Help choose the face of Orange Poppy!!

    SPOT Bagel believes in being involved in the community and supports up-and-coming artists and graphic designers. We are collaborating with 10 different artists to create a unique flavor identity for each of our wonderful bagel flavors.

    For our legendary Orange Poppy bagel, Philadelphia-based Mike Protevi created three very different options. Please help us decide which look-and-feel should be the face of Orange Poppy!

    Organic poppy bagel meets organic oranges = Love at First Bite
    Our Orange Poppy bagel contains fresh organic orange juice and zest. Bathed in poppy seeds, you get a crispy shiny crust and chewy delicious, orange bagel dough in every bite.


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    SPOT Bagel Bakery - San Francisco Bay Area

    Holler if you've seen our bakery! Preparations are under way at the bakery outside and in for our launch of artisan bagels in the SF Bay Area this year!

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    SPOT Bagel's Head Baker - Top Secret

    Our head baker, who shall remain top secret for now, officially started today with finalizing recipes for the most delicious bagels in San Francisco! Here's a photo of our top secret head chef but we've "spotted out" any clues that may lead to the discovery of his or her identity. However, we'll reveal clues over time.

    Here's Clue #1: This chef grew up in a family restaurant in New York.

    Stay tuned!
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    The BLC Sandwich: Bagel, Lox, and Cream Cheese

    spot bagel sandwich lox cream cheese red onions
    The BLC is an American invention that took off in the 1950s, probably spurred on by Kraft's advertising blitz for Philadelphia Cream Cheese. It started out as a Jewish Sunday morning ritual and soon became an all-American breakfast/brunch to rival the standard bacon, eggs, and toast. Thanks to the Julia Child of Jewish cooking, Joan Nathan, for her short history of the bagel, smoked salmon, and cream cheese trio.

    One of the first mainstream mentions of this delicious triple threat was in an early 1950s volume of Family Circle. Fannie Engle (who would later author a Jewish cookbook) published an hors d'oeuvre recipe instructing readers to slice up bagels into quarters, spread with sweet butter (or cream cheese for variation), and top with a small slice of smoked salmon. In 1951, the BLC hit Broadway in the comedy Bagel and Yox, which introduced the combination to many Americans due to its coverage in magazines such as Time.


    spot bagel sandwich smoked salmon cream cheese
    The BLC is still a mouthwatering classic today. Marcia Gagliardi, aka "The Tablehopper" and author of The Tablehopper’s Guide to Dining and Drinking in San Francisco especially loves a BLC made with plain and poppyseed bagels. "They’re the perfect vehicles for lox and cream cheese. I adore lox -- it must be my inner cat that loves the smoky fish taste. I specifically plan visits to Barney Greengrass, Russ and Daughters, and Zabar’s when I go to New York so I can try all the different smoked fish they have. Lately I’ve been really into gravlax, and want to start making my own. Damn, now I’m craving a lox and cream cheese bagel."

    The Tablehopper tops off her BLC with chopped-up shallot and a sprinkling of capers. Other common toppings are tomatoes and red onions. How do you top off your BLC?


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    I Know Bagels

    Growing up in Chicago, near Wrigley Field, you could say that I first learned about bagels by osmosis. We rarely went out to eat...everything was homemade, including bread and pizza from scratch. My mom, Belle, instilled in us a love of food and baking even more - her specialty. Now both are part of my DNA.
    
    Jay Glass at SPoT Bagel
    in Seattle, 1990
    
    Every Friday night was bagel night. My mom served bagels from the neighborhood shop with lox or smoked whitefish as part of our weekly "non-meat" dinner. And of course, the most important Jewish events in our community featured "the tray," overflowing with bagels and various toppings. Whether grieving while sitting shiva or celebrating a new birth at a bris, when everyone was together, we ate bagels - the Jewish soul food.
    
      
     In 1990, my bagel education picked up steam. While deciding whether to start a bagel bakery, I traveled all over the US seeking the advice of sage bagel bakers. I sought out great bagels made in cities with big Jewish populations, where people know good bagels from bad. I spent countless hours talking with bagel makers in New York, Chicago, Vancouver (Montreal-style bagels), and Los Angeles, seeking an understanding of why their bagels were best. I took their veteran advice to heart when I started SPoT Bagel Bakery in Seattle, which became Seattle's #1 most-loved bagel. We proudly made artisan bagels with creative flavors that revolutionized the bagel industry.

    These days, when I think back to how much love and skill my mom put into our homemade meals, I am grateful and realize how much I've matured from the kid that wanted to eat out because he didn't know better. Now I truly know what kind of food I want to eat: local and organic ingredients à la Alice Waters, prepared thoughtfully à la slow food, and with innovative flavors à la Humphry Slocombe.

    ― Jay Glass
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