Final 12 months, Bon Appetit declared that we have been in the course of the Nice Bagel Growth. This previous April, the New Yorker described a “bagel renaissance” occurring effectively past the borders of New York Metropolis. Writing within the New York Instances, Karen Stabiner lately took observe of simply how lengthy individuals are keen to attend for a bagel at Los Angeles’s famed Braveness Bagels.
Together with figuring out how the once-humble bagel has turn out to be so hyped, these items all have one thing in widespread. They reference stylish bagel retailers in cities all throughout the nation, together with Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix, and Portland — however not, pointedly, Seattle.
Up till lately, that wouldn’t have been seen as an oversight. When most individuals consider Seattle, they consider salmon, espresso, teriyaki, and sizzling canines smothered in cream cheese and sauteed onion. They don’t consider bagels.
However they need to.
The Seattle space has had bagels for a very long time, however solely lately might you say it boasts a bona fide scene. From native chains like Rubinstein Bagels and Blazing Bagels to pop-ups that promote out in hours, you may spend weeks attempting to pattern each bagel within the area. The modest bagel has moved past its Polish-Jewish roots and turn out to be a playground for a few of the Seattle area’s finest bakers to experiment with taste profiles and presentation.
The choices have turn out to be so various that we will even begin to create a taxonomy to categorise them relying on what you’re searching for. Need a chewy bagel? Head to Madison Valley’s Mt. Bagel or Georgetown’s Bloom Bistro. Crave a bagel with crunch? Observe down Hey Bagel’s newest pop-up or discover Salmonberry Items on the Ballard Farmers Market or its new Sundown Hill brick-and-mortar. Have to get a nostalgic New York-style repair? Make for Ravenna’s Bagel Oasis or sixth Borough Bagels in Olympia. Lox lovers want look no additional than Loxsmith (Beacon Hill/West Seattle) and Outdated Salt (Fremont/Ballard). In search of a bagel sandwich to savor? Head to Rachel’s (Ballard/Lake Metropolis), Howdy Bagel (Tacoma), Toasted (U District), Sully Eats (Fremont Sunday Market), or Yard Bagel (Fremont).
And that’s simply the tip of the sesame seed-crusted iceberg. Regardless of the inflow of spots to attain a bagel and cream cheese (or rather more), there are not any indicators of this development slowing down. Together with the current openings of Yard Bagel, Toasted, and sixth Borough Bagels, each Salmonberry Items and Andrew Rubinstein’s Hey Bagel are eyeing brick-and-mortar areas by the top of the 12 months. In the meantime, lots of the metropolis’s “previous guard” bagel slingers like Rachel’s and Rubinstein have lately added new areas. And contemplating that there are nonetheless loads of bagel deserts round city (West Seattle, Columbia Metropolis, Queen Anne, and Rainier Valley come to thoughts), there’s no cause to assume we’ve hit peak bagel.
What’s driving this proliferation? As Bon Appetit and the New Yorker famous, your entire nation seems to be swept up on this schmear sensation as every metropolis and area makes an attempt to determine its personal model of the bagel. COVID-19 performed a serious position as effectively. A number of Seattle-area bagel retailers started as pandemic hobbies or pivots from eating places needing to provide you with a simple grab-and-go choice (that’s how Manolin birthed Outdated Salt in 2020).
Don’t low cost the affect of social media. The Instagram-worthy bagel sandwiches and displays at Howdy Bagel, Toasted, and Westman’s stay constants in your feeds. And proving to all of your followers that you just made it by means of the Mt. Bagel line stays a badge of honor even a 12 months after its return.
Then there’s the cash issue. Because the pandemic fades and costs rise, the will to really feel such as you’re getting your greenback’s value is paramount. Getting a bagel that causes traces and sellouts is fairly strong proof you’re not simply on pattern, however making smart eating choices. It’d simply appear like a bread circle however the bagel means just a little bit extra proper now.
To say that Seattle bagels are “higher” than New York’s is a idiot’s errand. However there’s no denying that Seattle all of the sudden finds itself within the dialog among the many many bagel boomtowns throughout the nation. The subsequent time a serious meals publication places out its roundup of the very best bagels within the nation, to go away out Seattle could be proof that it’s not really paying consideration.
