A London bakery famous for selling up to 2,000 crème brûlée doughnuts a day at its U.K. shops is setting up its first-ever U.S. storefront on the Upper East Side, with plans to open sometime in November. Bread Ahead has signed a 10-year lease for 2,400 square feet at 1571-1572 Second Avenue at East 82nd Street, bringing its sourdough, pastries, and baking school to Manhattan.
The lease, inked in April 2026 with landlord Solil Management, carried an asking rent of $180 per square foot, according to Commercial Observer, which reported that tenant broker KSR represented Bread Ahead in the deal. As Time Out first reported, the bakery has not announced an exact opening date beyond the November timeframe. Founder Matthew Jones called the move a long-held goal, saying, “Opening our first bakery in New York is a milestone we've dreamed about for many years and one of the proudest moments in Bread Ahead's history.”
Jones did not pick the location lightly. He evaluated roughly 20 potential sites across New York City before settling on the Upper East Side, choosing it specifically to serve neighborhood residents rather than tourists, according to Patch. The outlet reported that Jones wants the New York shop to mirror the community-focused feel of his London bakeries rather than chase foot traffic in areas like Times Square or SoHo.
From a Borough Market Stall to a Global Pastry Brand
Bread Ahead's story began in 2013 as a Borough Market stall in London selling sourdough, brownies, and amaretti biscuits, per Time Out. The following year, the company launched its Bread Ahead Baking School in London, which will now have a New York counterpart offering hands-on classes for beginners and experienced bakers alike, in disciplines including doughnuts, sourdough, croissants, bagels, pizza, Italian baking, and holiday-themed sessions. Most three-hour workshops are priced at $150, Time Out reports, and Bread Ahead is running a U.S.-only two-for-one birthday promotion through the November opening.
Before he ever opened a bakery, Jones spent 15 years as a chef in Michelin-starred London kitchens, training under Shaun Hill, Simon Hopkinson, and John Torode at restaurants including Bibendum and Le Pont de la Tour, according to Forbes. He opened his first bakery, Flour Power City Bakery, in 1999 before founding Bread Ahead in 2013.
The Doughnut Driving the Numbers
The signature item headed to Second Avenue is the crème brûlée doughnut, filled with vanilla crème pâtissière and topped with crisp caramelized sugar, per Time Out. Bread Ahead says it sells as many as 6,000 doughnuts a day across its U.K. locations, with the crème brûlée version alone accounting for up to 2,000 of those daily sales. The Upper East Side menu will also rotate flavors including raspberry jam, sea salted caramel, pistachio, tiramisu, s'mores, and Eton mess.
That single doughnut has outsized commercial weight. Bread Ahead posted 40% sales growth across its business in 2024, and the crème brûlée doughnut alone drove 15 percentage points of that growth, according to QSR Media. The pastry was originally developed at the flagship Borough Market stall before becoming the brand's calling card.
The doughnuts get their texture from a specialized frying method: rather than fully submerging filled dough in oil, bakers let it float on top, producing a lighter result and a pale ring around the middle that staff call the “band of truth,” according to Arab News. That ring signals proper proofing and precise oil temperature.
No Gimmicks, No Outside Investors
Jones has been vocal about steering clear of viral food trends. In April 2025, he publicly dismissed items like Dubai's pistachio-kunafa chocolate as gimmicks, telling Arabian Business that Bread Ahead sticks to classic recipes and seasonal flavors instead of chasing short-lived fads. That philosophy has coexisted with rapid expansion abroad: the company built out a Middle East presence through a franchise partnership with Bugshan Investment subsidiary Sehha & Afyah, growing to nine locations across Dubai, Riyadh, and Jeddah by April 2025.
The Manhattan opening lands amid a broader global push. Bread Ahead expanded into Southeast Asia in May 2026 with a new spot at Siam Paragon in Bangkok and a master franchise agreement to open 15 bakeries in the Philippines, the QSR Media report notes. Despite that scale, the company says it remains an independent family business with no private equity, venture capital, or outside corporate investment, a structure Patch's report says Jones credits with keeping tight control over product quality.
What's Coming to the Menu
Beyond doughnuts, the Upper East Side shop will bake sourdough, croissants, and other pastries daily, along with sourdough pizza and the brand's signature “cathedral loaf,” an oversized, crusty bread made for sharing, according to the Patch report. The location will also serve coffee alongside its full bakery lineup. Bread Ahead already operates multiple bakeries in London and locations across the Middle East, and the Second Avenue shop marks its first foothold in the United States.
