Archive for May, 2024

Walker Bakeshop Sperryville, Virginia

Posted: May 26, 2024 in Uncategorized
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Well, well, well. A new bakery opened up in my neighborhood. It so happens to make … bagels.

Needless to say I was very cautious and had zero expectations. Between Culpepper, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties in Virginia there are very little to no baked goods to talk about and certainly no bagels worth writing about.

Walker Bakeshop is owned and operated by Doug and Dori Walker. It appears Doug is a southern boy yet he attended the King Arthur baking school. Great for fundamentals and one of my favorite companies so my expectations rose slightly. Dori is an award-winning baker with deep family baking traditions fermenting in her blood.

We walked in late Saturday morning. I tried to hide behind my lovely wife Bonnie while I scoped the place out to decide whether I should head for the door. Clean and cute, the display case had freshly-made pastries, from espresso crispy, whisky and rye, and oatmeal cookies, morning glory muffins, and …. a babka muffin (!!) next to chocolate rugala. Fresh baked and steaming hot loafs of bread and fresh scones completed the mix and I was intrigued enough to stay put.

I spied the bagels in the back – no steaming kettle of water but this isn’t a bagel shop, it’s a bakery. This is clearly small-batch. I mean, seriously, Doug was in the back pulling loafs and Dori had the register. Not something they need to do but clearly something they want.

So Bonnie running front asks about bagels (which I’ve already spied out) and I tried to wave her and Dori off letting them know up front that I can’t be satisfied so let’s just leave it there. I’d love a babka muffin, please.

Dori was having none of it and literally challenged me to try her bagels. Her forward leaning stance and piercing stare convinced me, after a quick glance at Doug, to accept her challenge. Gulp.

OK so I ordered one of each: Plain, poppy, everything, and sesame. To go. Dori admitted she made them last night so …. sigh, I lightly toasted it when I got home.

Nicely baked, but a little stingy on the seasonings with none on the bottom.

Sliced it open to find a nice crumb, aroma very good.

Put on a generous schmear, closed it up and sliced it in half, all as it should be.

The bagel felt light in the hand and a little soft when squeezed, indicating a lack of tension and density one could expect from a properly hand-rolled bagel.

The size of the bagel was just right, center hole almost completely closed up but discernible. The color was fine, perhaps a tad more malt syrup to the water would help.

The skin was thin with a nice crunch. I’d probably have boiled for 30 seconds more but nothing to complain about.

The taste was a nice balance of salt, yeast, diastatic malt powder and a good, high-quality flour. There was no bitterness and a very nice flavor profile, even for a bagel made last night (I’d love to taste the same bagel made in the morning after a cool rise overnight in the refrigerator).

Overall a respectable bagel made with care by a competent baker. I’ll give it a 8.2 out of 10 and I will certainly visit regularly for more! Highly recommend this place as a stopping point.

Bagels in … Texas?

Posted: May 11, 2024 in Uncategorized
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Well, landed in one of my favorite states and decided to see if any transplants here in the Dallas Fort Worth area know how to make a bagel.

First stop, Boil & Bake in Flower Mound. Eh, the sign just says “Bagels” so who knows. A competent effort with good crumb, love the chewiness, and a generous portion of lightly whipped cream cheese. Those good qualities don’t make up for the lack of character in the flavor, but overall a good bagel. The place is not one to hang out in, just a grab and go. I’ll give it a 6 out of 10.

Second stop, Starship Bagel in Lewisville. It’s what you should see when you walk into a bagel shop. A large steaming kettle of water in the back open kitchen. Stacks of flour and salt bags on the floor. A timer in the wall ticking slowly by. Onion bagel with cream cheese. Generous seasonings slightly over baked but not in a bad way. Odd open faced presentation but readily corrected. Good chew and crumb. Flavor profile elevated a bit. This is competent, well done. I’d give it a 6.5 out of 10.

Ok Uber Eats delivery from Shug’s Bagels. A highly rated and recommended shop. This is a good bagel. Nice size (not too big or small), freshly baked (still warm when they got to me) and the aroma is to die for. Garlic with plain. Nice flavor profile, good color from the malt, nice crumb and texture. I’ll give it a 7 out of 10 and call it fair. Will try 2 other places tomorrow, but for now Shug’s is the place to go in Dallas, Texas. Lenore’s is highly rated but they are a secret bagel place and I don’t have the password to get a bagel delivered to me this week – so no review of them this trip.

Bagels in …. Virginia?

Posted: May 11, 2024 in Uncategorized
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Bagel Heaven. After a few years of visiting nearly every bagel shop in Virginia, DC and Maryland, I’ve finally found a local bagel that I call good. I no longer have to have expensive deliveries from NYC.

Now bagels are a personal thing, of course. Trusted reviewers I’ve followed have led me down the primrose path to utterly awful bagels they called the best. I actually discarded 2 dozen bagels I brought home from Norfolk as complete garbage.

Some reviewers like a bagel shop because they make great bagel sandwiches. That’s not my test. The chance I give to every bagel shop is an un-toasted, freshly hand made, plain or onion bagel with cream cheese. If you want to get all fancy and stuff you can indulge in a chive cream cheese. Nothing more.

From there I want to see color, texture, chewiness, crumb, smell and, of course, taste.

So the winner is …. Bethesda Bagels. This family-owned local business has been in our area for the past 40 years yet until this week I haven’t visited any of their now 5 locations since I arrived in this area in 1995.

Following my usual practice, I dropped in mid morning at the convenient Arlington location. I ordered a plain bagel with cream cheese and I sat on the stool by the window and carefully unwrapped my prize. It was very good. I have had a better bagel from various great spots in Connecticut, New York, and Jersey, but not by much. This as good as it gets in our area and I’m so thankful I can finally end my search for a good local bagel shop.

So, I ordered a dozen to go from the very friendly staff there. Cost me about $2 each, well worth every penny. Got those babies home and prepared most for the freezer only to see that they gave me a few extra bagels on top of the dozen I paid for. I can’t wait to make the trip to Arlington again as soon as this batch runs low and the passenger seat is available for my friends of course.

BTW, the Virginia-based runner up is Bodo’s Bagels in Charlottesville. The place is extremely popular for a good reason and the cool family-friendly vibe helps their bagel taste better somehow. I’d probably add a bit more malt syrup as well as some diastatic malt powder, hand roll them a little larger with an overnight cool rise to make them better but I think their huge popularity probably forces them to skip some of those steps and costs. But you should give them a try.