Aaron's Bagels: From pandemic hobby to bona fide bagel business
“I think there's a lot of value in being, like, we make bagels. We make cream cheese. That's what we do. We do it well.”
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When I imagined all of the magical places that my bagel newsletter might take me, standing under a train overpass on Marginal Way in Tukwila at 6:30 in the morning was not among them.
I’m groggily standing in front of a nondescript warehouse-style building that’s home to Artisan Community Kitchen. Given the early hour, the parking lot is fairly empty and the only sounds come from passing cars and the hum of morning traffic from nearby I-5.
It may not seem like it, but I’m about to learn that this is exactly the kind of magical place my bagel newsletter was always going to take me.
I’m greeted at the front door by Aaron Emas, who seems way too refreshed and happy this early in the day, especially considering I know he’s already been hard at work for an hour before I got there. He leads me inside the 7,900 square-foot communal industrial kitchen and we pass by stations that are currently home to all kinds of small food businesses, pop-ups, and farmer’s market stands. Soon enough, we arrive at the station where Emas will cut, mold, and eventually bake the latest batch of Aaron’s Bagels.
Today’s bake will turn one 50-pound bag of flour into around 240 bagels and I’ve been invited to see how that process happens.
Things have moved pretty quickly for Emas since discovering his passion for making bagels during the pandemic. Like so many others during that time, that process began with sourdough bread.
“It's kind of a COVID thing where everyone got a hobby. I don't know if it's like getting houseplants or making sourdough. I chose to bake bread,” said Emas. “So I was baking sourdough, and they were pretty good. They weren't the best ever, but fresh bread, how can you beat that?
“Then one day I saw this recipe. I forget where I saw it. Maybe it was the New York Times. It was for bagels. ‘Oh, that'd be awesome. I grew up Jewish. Love bagels. My grandparents bring back bagels from LA. That sounds awesome.’ And so I did it, and it came out amazing. First try. Alright, that's pretty cool. Let's try to make them a little better.
“Second try, and probably through No. 15, absolutely terrible.”
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