Philly Style Bagels ready to roll in Fishtown
Owners Collin Shapiro and Jonathon Zilber have been baking bagels for the last couple of years, popping up at shows/events and at Pizzeria Beddia on off-days.
Philadelphia's long-in-coming bagel renaissance moves another step forward this weekend with the soft opening of Philly Style Bagels' first storefront in Fishtown.
It's at 1451 E. Columbia Ave., at the corner of Sepviva Street, a half-block off Frankford Avenue, and across from Steap & Grind coffee and Palmer Park.
On Jan. 9 and 10, the shop will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a limited menu. Regular hours will begin after the grand opening weekend, Jan. 16 and 17. The shop's normal schedule is 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday to Monday.
Owners Collin Shapiro and Jonathon Zilber have been baking bagels for the last couple of years, popping up at shows/events and more recently Sundays at the nearby Pizzeria Beddia, keeping the oven hot on the parlor's day off. In fact, the shop has seemed as busy on Philly Bagels' days as it is when Joe Beddia is turning out pizza.
Philly Style Bagels are fermented in small batches, hand-rolled, and boiled in a mixture of Yards beer and water before spending time in a deck oven. (New York bagels typically get a bath in malt barley and water. Montreal's get honey and water.)
Result: Crusty, heavily seeded on both sides, smaller than the steroidal specimens commonly sold 'round here.
In an October 2015 round-up of newer bagel shops, The Inquirer's Craig LaBan assessed the Philly Bagels' product: "You can see the handmade nature of it. It has everything you want from a bagel: the texture and flavor, the crunch and chew."
Both guys are in their late 20s. Shapiro grew up in Cheltenham and Zilber was born outside of Detroit and grew up in Lower Merion. They met five years ago while stocking beer at The Foodery in Northern Liberties and began toying with culinary projects. Once, after curing salmon, they naturally decided to bake bagels to go with it.
"We found we were meeting up more and more to make bagels," Zilber said. "We were like, salmon? Forget that."
They moved on to become baristas at Shot Tower Coffee in Queen Village, where one of their customers, Joe Beddia, was working nearby at Little Fish. Over macchiatos, Beddia told them how he planned his pizzeria.
Around the same time, the Hidden City Festival collaborated on a program with the South Philadelphia synagogue Shivtei Yeshuron-Ezras Israel, and wanted to serve bagels at a reception. Shapiro and Zilber ended up baking in a private home whose kitchen was kosher.
The accolades helped prompt Shapiro and Zilber to turn pro, and they set out to find a location. In the meantime, Beddia agreed to lend his pizzeria while they launched an Indegogo campaign that exceeded its $20,000 goal. They also bought a gorgeous, stone-lined, gas-fired Montague Hearthbake 25P-2 that is slightly larger than Beddia's.
The menu includes bagels ($12 a half-dozen, $20 a dozen), plus spreads, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, including plenty of vegetarian options. The bagels are inherently vegan. (Not gluten-free.) Counter Culture Coffee will be poured.
There is limited standing room - no seating to speak of - but Palmer Park is across the street.