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| Jonathan Kauffman |
| Spot Bagels: double onion, plain, cinnamon raisin, and the Frieda. |
Red boxes with clear plastic doors began appearing in local markets like
Bi-Rite and Good Life a few weeks ago, labeled with the name of the Bay Area's newest bakery,
Spot Bagel. Tantalizingly empty at first, the boxes filled with small, glossy bagels with names like "Yosemite" (aka plain) and "Frida" (aka Frida Kahlo, aka Mexican) last week.
Spot Bagels' founder, Jay Glass, owned a bagel company in Seattle until 1995, when he left baking for the tech industry. But a "number birthday" had him looking over his old notes, plotting out how he would resuscitate the business in San Francisco. "For a region with a premium version of every type of product," he says, "there was no premium bagel here." It took him a year to raise funds, build a bakery in Burlingame, and reach out to grocery stores and restaurants (there's a
full list of locations on Spot's website). He's applying to farmers' markets instead of seeking building permits on a retail space.
Glass is attempting an odd feat: to get both the traditionalists and the
heretics nonpurists behind his bagels. He's re-engineered a classic like the onion bagel so that it now has flecks of roasted red and yellow onion scattered through the dough as well as baked on top, avoiding that sharp, charred flavor too many have. But he's also heading into the lunatic fringe with flavors like orange poppy and that Mexican bagel, which has chipotle and guajillo powder, roasted poblanos, roasted pumpkin seeds, and a little cornmeal.
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