SALT LAKE CITY — There are some great foods Utah is known for - funeral potatoes, cookies, Jello, some even say donuts, but bagels are not usually one of them. One local business hopes to change that.
In a city that many bagel lovers see as a bagel desert, Baby's Bagels is being called a new oasis.
"When he found Baby's that was it," said Amande LeFranc.
Amanda's husband, Jesse, was on a tour to find Salt Lake City's best bagel trying his favorite combination of black coffee and an everything bagel with cream cheese at every bagel shop he could find. Baby's is his new go-to stop for a fresh, hot bagel.
"It's always fun to go somewhere and find a bagel that has a good outside texture, has a good sort of bit on the inside," Jesse said. "I'm very much like you don't need to toast a very good bagel because it's already going to be fresh and soft."
Koby Elias is the Chief Bagel Slinger at Baby's Bagels and says they have a special process to create a bagel that's soft on the inside, but crunchy on the outside.
"We make the bagels over a course of three days, we make what's called a polish which is a mixture of yeast flour and water, salt to the dough, knead it then we shake the bagels and let those proof overnight again before we boil and bake them fresh every morning," Elias said.
Elias is from the Northeast so he knows a thing or two about a good bagel.
"We grew up eating bagels, having our grandpa bring them over on Sunday mornings so it was part of my childhood," Elias reflected.
In just over a year, Elias, with the help of his brother and their friend, has grown Baby's from a weekend pop-up to a brick-and-mortar on 500 South.
"Our customers have also been incredible they've supported us from having to pick up bagels in a strip mall parking lot in Salt Lake City all the way through here," Elias said.
As all three continue to change Utah's bagel desert into an oasis, they're excited to serve a little bit of the East Coast out west to regulars and newcomers alike.
"It's been a little bit of chaos in figuring it out, but I think that's both the challenge and the fun part of entrepreneurship and starting a small business," Elias said.
Baby's Bagels is open Thursday-Saturday 8 a.m. to noon.
