What’s the difference between a standard bagel and a New York—make that Brooklyn—bagel?
Boiling and baking them, said Michael Masters, general manager of the 101 Bagel Café that opened late last week in East Cobb.
It’s a process that’s done on the premises, in the former Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop at 4811 Lower Roswell Road, at Johnson Ferry Road.
Specifically, Masters explains, it’s all about the water used for the boiling, and a 14-step process to get rather close to the taste of the Catskills water that made New York bagels famous.
“It’s very special water,” he says, “and you can taste the difference.”
The water and the bagel ingredients are delivered daily from a comissary, and three batches of bagels are made daily (you can watch a video of the process here).
Masters, who previously was GM of the first 101 Bagel Café, says these bagels have a crisper taste.
“I’ve eaten more bagels over the last four years than I did in my entire life before this,” he said.
The flavors, and the toppings, are endless. The bagels can be plain, wheat, garlic and onion, egg, sesame, poppyseed, cinnamon and raisin and blueberry.
His favorite is jalapeño cheddar, and there’s Asiago cheese and plain bagel colored rainbow-style.
As for the cream cheese schmears, customers can also choose from jalapeño cheddar, strawberry, honey almond, bacon and scallion and a nova lox spread, among others.
Those also are made at the store, which also sells muffins, omelettes, wraps, melts, soups, hashbrowns, juices, coffee and energy drinks.
As Masters talked, staffers were busy setting up and accepting deliveries. The store had a soft opening on Friday, and owner/operator Rob Miller said a ribbon-cutting and more formal promotions will be coming soon.
The East Cobb location is the third 101 Bagel Café to open since the initial spot on Cobb Parkway near The Battery in 2018.
There’s another in Duluth, and in the coming months locations will open in Dunwoody and Milton.
East Cobb was an easy choice, Miller said, given a sizable Jewish community with three synagogues here (and three more in Roswell) and established bagel eateries nearby.
“I know Bagelicious [on Johnson Ferry Road] has been around forever,” said Miller, who moved to Atlanta from Miami three years ago.
A former behavioral psychologist, he ran a coffee shop and events space there, his foray in the food business.
As he was settling in Atlanta, the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
While the initial 101 Bagel Café was affected for a time by closures, the situation meant that “I had to get creative with my business.”
A mobile app was created and curbside service was introduced, and Miller said his employees for the most part “stuck with us.”
Supply chain issues and inflation have prompted a price increase for a bagel—it’s $1.59, up from $1.29, Miller said, but he vowed that “they’re not going up for the next 12 months.”
He has a business partner who shares his commitment to stay focused on incremental growth in carefully selected locations.
The East Cobb store has a viewing window for customers to watch the boiling and baking process, and there are three large tables inside.
A patio in front will have up to six tables, and Miller’s longer-term plans are to have some live musical entertainment.
101 Bagel Café
4811 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 1112
Hours: 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily
Website
Related:
- Kroger holds groundbreaking at MarketPlace Terrell Mill
- Valvoline files site plan request for Roswell-Johnson Ferry land
- Property restoration franchise PuroClean opens in East Cobb
- Vanilla Café e Gelato opens at The Avenue East Cobb
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