In this edition of Homegrown Tables, Maha Morley-Kirk of BRĒD Bakehouse explores food as comfort and the importance of holding space for community

What made you decide to keep the restaurant open during this time?

Honestly, it wasn’t a decision I had to think long about. Closing felt like the wrong answer. BRĒD has always been more than a place to eat, it’s a place people come to feel something normal, something grounding. When the world outside feels heavy, what you offer inside matters more, not less. A community needs places to anchor itself. Staying open was our way of saying we’re here, we’re steady, and we’re not going anywhere.

Have you noticed guests approaching dining out differently lately?

Yes, there’s more intention behind it. People aren’t just stopping in, they’re choosing to be here, and I think that’s because community has become something people are actively seeking out right now. There’s something slower about the way guests move through the space. They linger a little longer, they talk to each other, they’re more present. When they choose BRĒD, I don’t take that lightly, it tells me that what we’ve built here means something beyond the food.

Any shifts in orders are guests gravitating toward dishes or flavours that feel more comforting or familiar?

Definitely. The sourdough bread has always been our heartbeat, but right now it feels even more central. Our sourdough, the warm pastries straight out of the oven, the things that smell like home and taste like someone made them slowly and with care. People aren’t reaching for the complicated or the clever right now. They want something that feels real, something shared. And that’s exactly what we try to put on every plate, food that brings people together rather than just impresses them.

Is there a dish on your menu right now that feels especially meaningful to you?

Our Akkawi Cheese Croissant. Growing up in Lebanon, akkawi was just part of life. On the breakfast table, at family gatherings, in the small everyday moments you don’t think twice about until you’re years and miles away from them. Putting it in a croissant wasn’t a trend play; it was personal. It was me taking something from my own story and building it into the brand. The flakiness, the saltiness, the warmth of it, it hits differently when it means something.

What’s been beautiful to watch is how guests connect with it, too. People come up to us all the time and say it reminds them of home. Different places, same memory. That’s not something you can plan for. It just tells you that when food is made with genuine intention, people feel it. That croissant has become one of our most loved items, and I think that’s exactly why.

How are you and your team showing up for each other during this time — what steps or gestures help keep morale strong?

We run a morning briefing every single day, not because it’s on a schedule, but because connection has to be deliberate. We talk about what went well, what didn’t, and how we’re going to show up better for our guests today than we did yesterday. The same community we’re trying to build with our guests, we have to build within our own four walls first.

Right now, I’m also making sure people feel seen, not just as employees, but as human beings navigating a difficult season. We don’t pretend things are easy; we just make sure no one is carrying it alone.

What would you like to say to your community in the UAE at this moment?

Thank you. For showing up. For choosing homegrown, for walking through our doors, for trusting us with your mornings and your everyday moments. And a special thank you to the people who followed this journey long before BRĒD had a name on a door, the community that believed in what we were building before there was anything to show for it, and who walked in on day one like they’d been waiting for it. That kind of loyalty is something I’ll never take for granted. This city has such a unique sense of community. People from everywhere, building something together, showing up for each other in ways that don’t always make the headlines but are felt every single day.

To everyone who has made BRĒD part of their routine, their celebrations, their quiet moments, you are the reason we hold our standards even when it’s hard. Community isn’t a word we put on a slide deck. It’s the person who comes in every morning, the table of friends who linger over lunch, the guest who tells a stranger what to order. That’s what we’re here for. And we’re just getting started.

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