Meet Nidhi Gahlot | Sourdough bread & pastry baker| Bakery owner | IT professional

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nidhi Gahlot and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nidhi, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Honestly, if someone had asked me three years ago if I’d ever want to own a business, I would’ve laughed in their face. In January 2021, a friend gave me a sourdough starter, and by February, I was baking bread with it. That first year, I was baking a couple of loaves every day. I got completely hooked on trying to make my bread better—critiquing every loaf, taking notes, and tweaking things the next day. I’d literally stay up at night thinking about what changes I wanted to try next.
I’m a software developer by day, so I’m used to building new features for the apps I work on, but getting to make something with my hands that I could actually touch, smell, and taste? That became super therapeutic for me. I’m still learning new things all the time (and I hope that never stops), but once I finally felt like I could make solid sourdough consistently, it just felt right to start sharing it with friends and neighbors.
I started handing out loaves to people I knew, and even knocked on doors of neighbors I hadn’t met yet. I brought bread to the teachers at my kids’ schools too. Little by little, word started to spread, and before long, I was getting orders through Facebook. From there, the business just kind of grew on its own through word of mouth. Last year was actually the first time we sold at farmers’ markets, and it was such an awesome experience that we’re doing it again this year.

What should our readers know about your business?
HotLoaves is like my surprise baby. It started as this teeny tiny micro bakery with me baking 10 loaves a week, and now somehow I’m up to around 50–100 loaves a week, plus a few dozen croissants, cinnamon rolls, and cookies. The growth has been so surreal and totally unexpected. I wasn’t really planning on any of it—it just kind of happened, mostly through word of mouth (aside from that one time I posted in a local Facebook group).
So yeah, the growth part might’ve felt easy, but the work definitely wasn’t. When I look back over the last three years, I honestly can’t believe how much time and effort have gone into perfecting recipes and testing them in bigger batches to see what actually works. Every new thing we add means going back through our whole process and figuring out how to make it all fit.
Scaling has been its own challenge too. I’m super hard on myself and have a tough time letting even the tiniest imperfections slide. But the upside is that our quality control has stayed really solid. We’re super proud of the ingredients we use and the way we do things.
I grew up in India with parents who came from farming families. Everything at home was made from scratch. We’d get grain straight from the farm and take it to the mill to get fresh flour. That kind of slow, simple living really stuck with me. And yeah, I know it sounds super cliché, but I try to take things one day at a time and enjoy the little stuff—without feeling like I have to be the person who’s doing absolutely everything, all the time.
As a small, local business, it seriously makes me so happy to be able to share long-fermented, gut-friendly sourdough bread made with just three simple ingredients—salt, water, and flour. No preservatives. No additives. Just real bread that people can enjoy the same day it’s baked.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There’s so much to love about Atlanta. I moved here from India for grad school back in 2008 and just never left. I lived around Lenox Mall and West Midtown for the first six years, and then we moved out to the suburbs in Marietta, where my husband Andrew grew up. I love how green and hilly it is around here. Atlanta’s got all the cool stuff you’d expect from a big city, but at the same time, there are so many parks, trails, and outdoor spots close by.
I try to be outside as much as I can, so if a friend was visiting, I’d definitely plan a lot of outdoor time, plus hit up some fun restaurants. We’d for sure go to the DeKalb and Buford Highway Farmers Markets, maybe swing by H Mart and grab a Korean hot dog. On Buford Highway, we’d have to stop at LanZhou Ramen (the duck ramen with chili oil is my favorite), Nam Phuong, and maybe grab a halo-halo from Manila Mart.
We’d definitely make a trip to Piedmont Park. I used to work nearby and would sneak in a run there on my lunch breaks. From there, it’s an easy hop onto the Beltline, and we could stop by Ponce City Market or just take a long stroll down Peachtree Street. Maybe even catch a show at the Fox Theatre if something good is playing.
Since we live in Marietta now, I’m not in the city as much, but you can usually find me hanging out in downtown Woodstock with a beer from Reformation Brewery in hand. I’d definitely add that to the list, too.
One of the days would have to be for hiking at Sweetwater Creek Park, and after that, dinner at Desta Ethiopian Kitchen.
Our family travels a lot. My daughter just turned 7, and she’s already been to 14 countries. We like to keep it super chill—usually renting a house and taking things slow. We love walking around different neighborhoods, trying all the local food, and just soaking everything in. That’s exactly how I’d plan things for a friend visiting here, too.
I always recommend a stroll through Grant Park, checking out the farmers market there, plus walking around Brookhaven and Old Fourth Ward. For more nature time, we’d probably go hike Kennesaw Mountain or Stone Mountain.
One more spot I always tell people about is Qualusi Vineyard in Acworth. It’s a bit of a drive, but totally worth it. You can bring your own food, so Andrew and I usually stop at Aldi on the way and grab some charcuterie, a couple of their chickpea and bean salads, and of course, some of my crusty sourdough. Then we pick up a bottle of Malbec from the vineyard and make an afternoon of it.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband Andrew has been my taste tester, assistant baker, confidence booster, and biggest cheerleader through this whole sourdough and pastry thing. Even way before I ever thought about turning it into a business, he was all for it because he could see how happy it made me—and that really mattered to him.
He stays up late with me, gets up at 2 a.m. to check on pastries, back up at 5, and somehow keeps doing it all over again every week.
We’ve got two little kids. They were just 4 and 1 when we first started selling, which feels kinda wild now. Honestly, there’s no way I could’ve handled a full-time job, baking all this stuff, and taking care of two tiny humans if he wasn’t totally in it with me.

Website: https://Hotloaves.com

Instagram: @hotloaves

Facebook: HotLoaves