Enter the ring: the search for the perfect bagel

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This is a story about love, obsession, and ring-shaped buns. Dan Martensen is a fashion and portrait photographer who shoots for publications such as ID and Fashionand brands such as Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. Martensen is also a New Yorker (he grew up in Westchester). In 2019, after almost 10 years in Brooklyn, he moved with his then-pregnant wife and his three-year-old daughter to northwest London. They had a child. Then the pandemic arrived. With work on hold and feeling homesick, he became obsessed with a “soul food” that had always meant home: New York-style bagels.

Martensen would like to make it clear that he loves East End-style bagels, which can be found at London stalwarts like Beigel Bake and Beigel Shop on Brick Lane. But those are “something completely different” from the bagels she craved. East End bagels tend to be plain. New York bagels come with classic toppings like poppy seeds, sesame, onion, garlic, and “everything” (i.e., all of the above). NY bagels are also crunchier, maltier, and come with schmears (flavored cream cheeses) instead of salty meat or sandwich fillings. They also tend to be chewier, although that’s a matter of debate.

Ask Martensen why New York bagels mean so much to him and he’ll answer, “Why does tea mean so much to the British? “It’s like the ticking of a clock.” Bagels are an essential marker of his day in New York. Or at least every other day and especially on Sundays, when brunch calls for it. “We would get a dozen bagels, a bunch of schmears, make tuna salad and egg salad and have a big feast with family or friends,” he says. “Every New Yorker has their favorite bagel shop in the neighborhood, and a few others, too.” Its includes Ess-A-Bagel in Midtown (with branches elsewhere) and Olde Brooklyn Bagel Shop in Prospect Heights. He also qualifies Russ and daughters and Barney Greengrass for its schmears and smoked fish.

He became obsessed with a ‘soul food’ that had always meant home.

Based in London, Martensen searched Google Maps for bagel shops and cycled around the city in search of the perfect specimen. She even joined a WhatsApp group in her zip code to take advantage of the weekly bagel delivery. The results were insufficient, with the notable exception of those of Papo’s Bagels in Dalston, launched by a husband and wife team from New York. But Dalston was too far away to become a regular haunt. So Martensen decided to make his own. “I wasn’t looking to get into the bagel business,” she says of those early efforts. “I’m a fan. “I like figuring out how to do things.” It wasn’t until his friend Chris Ammermann, co-owner of Caravan restaurants, connected him with his head baker, Jack Ponting, that the pair cracked the recipe and produced bagels with a crispy exterior and a deep, savory chew that Martensen could get behind. proud. He sent her a message to her WhatsApp group. In one day he received 250 orders. Things grew from there.

By 2022, the couple had debuted. “It’s Bagels” on Caravan Roastery, launched a successful delivery service on Slerp and gained endorsements from Alexa Chung, Laura Jackson and Daisy Lowe. Theirs was one of a growing number of New York-style bagel shops opening across the UK, including Bross Bagels in Edinburgh and King Baby Bagels in Newcastle. This month, Martensen opened the first physical store They are muffins store in Primrose Hill. Customers can expect the classic variety of bagels, a varied selection of schmears (including Martensen’s favorite, jalapeño cream cheese), smoked fish, deli salads, and hot and cold beverages.

In a way, this last chapter is the realization of a long-cherished dream. “I always wanted to open a restaurant,” Martensen says. “I have worked in kitchens since I was 14 years old. I love chefs. In many ways, the madness, heat and bustle of a kitchen is similar to the world of photography.” In other ways, it’s been a pretty crazy ride. “There’s no logical progression from a photographer to becoming a bagel baker,” Martensen says. And the world of bagels and haute couture? “Totally different. Bagels are high in carbohydrates.”

And yet: “I hope this is one of these great life lessons for me,” he says. “I like to think it’s all bagels. I did this because I loved the idea. I didn’t put pressure on myself. I just did what was in front of me, had fun, and because it was something “as dumb as a muffin”, I never felt that [work].”

Bagels have begun to infiltrate his studio practice. “I did a photo shoot with Julianne Moore and I thought…” her voice drops to a whisper, like she’s selling marijuana: “’Do you like bagels?’” As for celebrity endorsements, “iconic Jewish actor” Eugene Levy would be his. ideal. Or Larry David. Or Jeff Goldblum. “I was recently on a plane with Jeff Goldblum coming back from Milan,” he says. “I had just done the Prada show. Too bad he didn’t have bagels on him. “That’s what I need to do now: have bagels with me at all times.”

@ajesh34