It’s not just the water that makes New York bagels the gold standard.
“It’s one percent good water, 99 percent good technique and quality ingredients,” explains Mike Rabinowitz, owner of Marigold Bagels. He gets that question all the time. So, as a former chemist who worked in pharmaceuticals for 30-plus years, he decided to test the pervasive theory scientifically.
He brought back some water from New York and made two batches of bagels—one using the New York water and one using San Diego tap water. “I blind taste-tested with some food experts I know, and no one could identify the New York bagel,” he laughed. “There are a lot of good bagels you can have in this country. It’s just making them with care.”
Since launching Marigold Bagels in 2022 as a cottage food operation (what he calls Phase 1), Rabinowitz has expanded quickly, moving to a virtual kitchen (Phase 2) as demand grew. Next summer, he’ll launch Phase 3: his first brick-and-mortar bagel shop at 2850 El Cajon Boulevard, Suite C.
He says it was always the long-term plan to open his own place. “This is a passion project for me,” he says. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Long Island, Rabinowitz says bagels were a part of every major life event, from births to deaths and everything in between. He wanted to bring it to San Diego, where he’s lived since 2001, minus a brief stint in Boston. “Bagels are a part of my culture.”
He methodically tested recipes and ingredients before settling on his process, which he says is meant to be chewy on the inside, thanks to hand-rolling and high-gluten flour. “That’s one thing we add to it, and the other is a highly blistered, somewhat crispy crust. That is unusual, but those are more like the bagels I used to have as a kid,” he explains. “The product just comes out differently.”
Currently, Rabinowitz only sells his bagels and housemade cream cheese spread varieties at the Mission Valley Farmers Market on Saturdays, with pre-order pickups in Point Loma on Sundays. Since he’s pretty much a one-person operation for now, minus a business consultant-slash-social media manager, he says he’ll have to pause doing the market starting December 28 to focus on the buildout and renovation, but he’ll be back to satisfy loyal regulars as well as attract new customers.
In the meantime, he says he’s looking at different designers to help him transform the space in North Park into a brighter, airier one with more windows and a larger, open kitchen. Permits permitting, he hopes to be open next June. “I can’t commit to that,” he says half-jokingly. “[But] I’m hoping to get everything done within six months.”
When Marigold does open, he’ll start with five days a week for breakfast and lunch, with the possibility of opening seven days a week in the future. He’ll offer the same bagel and cream cheese flavors as he does now, including his best-selling everything bagels, salt bagels made with Maldon salt, and za’atar bagels. He’ll also add a full coffee and tea menu, traditional Jewish deli items like whitefish salad, cured and smoked salmon, bagel sandwiches like a classic bacon-egg-cheese, and new cream cheese spreads and other toppings.
Eventually, he hopes to implement an online ordering system for grab-and-go catering options and says he’s open to adding beer and wine for evening events. However, Rabinowitz says his method of starting small and assessing success to avoid growing too quickly has worked well, and he’s in no rush.
“It’s part of the fabric of life in New York,” he says. “I wanted to have it in a community like North Park to really integrate that type of space and that type of comfort food in the community, and have people think of it as maybe a little bit of home—especially for East Coast transplants.”
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Tour de Tapas Takes Former Papalo Space in La Mesa
The City Tacos/Papalo partnership may have ended before it even began, but the 8323 La Mesa Boulevard space wasn’t empty for long. City Tacos founder Gerry Torres opened Tour de Tapas this week with a menu focused on small plates and affordability. Almost every dish on the menu costs less than $20, and the remaining three don’t exceed $24. Dishes include pulpo a la Gallega, filet mignon, crêpes Suzette, calamari ripieni, and plenty of wine from France, Italy, and Spain.
Beth’s Bites
- The newly revamped and re-loved Hotel La Jolla has tapped a new exec chef—Ernest Lopez will oversee the whole property, including the top-floor, massive-window showpiece, Sea & Sky. Lopez has a pretty hefty pedigree: part of the opening team for the Grand Del Mar, serving as exec chef at the original Malibu Farms location (plus helping open five more locations across the state), and running the kitchen at Auberge’s Mauna Lani.
- Speaking of beverages, I would like to try one of the seasonal cocktails at George’s at the Cove, specifically the South Pole. Made with Santa Teresa coffee cask rum, cacao rum, egg white, garam masala bitters, and cinnamon, it sounds precisely like the type of winter warmer I’m into.
- There is not enough lasagna in the world, and I would like to see much more of it regularly. Tribute Pizza must have heard my plea to the universe, and they will offer their wonderfully colorful, deliciously layered lasagna this month. I literally could not be happier about this fortuitous turn of culinary events.
- Live Más this holiday season at Taco Bell’s first Live Más café, which opened at 1548 E. H Street in Chula Vista. The concept spotlights the chain’s beverages rather than food, featuring specialty coffees, agua frescas, and other one-of-a-kind drinks. Christmas came early this year.
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