There’s a new bagel option in Portland – at least sometimes. It’s a Bagel Brunch pop-up by Sean Coyne called Bagel Farm that offers bagels to dine in at a pop up locations on Saturdays (Elder Hall) or Sundays (right now Renata). The bagels are organic, use Pacific Northwest flour, and have a great crispness to the outside but doughy inside that is a perfect combo.
I happened to stop by the Renata pop-up at the beginning of the month when they first appeared at the wonderful space that is Renata. The next pop up is this weekend and next weekend, August 20, 21, 27, and 28.
The bagel choices include
- Plain
- Poppy
- Sesame (this is my personal favorite)
- Salt
- Everything (my #2)
Meanwhile, the schmears are particularly fun, including besides having your bagel plain, or with butter, the spreads of
- Plain cream cheese
- Leek, scallion chive cream cheese
- Horseradish cream cheese
- Country ham cream cheese (here on an Everything bagel)
- Hummus (vegan)
- Walnut spread (vegan)
You can also additionally add cucumbers, capers, onions, or a tomato to enhance your sandwich. Or, they also offer open faced bagel sandwiches, which they called “Bagels Composed”, that include
- Salmon Deluxe: choice of bagel, horseradish cream cheese, salted cucumbers, capers, onions. I was a big fan of the horseradish cream cheese.
- Hammy Time: choice of bagel, country ham cream cheese, fennel slaw, radish
- Hummus Among Us: choice of bagel, hummus, salted cucumber, radish, paprika, olive oil, lemon
- Vegan “Lox”: choice of bagel, walnut spread, carrot “lox”, capers, red onions, salted cucumbers. This was my favorite especially on the sesame bagel.
- Israeli Salad: choice of bagel topped with Israeli salad of tomatoes and cucumbers
Because I was at Renata, I was happy to treat myself to a well earned after the gym cocktail – and I wanted to make sure I got my fruit into my brunch too. This cocktail is called the Buon Giorno Princepessa with white peach – blueberry mint sorbetto and prosecco. It takes a little care and love to create, but it’s worth the wait – I could have drank these all morning.
What’s your favorite type of bagel, and what do you top with your bagel in terms of schmear?
