On the East Coast, January 15 is known to many as National Bagel Day. Here in St. Louis, however, it’s an overlooked “holiday.”
You might be wondering, Where can you get a good bagel in St. Louis, anyway? Beyond Saint Louis Bread Co., there are only a handful of local bakeries and restaurants across the metro region that sell them.
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“A lot of people talk about starting bagel places,” says Lenny Kohn, owner of Kohn’s Kosher, “but I just don’t know if there’s enough volume to support more prevailers in the St. Louis market.” Kohn’s Kosher sells homemade savory bagels, from plain to poppy, sesame to Tzitzel (a rye bread rolled in cornmeal). Kohn’s bakes anywhere between 120 and 250 bagels daily and sells the remainder for 50 cents the following day. Kohn prefers a tighter, tougher dough, steering away from the New York-style bagel.
Not only do the bagels at Kitchen House Coffee resemble a traditional New York–style bagel, but the workers pride themselves on achieving the true “fish-eye” crust that can be so difficult to obtain. “You cannot rush it. It’s definitely a slow food kind of thing,” says Hannah LaChance, a current barista who was a leading force in the shop’s bagel success.
Since preparing their bagels in house in early 2019, the team has introduced different variations of flavors by deviating from their standard everything and plain bagels to experiment with thyme, parmesan, and jalapeño cheddar on the weekends.
“We have a handful of people who’ve learned the craft and learned it well,” says owner Paul Whitsitt. “We’ve had baristas, in addition to kitchen staff, raise their hands and say, ‘I want to do it. I want to learn it.’ It’s nice because it is labor-intensive and won’t rest on the same shoulders the whole time.”
The team also substitutes brown sugar for honey in the boiling water to offer a vegan bagel. Next in the pipeline: a gluten-free bagel to further accommodate diverse dietary needs.
Companion Baking steams its bagels in-house and utilizes sponge in its long fermenting process, although owner Josh Allen prefers a boiled bagel. “Because of the long fermentation of the dough, we feel like we still get a quality product,” he says. “There is an art to a great bagel that, on a small scale, can be terrific and wonderful, so I hope we can see a proliferation of artisanal bakers come back.”
“It’s always exciting to see operators come up with new concepts that take some of the older, traditional foods and create something new from it. Take a look at the donut scene,” says Patrick Judd, owner of The Daily Bread Bakery & Café. “I wouldn’t be surprised if something like that develops over time.”
The Des Peres bakery has been rolling bagels out since its inception 24 years ago. The crew accelerates the shaping process by using a machine to better manage the hundreds of pounds of dough. The secret to their moist, chewy texture is refrigerating the dough overnight and allowing for a lot of steam throughout the baking process.
The café offers several options and experiments with seasonal flavors like pumpkin and chocolate cherry. A fan favorite is their cranberry oat bagel with raisins, sunflower seeds, and other hearty toppings.
“I do think everything has a cycle and it’s probably time for the bagel to make its next development into something new and exciting,” Judd says.
Bagel Factory in Creve Coeur has long been regarded as the premier baker of New York–style bagels in St. Louis. Duane Johnson, owner of Breadsmith St. Louis, saw a need to bring authentic bagels closer to the city of St. Louis, and being a kosher-certified bakery, the decision was a no brainer.
Breadsmith’s bagels are baked in-house and come in sesame, poppyseed, and everything toppings. They can also be found at Protzel’s Deli, in addition to the Circle@Crown Café, inside Gladys & Henry Crown Center for Senior Living. “Our crust is really thin and crispy, and the inside has the greatest crumb,” says Johnson.
Additional St. Louis spots that serve homemade bagels include Dough Joe’s St. Louis, Living Room Coffee & Kitchen, Pumpernickles Delicatessen, and Olio, featuring a Jerusalem bagel, an oval-shaped bagel topped with Za’atar, a blend of Middle Eastern spices.
As for how St. Louisans slice their bagels? Well, that’s a topic for another day…
