Latest / The Weekly Run / I Hate This Episode | #29
Transcript
- Jeff Perera: Welcome to the weekly run. I'm Jeff and I'm alone. I have no co-hosts this week. This is my first solo episode of the weekly run, and I'm a little nervous. Not gonna lie. It kind of feels like the first time I fed bagels to people. I didn't know what they were gonna think and how they were gonna respond. feels like that. But today's episode might be a little bit shorter. We're gonna get through it. I've got some thoughts for you today, and we're gonna talk about what's hot at the bagel run. And right now, Lox spread is hot. This is a new spread that we introduced just on Monday, and it is already flying off the counter. It is so good. So what's a lox spread, you wonder? Well, we partnered with our friends at Acme Smoke Fish, and we created a delicious, delicious spread for you. This is chopped lox. A little bit of chive and pepper in a cream cheese. We whipped it all together, and now you can just spread it right onto your bagel. So if you've been a fan of our locks in a box or like a set of locks with cream cheese, or maybe you didn't even know we have that, well, now we're gonna put it right in front of you, and and hopefully you give it a try. where do locks and bagels come together? I mean, Jewish delis really popularized the idea of smoked salmon with cream cheese together. And you don't think fish and cheese go together, but they work really nicely. And this happened a long time ago, long before I even thought about making bagels. I've been eating smoked salmon with my bagels for for forever. And the spread evolved as a more portable, easier to execute on variation of this. And it really became popular in East Coast bagel shops. And so we got a lot of requests for it because a lot of our guests, you know, come from the Northeast and are like, where's your locks spread? Where's your locks spread? I want you should have a lock spread. And so we listened and we made it. And it's really yummy. I mean it is absolutely delicious. So I think you should try it. It's a product that's got history. It's something that you asked for. And look, I think it's very good. So I think you should give it try. If you like it, you gotta let me know. Should we keep it on the menu? Should we just leave it as an LTO? I need to know what you think because it's it's been a hot topic recently at the Bagel run. Speaking of hot topics, the weather is hot. I mean It is hot everywhere. We've got a heat wave across the country. it's like even Europe is hot. Everywhere is hot right now. You cannot escape the heat. And you cannot escape the heat in our kitchens. I mean, it is hot everywhere. And sometimes the only reprieve is that afternoon thunderstorm, which then everything gets soaked and the humidity sucks in and it's awful. If you're in the southeast, you know what talking about. But like, man, it's been hot. And when it's hot outside, it's hot inside. And you've probably been in a shop recently and thought, wow, it's hot in here. I'm sorry. We're doing our best. Cooling these buildings down is not easy. We're working really hard to make sure the shops are comfortable for you when you come in. Our teams are sweating it out. Like bakers, baristas, they're in there doing it with the hot ovens cranking all day. And if you've never worked in a hot kitchen, it's so hard to explain. What that feels like. There's just something different about every time that oven opens and that like 400 plus degree heat pours out. It's it's worth it because the bagels are so good. Fresh baked, delicious, but it creates heat, and we do our best to combat it. Thanks for bearing with us. The summer is almost over. Pumpkin season is really close, and I know that everybody is is ready for a little cooler weather, but fresh baked bagels are worth it. So thanks for bearing with us on the heat. Thanks to our bakers and our baristas and all of our teammates who are in there sweating it out during these summer months to get fresh baked bagels to you. I've been traveling a lot this summer, been on the road, and I'm on the road right now, and that's one of the reasons why we couldn't coordinate schedules and get Aaron on the pod or another guest, because I'm out here in LA, had a chance to go on the Dave Chang show and sit with him and eat food and talk about bagels and talk about summertime favorites and all sorts of crazy conversation, but it was super fun. But while I've been here, I've had a chance to explore the LA bagel scene. I mean, it's been blowing up the last few years, and I can see why. You know, people are doing some really cool stuff. You've got people with like wood-fired bagels, you've got sourdough bagels, you've got people testing these like crazy high hydration bagels, and you know, it's influencing from everywhere, like Montreal style, New York style. You've got really like different things happening in the bagel space. And it feels very LA. It feels very Californian to do something different. And maybe that's just because I'm an East Coaster. But it's been fun. It's been fun to explore some different flavors. It's been fun to taste a lot of matcha out here. But the thing that I believe to be true is that There's not just one right way to do a bagel. Well, no, I take that back. The only right way to do a bagel is to scratch make it. Like if you're scratch making your bagels and baking them fresh, they're gonna be better than any other bagel that you come across. I believe that because I've had some biggest that aren't scratch made. I've had some biggest that aren't fresh here. And that's not to knock those establishments because they're doing other things. They're making sandwiches. They're, I don't know, they're open all day. They're like a daytime cafe. And so things are different, and that's okay. I think different doesn't mean bad, but great comes from being scratch made. Great comes from being fresh baked. And I miss that. I miss a scratch made fresh baked bagel. I can't wait to get back home to Orlando and have a Jeff's bagel run bagel. This week we are opening our 39th store. So I fly home and I'm going to immediately turn around and go to Gainesville for grand opening. So if you're in the area, Gainesville, Florida is opening this week. Number 39. Number 40 is right around the corner. We have probably another 12 stores opening this year. It has been an exciting time at the Bagel Run and thanks for listening. You know, I mean this is a crazy episode. bake fresh, bring joy, build community. And we'll see you again soon. Bye.