeks last year traveling took a toll on her.
“I felt disconnected from any sort of community,” she said.
She signed a two-year lease for the 200 square feet in Wash Park, which formerly housed the now-defunct ice cream chain Colfax and Cream. The build-out is minimal, she added, outside of a few DIY projects and Facebook Marketplace purchases. She plans to hire five or so people to staff the spot.
Patrons won’t be able to sit inside due to the limited space but can enjoy Milly’s sandwiches on a back patio. The space constraint, though, is forcing Lorden to boil and bake the bagels in a commissary kitchen.
“I always had this dream of running a restaurant and it mostly felt like a pipe dream,” she said. “But the more I started talking and thinking about it, I thought I could do a bagel shop now and take on a little risk.”
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