09/20/2022
The all-you-can-eat Brooklyn Bagel Fest was a success (meaning I’m extremely full). The founder, Sam Silverman wanted to go to a bagel festival and NYC didn’t have one - so he created BagelFest and now we all get to bask in the rewards of his deliciously hard work.
I met so many people that love what they do, and both the runner up and 2022 winner are from Connecticut so it seems NYC needs to step up their bagel game!
This year’s overall winner was Pop Up Bagel, where the owner learned how to make bagels during the pandemic and loved it so much he started doing pop-ups. (They also won last year)
Side Note: They used a kitchen 9 minutes away and walked the batches of hot fresh bagels down to the festival multiple times throughout the day for restocks. I was warned that the one I was sampling was hot, and not to burn my mouth. Color me impressed.
The runner-up (The Bagelry at Olmo) is a family business from Connecticut that shut down their restaurant during the pandemic because the owner’s toddler was fighting cancer and didn’t want him exposed. So they leaned into making bagels and serving them for pickup, and built a solid reputation.
Today he was slinging bagel samples with his even-younger baby strapped to his chest and when asked if he’d like to say a few words after winning his award, he simply asked everyone to donate to their local food bank because no one should go without food on the table at home.
The top 2 showings at the festival being people who either started or pivoted their business during the pandemic was inspiring and incredibly delicious.
I’m sorry I keep using that word but if nothing else we all ate food made from the heart today, and I’m thankful there was absolutely food (bagels) on the table at home tonight. BagelFest was a success.
