Friday, December 20, 2013

The History of the Bagel.




              The History of the Bagel          

              Enjoy Americas Favorite Bagel         


  by; N.Y.Bagel Cafe

A bagel is a round bread, with a hole in the middle made of simple ingredients: high-gluten flour, yeast, salt, water, and malt. Its dough is boiled, then baked, and the result should be a rich caramel color. It should not be pale and blond. A bagel should weigh five ounces or less and should make a slight crackling sound when you bite into it. A bagel should be eaten warm and, ideally, should be no more than four to five hours old when consumed. All else is not a bagel.

The bagel's birthplace is considered to be Poland. A story popular in the United States is that the first bagel was produced as a tribute to Jan Sobieski, 17th Century King of Poland, after he saved Austria from Turkish invaders at the battle of Vienna in 1683. According to Maria Balinska, the author of "The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread" (Yale University Press) it is just that-a story.

The first known reference to the bagel among Jews in Poland, according to Balinska, precedes the Battle of Vienna by seven decades. It is found, she says, in regulations issued in Yiddish in 1610 by the Jewish Council of Krakow outlining how much Jewish households were permitted to spend in celebrating the circumcision of a baby boy- "to avoid making Gentile neighbors envious, and also to make sure poorer Jews weren't living above their means."

Eastern European immigrants arriving in the United States at the turn of the 20th century brought the bagel with them to the streets of the Lower East Side. The rise of the bagel in New York in inextricably tied to that of the trade unions, specifically Bagel Bakers Local 338, a federation of nearly 300 bagel craftsmen formed in NYC in the early 1900%u2032s.

Local 338 was, by all accounts, a tough and unswerving union. It was set up according to strict rules that limited new membership to the sons of current members. By 1915, it controlled 36 bagel bakeries in New York and New Jersey. These bakeries produced the original New York Bagels, the standard against which all others are still, in some manner judged.

What did they look like? They were a mere three ounces. They were smaller and denser than their modern descendants with a crustier exterior and chewier interior. They were made entirely by hand.

Local 338 held its ironclad grip on the bagel market for nearly half a century, until industrial bagel-making machines were introduced into the market in the early 1960s. The introduction of the bagel machines meant any retailer or bakery owner could make their own bagels with non-union help #nybagelcafe

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Advantages of Owning a Franchise

NY Bagel Cafe Logo
Great Bagel. Great Place.

Advantages of Owning A Franchise



You could start a business of your own without involving anyone other than your advisers – an accountant, a solicitor and a banker. But many people who want to be their own boss would prefer to do so within the comfort zone of a tried and tested business model. They don’t want to make a painful journey around the learning curve reinventing the wheel.

In franchising, someone has already done the work establishing the business, and has ironed out the wrinkles. The franchisor is now prepared to share that expertise with franchisees for a financial consideration. Basically, a franchise is a conveyor belt to faster business ownership and success.

And although like anything else in life there are pros and cons involved, the benefits of franchising outweigh the disadvantages. Obviously no business alliance should be entered into without diligent evaluation, but subject to satisfaction at the end of that process, franchising has advantages that suit ambitious individuals.


The Benefits



  • The business has already been proven to work. The franchisor and the network of busily trading franchisees are testimony to that.


  • You are fully trained in all aspects of the business, and sometimes your business partner and/or key staff receive training too.


  • The brand is established. People recognise it. It’s embedded.


  • There is an operating system that can be learned and then implemented, either to the letter or with a degree of flexibility.

  • The franchisor helps to find a good location that will deliver traffic if that’s what is needed (e.g. for retail or food outlets) or that will be cost efficient if visibility is not paramount (e.g. for cleaning or home improvement businesses).

  • Marketing tools and ad campaigns are provided both nationally for the brand and locally for individual branches. The majority of franchisors also help franchisees make a major local impact with a publicised launch of the business.

  • Franchisees receive ongoing support from good franchisors, delivered via phone, a company intranet, newsletters, regular visits by a representative from the corporate office, regional meetings and annual conventions.

  • Centralised purchasing is a feature of many franchises where the franchisee benefits from discounted pricing on goods for a retail store or ingredients for a restaurant and other supplies.

  • There are many different types of franchise opportunities available, with various investment commitment levels that can range from minimal to more substantial. For those not ready to leave their 'day jobs', there are plenty of offerings that require only a part-time commitment that grows gradually. Ambitious entrepreneurs, who want to totally commit themselves to owning a business, have a vast range of choices. http://nybagelcafe.com/franchising/

Intro to NY Bagel Cafe and Deli


Monday, December 16, 2013

The Reason NY Bagels are the Best

Is it the Water or the Process

If you've ever had New York Bagels, you know that they have a shiny, chewy, golden crust and a dense and chewy interior. And if you’ve ever lived in New York, you know it is almost impossible to eat what other people consider to be “bagels,” which are lightweight, fluffy, white, flavorless bread rolls with a “mass production” look about them.

Basket of Bagels

The reason? New York bagels are boiled before being baked, while “other” bagels are steamed. Boiling them gives them the dense, chewy texture and crust. But steaming bagels is easier and cheaper. Bagels need to be proofed for at least 12 hours at a low temperature- so they sit in the refrigerator on trays. If they need to be boiled afterwards, it requires removing them from their trays and putting them back afterwards for the baking process. Steaming occurs while the bagels are still on the trays during the baking process, and so a lot less effort is required. Which also means less employees, less time, and less cost. But unless the bagels are boiled, they are essentially just rolls with holes.



Bagels Fresh Out of The Oven

Sunday, December 15, 2013

NY Bagel Cafe Gives a Taste of the Seasons

New Flavors Added to Menu for Limited Time


New York Bagel Café & Deli has added some new flavors to their menu that exemplify this time of year. These seasonal items added feature flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices customers enjoy this time of year. The offerings include a Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese, Green Mountain’s Pumpkin Spiced Coffee, Pumpkin Spiced Cappuccino and Eggnog Cappuccino (where available). The menu items will be available for a limited time.
“The Fall and upcoming holiday season are a time for people to come together. The warm flavors of nutmeg and other seasonal spices not only go well with our menu, but they also bring out the feelings of camaraderie and family observances,” says Eric Lugo, Operations Director for New York Bagel Café & Deli. “At NY Bagel, we take pride in meeting the wants and needs of our customers. We hope they enjoy and savor our contributions.”
Customers can enjoy any bagel topped with NY Bagel Cafe’s Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese that is made with real pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon and brown sugar. The Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese, just like all of NY Bagel’s flavored cream cheeses, is made on premises to ensure that it is always fresh. The use of real pumpkin is essential to the flavor profile that is just right for fall days.
For coffee lovers, NY Bagel Cafe offers the hugely popular Green Mountain’s Pumpkin Spiced Coffee that is available while supplies last. The sweet, creamy flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg make this coffee perfect for the fall’s crisper days and cooler nights. Once gone, locations will transition to either Green Mountain’s Spicy Eggnog or Gingerbread coffee. The Spicy Eggnog coffee features rich cinnamon and nutmeg giving the warm flavors of the holiday season while the Gingerbread coffee gives the flavors and aroma of fresh baked gingerbread. Seasonal cappuccino and latte flavors will include Pumpkin Spice and Eggnog. Both are available hot or iced and topped with cinnamon.