Mensch Bagels is a small, community-minded bagel enterprise with big plans. We’re stoked to have them delivered to DG fresh daily.
Sometimes when the universe closes a door, it opens a bagel shaped window. When a round of 2020 covid-19 redundancies saw Mike Samaha leave his job in consulting, he decided to keep a promise he’d made to himself a few years before.
It happened in New York, the moment he sampled a gravlax-with-scallion-cream-cheese-and-tomato-on-a-poppy-seed bagel from Manhattan institution Russ & Daughters. “The flavour was something else; I loved it,” says Mike. “I couldn't understand why it was so difficult to find a good bagel in Sydney. On that trip, I made a promise to myself that one day I would open a bagel store in Sydney.”
Returning home, weekends were filled with bagel making (and eating) as Mike perfected his craft. Mensch Bagels is the epic result of all that practice, plus a little covid push. Mike’s bagels rival the texture, flavour and innovation their NYC cousins, and we’re stoked to have them delivered fresh to DG Monday through Saturday.
“Our bagels are handmade and baked fresh each day,” says Mike. “Nearly all our fillings are made in-house, and we're always thinking of new flavours and offerings. We're really excited about working with Darlo General and we're honoured to have our food available in such a beautiful store.” The feeling is mutual, Mike!
Mike’s flavour du jour? His gravlax with house cured ocean trout, scallion cream cheese, capers, tomato and red onion. “I've grown up eating my mother's gravlax on Christmas Day; it always evokes really wonderful memories of times spent with my family and my first taste of a bagel. The flavour is fresh, salty, sweet and creamy. I never tire of it.”
This small, community-focused bagel enterprise has big plans. “We want to establish a genuinely carbon negative and zero waste end-to-end supply chain,” says Mike. “It's an ambitious goal and we've given ourselves 10 years to chip away at it.
But ultimately, Mike is putting flavour first. “We know that we are first and foremost a bagelry, and we're always seeking to improve the quality and experience of our product.” If you’re ready for the Mensch experience, come get amongst these incredible bagels in store today.