Slow Dough owners Richard and Lucy King outside the bakery. Photos: Supplied.
When Richard and Lucy King began baking sourdough in their garage during COVID-19, they never imagined it would rise into a thriving seaside bakery — or inspire a community along the way.
Now, the founders of Kiama’s beloved Slow Dough are sharing how a simple loaf became a life-changing leap at Shellharbour Library’s Small Business Month event on 27 November.
“Starting a small business is really hard, but for us, this is something we’ve never done before – we don’t come from baking or small business backgrounds,” Lucy said.
“Every day has been a school day for us.”
She said they were excited to share their story from corporate professionals to bakers, including the challenges faced, lessons learnt, and “the inspiration that drove us to this point”.
Richard said that inspiration lay in his own personal health and not eating bread, because of how highly processed much of it was.
“I went on a journey during COVID, like everybody else did, to make my own bread,” he said.
Moving from Melbourne to Werri Beach, the bread acted as an opportunity to make friends with their neighbours.
“We couldn’t possibly eat all the bread we were making, so we started dropping it on people’s doorsteps,” Richard said.
It then led to them buying a larger oven as people began asking to purchase their bread.
“It grew organically from there, to the point where I was waking up at 11 at night to bake bread for pick-up the next morning at 9 am,” he said.
“At some point during that journey, we thought, well, maybe we should formalise this and open a bakery.”
He said the bakery was now an expression of their passion for hosting people and making them feel connected, safe and seen.
Lucy said that also stemmed from those early days, when neighbours looked forward to meeting at the garage on a Saturday morning.
Some of the pastries.
“That really became part of the vision for us starting the bakery,” Lucy said.
“It wasn’t just about coming and collecting your bread, but it became a ritual in people’s week to see one another.”
Richard said it took 18 months to find and settle on the former minister’s cottage in Kiama, and then another year to renovate before they could open the doors in January 2024.
“We partnered with the leadership committee at the church to talk about what the space could become and our dream for it, and it beautifully dovetailed with their vision for what they want the whole church precinct to be used for,” he said.
“They want the energy of people being around and using the space.”
He said they operated just three days a week, partly driven by the early days of working their corporate jobs while building the garage operation.
“Just showing up to produce enough product for one day was already an achievement,” he said.
“Three back to back was daunting, but something we thought we could get our heads around.
“There’s been a psychological element to it as well, which is that specialty factor or scarcity factor that people talk about.”
And the sourdough.
Lucy said it was also about the business “growing it in a slow and steady way” to ensure it was sustainable and avoid cutting corners.
“When we were operating out of what became known as the ‘Bread Shed’, what helped us grow was offering a superior product that people couldn’t get elsewhere,” she said.
That product includes a rotating menu of breads and pastries, with the signature product a custard pillow – puff pastry carefully piped with beautiful creme patissiere.
“We’ve become well known for the surprise factor, because we are very intentional that every weekend we change our menu,” he said.
From the kitchen comes cinnamon knots, croissants and the “ultimate party bread” chilli oil fougasse, all including sourdough for its digestive benefits and flavour.
As “first generation food people”, inspiration is sought from cookbooks, bakers’ communities who willingly share insights and recipes, and two formally trained chefs at the bakery who have decades of knowledge around flavour combinations.
While the pair laughed they “don’t do anything fast at Slow Dough”, they were expanding, launching at Kiama Farmers’ Market this month to offer customers an opportunity to get their fix mid week.
For the library event, Richard said even those not interested in business would find inspiration in their story of former corporate professionals who swapped city careers for country loaves.
Lucy said she hoped some of that audience might include the very people who helped make it happen – and even showed up to paint the bakery.
“A lot of those friends and customers that were with us at the garage, they’ve been part of the story,” Lucy said.
“I’m hoping some of the regulars come along, because the story is not just ours – it’s a real community story.”
Register for Slow Dough and Sourdough: The Story of A Seaside Bakery at the Shellharbour City Library on 27 November at 6 pm. Bread samples provided.
