{"id":24249,"date":"2017-05-12T03:56:47","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T10:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=24249"},"modified":"2017-05-09T14:20:17","modified_gmt":"2017-05-09T21:20:17","slug":"halifax-owns-bagel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2017\/05\/12\/halifax-owns-bagel\/","title":{"rendered":"Halifax \u201cowns\u201d bagel"},"content":{"rendered":"

East Coast Bakery opened in Halifax on May 14 last year. (photo by Alex Rose)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Gerry Lonergan wants to put Halifax on the bagel map. \u201cWhy do Montreal and New York own bagels?\u201d he asked. \u201cTwo cities shouldn\u2019t own bagels. Why can\u2019t Halifax own them?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lonergan\u2019s East Coast Bakery celebrates its one-year anniversary May 14. Since he opened last year, he\u2019s been churning out quality bagels. The bakery came in third in a local newspaper\u2019s poll for best new business after being open for only 45 days \u2013 and the voting had started two weeks before the store\u2019s first day.<\/p>\n

Although Lonergan is from Montreal, he is adamant that his bagels are their own style, which he calls East Coast. There are a few things that set them apart.<\/p>\n

The first is sourdough: Lonergan is the only baker he knows who uses it for his bagels. The second is that his bagels are kosher, even though Lonergan himself isn\u2019t Jewish.<\/p>\n

With a laugh, he noted that Chabad Rabbi Mendel Feldman \u201csaid if I do become Jewish I wouldn\u2019t be able to open on Saturday, so it works for everybody in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo
Gerry Lonergan (photo by Alex Rose)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

About his decision to go kosher, Lonergan explained, \u201cIf I went kosher, it was another level of auditing, of standards, of quality that I felt a lot of people would have trouble following my example, so it would give me a leg up in it from a business standpoint. But, also, I thought it was the right thing to do, it would just add that extra bit of authenticity to these bagels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Halifax Jewish community member Josh Bates helped Lonergan get started. The two met when a mutual friend told Bates he had to try Lonergan\u2019s bagels, when Lonergan was still making them from home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of becoming kosher, I also introduced him to the Chabad rabbi who kosher-izes his bagels, if that\u2019s the word,\u201d said Bates.<\/p>\n

Bates works in the mayor\u2019s office and, although he didn\u2019t help Lonergan in any official capacity, he was able to use his knowledge to help in other ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a few questions around building code, getting approvals, finding a location. I introduced him to the executive directors of a couple different business improvement districts in Halifax,\u201d explained Bates.<\/p>\n

With a background in the electronics industry, where he streamlined production processes, Lonergan knew how he wanted his bakery to function and what he would need to make it happen. The entire back of the bakery is open concept, so the customer can see as the bagels and challot are made every step of the way.<\/p>\n

It was important for Lonergan to find the perfect place to set up shop, in part because his machines need three-phase power, which wasn\u2019t available in every potential location. One of those machines turns tubes of dough into rings, which are then each individually hand-stretched before being boiled in a pot of honey-water. The machine churns out the rings at a rate of 3,600 an hour, or one a second.<\/p>\n

While living in Montreal, Lonergan visited Halifax a few years ago and knew it was the place he wanted to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came for a five-day trip and I just fell in love. I just said, \u2018Wow the people are so nice, the ocean is amazing.\u2019 I just saw lots of opportunity here, and I saw there was a need for what I wanted to do here. There was a need for artisanal bread, artisanal bagels,\u201d he said. \u201cWithin 48 hours of that trip, I said, \u2018That\u2019s it, I\u2019m moving.\u2019 I came home and put my house up for sale within about five days.\u201d<\/p>\n

In less than a year, East Coast Bakery has become something of a Halifax institution. Aside from his bagels and challot, which are based on old family recipes, Lonergan hopes to add hamantashen by next Purim. But even if he keeps the menu the same, Bates said the quality of Lonergan\u2019s baked goods should ensure the bakery\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter how good a bagel is, it\u2019s always better when it\u2019s fresh out of oven\u2026. I like a thin sweet bagel right out of the oven and, until East Coast Bakery opened, you couldn\u2019t get that in Halifax,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And the challah? \u201cBest challah I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d Bates said. \u201cWhen I go in there and buy a bag, I have hard time not finishing an entire loaf on my walk home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Rose<\/strong> is a master\u2019s student in journalism at the University of King\u2019s College in Halifax. He graduated from the same school in 2016 with a double major in creative writing and religious studies, and loves all things basketball. He wrote this article as part of an internship with the <\/em>Jewish Independent.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

East Coast Bakery opened in Halifax on May 14 last year. (photo by Alex Rose) Gerry Lonergan wants to put Halifax on the bagel map. \u201cWhy do Montreal and New York own bagels?\u201d he asked. \u201cTwo cities shouldn\u2019t own bagels. Why can\u2019t Halifax own them?\u201d Lonergan\u2019s East Coast Bakery celebrates its one-year anniversary May 14. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7053,6605,7054,7052,7055],"class_list":["post-24249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-bagels","tag-bakery","tag-gerry-lonergan","tag-halifax","tag-josh-bates"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}