Posted on: 13th May 2010

There were a few bumps in the road after our first bake this morning. We do very little wholesale. I would say we are at 1/4 capacity as far as volume of bagels we are capable of producing from this oven, etc. without ripping the equipment apart. Santo’s came in at 1:00 AM and turned the equipment on. That means, lighting the fire in the oven, lighting the flame for the kettle, and switching the other machinery on. It takes a good 30, really more like 40 minutes to get the water in the kettle boiling. The process begins. We bake. Georgetown Bagelry is a wonderful place to be between 2 and 5AM. It’s quiet. We shuffle around preparing…..pulling the racks of bagels out of the walk-in refrigerator, brewing our first cup of coffee or tea, thinking, and smelling the bagels as they begin to bake. There is nothing in the world like the smell and taste of the very first bake coming out of the oven.

We warm up as the shop and bagels warm up. 4:40/5AM we load the delivery vehicles and the first bake hits the streets. The rest of the day we do “mini” bakes. We bake just enough to keep the retail baskets fresh and full on an ongoing basis until closing at 10PM. We gauge the bake carefully. The amount we bake depends on how many customers come through the door, the internet, or the phone. Yes, it’s a study in balance and it’s also why we make “artisan” bagels which take hands, head, and heart. I cannot say this enough because often things we “know” we forget. The fact that we make artisan bagels is very important and warrants repetition because we need to remember and it’s the core of who we are.

6:30 AM and it’s time to deliver to Washington Hebrew for Rabbi Lustig’s meeting. The available driver does not want to leave production to make the delivery! He refuses. Imagine. First, Rabbi Lustig is one of my hero’s. He married Jonathan and I when no one else would because my heritage is not Judaism, not to mention that he is a brilliant, intensely practical, and spiritual man and he leads an amazing congregation. Badu had customers out the door at the time so he called me. I said, “Put him on the phone.” This is our driver/baker I’m talking about.  Well, he hit the road immediately.

I have to laugh because this will not be an issue once our Bagelmobile arrives this Friday. It is the cutest delivery vehicle yet. It’s a Nissan Cube that Jimmy Gordon from Herb Gordon Nissan helped me get. It will be the first of many:) The guys are dying to drive it (see photo). Glenn Goehrung, graphic designer and VP of Signs By Tomorrow was very patient with me while we created the appropriate look for GTBagel. I HAD to have OUR bagels on the Cube, not to mention a bunch of other things.

Tags: bagel mobile, bagels, deliveries, fresh bagels, wholesale bagels