Second Schmears: Revisiting Bloom Bistro
Time to return to Georgetown where things evolve but they don't change.
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Between 1904 and 1910, the neighborhood of Georgetown was its own city.
While there were no bagel shops back then (it’s safe to assume), it was home to the Seattle Brewing and Malting Company, then the world's sixth-largest brewery. So central was booze to the city that brewery superintendent John Mueller became its first (and only) mayor.
Thanks to an abundance of breweries and saloons, not to mention The Meadows Racetrack, Georgetown quickly gained a reputation as a place Seattlites could go for a good time. Not everyone saw it that way. Seattle City Councilman Max Wardall was noted in newspapers for referring to Georgetown as "the cesspool for the vice of Seattle.”
Eventually, Georgetown found itself surrounded on all sides by an encroaching Seattle. That, coupled with mounting city debts, caused residents to finally agree to annexation in 1910, joining other recently annexed municipalities such as Ballard, Columbia, South Park, Southeast Seattle, and West Seattle.
In the years since, Georgetown has remained defiant and independent in many ways. As a popular bumper sticker once told me, it’s “the neighborhood Fremont wishes it could be.” Even now, you can’t miss the brick buildings and industrial architecture that still populate the main drag. The seedy saloons and pool halls are now trendy restaurants, vintage shops, and dive bars.
Georgetown evolves but it never changes.
Plenty of buildings from the neighborhood’s bygone era remain. That includes the old Carleton Ave Grocery building at 6601 Carleton Ave S. While it was still open, the market at the corner of Carleton and Warsaw was the oldest grocery store in Seattle, operating since 1911. It closed in 2017, leaving the neighborhood with one less food option. For a while, it became the home of cake bakery Deep Sea Sugar and Salt but they moved out last year.
Enter Bloom Bistro & Grocery. After Marisa Figueroa’s Bean’s Bagels pop-up took off, she and wife/co-owner Miranda parlayed that success in Bloom Bistro, which opened in the old Carleton Ave Grocery earlier this year. Along with bagels and coffee, it also includes a pantry section with various grocery items, returning the space to its neighborhood market roots.
Georgetown evolves but it never changes.
Let’s return to Bloom Bistro to see how things are going several months into operations, and give those bagels another go while we’re at it.
And if you want to know how I define a good bagel, you can find that here.
WHAT I ORDERED
Plain bagel as-is ($3)
Everything bagel with chive and herb cream cheese ($5)
As with all previous Second Schmear reviews, we keep things relatively simple this time. I’ll compare this visit to the first trip to determine what might have changed.
First off, I just want to shout out the handwritten menu board above the counter when you walk inside. It’s so delightfully lo-fi and charming. It fits Bloom Bistro so perfectly. I hope they never upgrade to a fancy schmancy menu display.
We begin with the plain bagel, which was an ideal size, featuring a medium center and oblong shape. The coloring on top was mostly golden brown with a lighter brown on one side. The exterior was extremely blistery and offered a lot of crinkles and crackles when touched. I could tell that it had a very light and airy interior, which matched the initial review.
The bottom of the bagel was firm but easily pressed inward. There was no Cornmeal Ring of Doom (CRoD) present. Again, all of this matched the initial review.
The bagel offered a soft but crispy rip and there was a nice bagel-y smell from the interior. The inside was extremely fluffy and the bite was very chewy in a good way. There was a slight rebound after the bite and wisps of crunchiness in different spots. The bigger side offered an ideal exterior-to-interior ratio, creating an enjoyable bite. Just as last time, the bagel was mostly soft, though it did feature some texture points. An overall pleasant eating experience.
The everything bagel with chive and herb cream cheese came wrapped up but not cut in half. Again, the bagel was a great size, featured a medium center and a slightly oblong shape. The coloring on top was golden brown on one side and light brown on the other. There was a very strong seed hand at work here and it looked like a good mix of all ingredients. The top was crinkly to the touch, though mostly due to the seasoning. All of this seemed to match the initial review.
The bottom of the everything bagel was firm to the touch but the airiness of the interior was evident. There was no CRoD and no everything seasoning.
On the bite, the chive and herb flavor of the cream cheese came through. The schmear was soft and a little oozy so I did have some spillage with each successive bite. I wasn’t getting much of the everything flavor, which may have been due to a lack of salt or the overpowering flavor of the cream cheese. Because the bagel had been warmed, when coupled with soft schmear, the moisture in the middle meant there was no rebound after each bite.
I have a feeling the bagel was slightly underbaked. At one point I took some leftover plain bagel and dipped it into the errant cream cheese. I ended up enjoying that combo a bit more and I think it’s because that bagel had a little more firmness to it.
I noted that I was pining for more everything flavor in my initial review as well. I also found that everything bagel to have a bit more heft to it.
WHAT I SAID LAST TIME
“If you like a doughy bagel, this might be the best in Seattle. It’s very sturdy and chewy and seems tailor-made for schmear and sandwich applications. I might pick some nits with the lack of texture and crunch but I also don’t think they’re going for that. The dabs of salt on all bagels make a big flavor difference and I found both bagels to be very enjoyable to eat.”
WHAT I THOUGHT THIS TIME
While the everything bagel didn’t hit the same high marks, I still really enjoyed the experience overall. Again, if you like a soft, chewy bagel, you might not find a better one in town. They change up their bagel and schmear flavors often, so if you go and don’t love something, chances are you’ll be able to try a different flavor next time. I also really love the seed hand here. It’s intense in the best way.
As a side note, my producer got an egg and cheese on a sesame bagel and thoroughly enjoyed it. I can see how the soft doughiness does well with sturdier sandwich toppings.
In the end, Bloom Bistro maintains its spot in the top ten. There’s certainly potential to move up a couple of spots down the road. For now, I think they’ve got a solid bagel identity and if I lived closer to Georgetown I would definitely come here more often.
MY SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS SO FAR (8/13/24)
Hey Bagel - 1st visit
Bloom Bistro (Georgetown) - 1st visit
Toasted (U District) - 1st visit
Loxsmith Bagels (West Seattle) - 1st visit
Rubinstein Bagels (Eastlake) - 1st visit
Rachel's Bagels & Burritos (Ballard) - 1st visit, 2nd visit, 3rd visit
Macrina Bakery (Capitol Hill) - 1st visit
Eltana (Wallingford) - 1st visit
Westman’s (U District) - 1st visit
Blazing Bagels (Ravenna) - 1st visit
Einstein Bros. Bagels (U Village) - 1st visit
Dingfelder’s (Capitol Hill) - 1st visit
Kelly’s Cannoli (Magnolia) - 1st visit
Bagelbop (Pike Place Market) - 1st visit
OUTSIDE SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS (6/17/24)
The Bagelry (Bellingham)
Howdy Bagel (Tacoma)
The Cottage Bakery (Edmonds)
Shawn’s Cafe & Bakery (Mercer Island)
Coquette Bake Shop (Bainbridge Island)
Caffe Vino Olio (Vashon Island)
Rubinstein Bagels (Redmond)
Good Bagels Cafe (Anacortes)
Mustard Seed Baking Co. (Stanwood)
San Francisco Street Bakery (Olympia)
Blazing Bagels (Redmond)
Otherside Bagel Co. (Bellingham)
Whidbey Island Bagel Factory (Mt. Vernon)
Woodinville Bagel Bakery (Woodinville)
Big Apple Bagels (Bellevue)
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I'm eating the pastrami sandwich right now. Well, not the pastrami part. It's so tough it's not edible. Very disappointed.
That first pic of the plain gave me a quick rush of Little Market (RIP) - I'm guessing not as crispy/crunchy though? Gorgeous looking thing.