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Locally produced, top quality bagels have seen quite the renaissance over the years since 2007, when Kettleman (RIP) and Kenny & Zuke's both opened in Portland, and competition among purveyors has been fierce. (Disclosure: Michael C. Zusman helped develop the bagel recipe at Kenny and Zuke's)
One of the combatants, Bowery Bagels, is about to up the ante. Bowery owner Michael Madigan confirmed that his company just signed a five-year lease on a 5,000-square-foot former warehouse space at 8534 N. Interstate Pl. in the Kenton neighborhood that will house Bowery's entire all-kosher baked goods production. Bowery's kitchen had originally been housed at Madigan's KitchenCru commissary space in the Pearl, before moving into a 1,200-square-foot production facility next to its Old Town location.
Starting in 2016, capacity will increase fivefold to 500,000 bagels per month. This will include not only fresh bagels, but also a parbaked, frozen variation to be sold regionally and a fully-baked, packaged line branded under the name "Old Town." This means that multiple packaged versions of Bowery Bagels will be available in local supermarkets. The fully-baked bagels have been available in some select stores as of August 2014.
In addition to bagels, Madigan says the new space will afford flexibility for Bowery to produce plentiful quantities of other kosher-baked goods, such as the hamantaschen cookies popular during Purim celebrations.
Eventually, Madigan plans to retail Bowery's goods directly from the warehouse space to Kenton neighbors. Other retail outlets are also in his sights, while Bowery's current Old Town production space will be freed up for other uses.
WWeek 2015