(From left) Julio’s Bagels owners Noah Bowman and Ashley Patino (Photo by Farrah B. Fox)
At the start of the new year, Ashley Patino, owner of Pizza Bones in Union Hill, made a vow to put more focus and energy into opening a bagel shop. It was a somewhat loose resolution, an idea that had been fermenting in the back of the longtime sourdough devotee’s head. While Patino, like any natural baker, possesses precision and patience, she can also be spontaneous; hence the inconspicuous Instagram story that read, “Who wants to open a bagel shop, asking for a friend.”
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Noah Bowman happened to see the post and slipped into her inbox. He had met Patino years before, after moving to Richmond and making the shift from gigging drummer to contractor; he had painted the Pizza Bones building in 2021.
“My dad was a contractor, and I kind of grew up in that world. In between tours and right out of high school, that’s what I did,” Bowman says. “I was kind of in a point in my life where I was looking for something new and different, a challenge.”
Patino pinged him back.
“Noah’s mom used to own a cafe, we sort of have opposite skills,” says Patino, who also owns natural wine shop Friend Bar adjacent to Pizza Bones. “I know how to operate a kitchen, he knows how to fix everything in a kitchen and build everything, and, since, he’s been learning how to make bagels.”
Together, the pair are preparing to open Julio’s Bagels, a takeout-focused shop in North Side specializing in naturally leavened, boiled and baked rounds. Taking over the former Ms. Bee’s Juice Bar space at 114 W. Brookland Park Blvd., the bagel concept, named after Patino’s father, aims to debut by the end of the year.
“I’ve been going back to there not being a huge bagel presence in Richmond, and it was sort of an obvious direction,” Patino says. “I had been doing [bagel sales at Pizza Bones on] Saturday mornings for a while, but I didn’t want the onus of doing the whole thing.”
Although Patino recognizes the importance of having a business partner, the Virginia native has also been putting in plenty of solo practice. For the past year, her Union Hill corner has been a buzzed-about location for scoring fresh-baked bagels. Some show up for the mini market, often featuring purveyors such as Tomten and Shine farms, Oro pasta, and The Mayor meats, but many regulars arrive seeking Patino’s once-a-week bagels.
A VCU graduate, Patino has spent years dabbling in dough, working at San Francisco’s famed bakery Tartine, as well as wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizzeria Del Popolo and, locally, James Beard Award-nominated Sub Rosa Bakery.
Her bagel experimentation came after her return to Richmond. “I was bummed out about the lack of bagels here, and that’s when I started making them at home,” she says.
Bowman had grown up in the global epicenter of the iconic baked goods, and he missed them, craved them.
“[Bagels] were like that thing I got that was easy and I didn’t have to think about and just knew what I wanted, and that it would be good. I didn’t have that here, and I then I had [Patino’s] bagels — our bagels now — and was like OK, this is what I’m taking about,” he says.
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Photo courtesy Julio’s Bagels
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Photo courtesy Julio’s Bagels
Patino spent this summer scoping out the bagel scenes in Los Angeles and New York, and also staged at Benchwarmer Bagels in Raleigh.
What she came to realize, and Bowman concurred, is that less is more. Julio’s menu is a no-frills showcase of classics — plain, sesame and everything varieties sold solo and by the half-dozen and dozen. Patrons can order an egg and cheese bagel sandwich, with the option to add bacon, sausage or a vegetarian protein, or lox, or make it a pizza bagel, while toppings include red onion, capers, cucumber, radish and a seasonal choice. For spreads, Julio’s will offer housemade plain, “herby,” spicy and sweet cream cheeses, in addition to jam and butter.
Patino says of the menu, “It’s simple, and that’s what I think I’m excited about most.”
Julio’s Bagels are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside with a slight chewiness, made from naturally leavened dough with ingredients and grains grown and milled nearby. They pass the knock test, having been boiled before baking then studded from top to bottom with seeds.
Bowman says, “Julio’s won’t be a sit-down place, and as someone from New York, when you get a bagel, I think grab and go, easy, quick, and keep it rolling.”
Behind the counter at the casual, streamlined, nostalgia-tinged shop will be an open view into the kitchen and production space. Standing seats will face Brookland Park Boulevard. Noting that her expertise is in baking and not coffee, Patino says they plan to partner with Richmond-based Recluse Roasting Project.
As for bagels, Patino is happy that the desire to create her ideal product has resonated with others and says, “Similarly to pizza, I just make the food I want to eat, and it’s lucky for me that other people like it.”
Julio’s Bagels will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
