Meet Connor Sacks | Bagel Baker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Connor Sacks and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Connor, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Our thought process behind starting our business was to start slow and small and see how it may organically grow. Once we got started and had done a few pop-ups, we noticed a strong response from the community. We were meeting a lot of people here in Ventura including many different small business owners and we realized our favorite part of running out pop-up bagel company was connecting with other small business owners and people in town.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our story probably sounds a lot like many other small business owners in this climate but honestly the core of it was that we needed a change of pace. I would be lying if I said we had a perfect road map to what our business plan looked like and truthfully we started this very backwards. My wife is a full -time nurse and I was working full-time in digital marketing and always played with the idea of having our own business, serving the community and doing something we enjoyed while balancing out work life balance. We were living in Montana prior to Ventura and got really into making sourdough bagels when it was -17 degrees outside. We would then pass them out to friends and neighbors and enjoyed the art of making peoples day with food. With that idea in mind, prior experiences in restaurants, and some pivotal personal changes in our lives we came up with the idea of serving sourdough bagels. We didn’t know how or where to start but with some help of our friends, courage to surrender societal norms we’ve once believed, and focused on the vision, things got a lot easier.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If you’re visiting Ventura on a sunny Saturday afternoon here is what I’d do; Start your day getting a fresh baked sourdough bagel from Urchin Sourdough at their permanent residency at Fluid State Saturday & Sunday 9am – 12pm. Also grab a pour over coffee made right in front of you from Fluid State. Then walk the 3 blocks down Main street and hit up the farmers market. Get some ripe Pluots from the stone fruit stand. From there you start your thrifting, starting at coalition thrift store where the longer you dig the more you’ll find. Once you’re burnt out sifting through the mass amount of clothes, head over to Findings Flea for a more curated thrifting experience. There you will surly find something you want to take home. Now you’re hungry for lunch. Travel over to the historic Ventura Avenue or “The Avenue” to eat at some of the best taquerias in California. They are all good but Taqueria Cuernavaca is the best.

Now its time to relax, if its hot and the sun is out that means beach hangs. Solimar is a great beach just north of Ventura, dog friendly and free convenient parking. Take a nap in the sun until its time for dinner. There are many options to choose for dinner but my go-to is Taj Cafe on main street for the most authentic and tasty Indian food in the 805. Whether you ask or not, they bring you rice pudding after your meal, which always tastes like fruity pebbles.

For post dinner cocktails Strange Beast has you covered. Japanese inspired bar with unique drinks and great small bites makes this spot always a worthy stop. As the night comes to a close head over to Paddy’s. As an Irish bar thats LGBTQ friendly there is something for everyone. Hit the dance floor, play pool, or just kick back on the patio with your drink and friends for good conversation.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Carrie and Dennis Medina of Coastal Coffee Collective were super instrumental in any success we have had. They let us tag along with them at pop-up events in the beginning to serve bagels while they served coffee. They were an open book when it came to questions on how to start and run a small food business and were very motivational to keep us pursuing our goals. Running a small business comes with so many nuances but they really shed light on how fun this transition can be. They are actually opening there own brick-and-mortar coffee shop here in Ventura very soon called Room Service Coffee. Check them out!

Instagram: https://tagram.com/urchinsourdough/