Namma Ooru Bengaluru: Fatima Bakery May Be Closing It’s Doors

If you’re one of those who prides themselves on being a Bangalorean, then Fatima Bakery’s reassuring blue and white logo must be a familiar landmark. Situated almost smack-dab opposite Hotel Fanoos, Fatima Bakery is known for all things meaty and confectionery from beef puffs to mutton samosas to chicken sausage rolls not to forget their famous (okay, maybe just to me) eclairs.

Whenever my siblings and I knew we were going to pass Fatima Bakery we would beg dad to stop and pick up some puffs and maybe some plum cake. Luckily enough, in those days we wouldn’t cause a 2-kilometer traffic jam by stopping for a minute by the side of the road.

However, it may soon be a thing of the past as the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) is now planning to acquire the land on which the bakery stands for the Vellara Road Metro Station (say it isn’t so)!

Speaking to The News Minute, VF David, the son of VP Francis who opened the bakery six decades ago, says, “Growing up, the bakery was the constant in my life. It was the place where I got all my favorite treats. Most of my childhood revolved around it and I took over after my father passed away. It is unimaginable for me to think that I may not have the bakery one day. The loss would be too much to bear.”

“Before Fatima’s started, the only place where baked goods were sold was at Koshy’s. Ours was Bengaluru’s second bakery. There were many Anglo-Indian families in this part of Bengaluru back then and my father decided to open the bakery as these families relied on baked goods.”

“In those days, the prices at Koshy’s was a little steep and not everyone could afford it. My father introduced the art of baking to the common people of the city. In 1957, the statue of the Lady Fatima was touring the world and had arrived in Bengaluru. My father had gone to see the exhibit and was extremely impressed by the sculpture. It was then that he decided to name the bakery after Lady Fatima,” David narrates.

It’s been around for 60 years, and fingers crossed, we’ll see it yet for 60 more.