Anna Higham and Paris Barghchi in their New North Road shop

TWO women who bonded after discovering they had both lost their mothers to cancer are going into business together to open a new bakery.
Pastry chef Anna Higham, 35, and hospitality general manager Paris Barghchi, 32, are in the middle of overhauling a former cafe on New North Road in De Beauvoir, and say they are hoping to turn it into something very special for the community.

They had known each other for years but grew closer when they had realised they had gone through the same sad experience.

As Ms Higham’s career went from strength to strength, at home she was devastated by her mother’s death in 2015.

But she found she was not alone.

She said: “I did a bit of sleuthing and realised that Paris’s mum had just died. And I was like, ‘Hey, my mum died last year of breast cancer, or a couple years before, I think your mum just died of breast cancer. Do you have the same genetic mutation?’”

Ms Higham said they soon worked out the BRCA1 gene mutation ran in their families – putting them both at a much higher risk of cancer.

“When we figured that out, I said ‘Well, I have two aunts who are still living, having been through breast cancer seven times between them, so… come in to the family!’,” she said.

Now they are working together to open Quince Bakery which will be serving top quality bread, pastries and savoury food.

The friends outside the shop

There are no plans to expand it, as they want to keep it as a one-off.

“We want this to be singular and exceptional. We will still be here in 20 years’ time,” said Ms Higham.

She knows her stuff, having started her career working for celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and most recently was the executive pastry chef at London institution The River Cafe.

A raw talent in the industry, she switched to food aged 24 despite starting out in architecture, and in 2019 won baker of the year in the Young British Foodie awards for her work at restaurant of the year Flor. Last year she also published her first pastry book, The Last Bite.

Ms Barghchi already lives nearby and Ms Higham is currently looking for somewhere within 30 minutes’ walking distance.

With a focus on community, the pair have managed to raise the £40,000 through crowdfunding, with some hospitality friends donating as much as £5,000 to the project.

“For us, it goes deeper than being just another bakery. The reason we’re doing this is because we deeply care about agricultural industry in this country,” Ms Barghchi said.

And at a time where baking is the new rock’n’roll and everyone experimented with sourdough starters during lockdown, the pair are firm on this: Quince is in this for the long haul.