91原创

First, the bakers and kitchen managers arrive at 3 a.m. every day to heat the ovens and prepare the dough, using a precise amount of flour, water, yeast, sugar and salt. After being shaped into rings, the bagels are dunked in a vat of hot water 鈥渢o give (them) some crust and a bit of shine,鈥� co-owner David Fisher said, before they鈥檙e slid into one of three ovens for no longer than 20 minutes.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a delicate process,鈥� he added, as the toasty smell of baked bread filled the kitchen, 鈥渁nd it鈥檚 a juggling act, too, because our staff need to move the pans around to ensure we always keep having bagels in there, but not too long.鈥�

Eyeing a plain bagel cooling on a rack, he said, 鈥淥h yeah, this will be a great one. It hasn鈥檛 flattened too much. It鈥檚 got some structure.鈥� Gryfe鈥檚 bagels, he added, top out at three-and-a-half ounces each compared to, say, New York versions that may be denser and larger at seven ounces. It鈥檚 a far cry from how the New York Times described a bagel聽in 1960: 鈥渁n unsweetened doughnut with rigor mortis.鈥�

Fisher and another David, Granovsky, who have known each other for more than two decades, bought the shop from the Gryfe family in 2022, and they are determined to hold true to the tradition聽鈥斅爏ave for a few tweaks.

In 2023 they renovated the space, a聽move they credit for a moderate bump in sales. 鈥淲ord got around that we redid the floors, walls, the counters 鈥� something that hadn鈥檛 been done in ages,鈥� Fisher said, 鈥渁nd we saw more walk-in customers in the past year.鈥�

Gryfe鈥檚 Bagels and Baked Goods has been in business, under one name or another, for nearly 110 years. And yet it might surprise even the shop鈥檚 most zealous fans聽that its signature product came to be as a result of a simple question lobbed at the shop鈥檚 owners in the 1960s.

Art Gryfe 鈥� the son of founder Sam 鈥� and his wife Ruth were in the then-named S. Gryfe & Sons Bakery聽when a customer asked if they could drum up a dozen bagels. Though they had no experience making them, they tried and succeeded.聽

Today, Gryfe鈥檚 bagels, lighter and fluffier than the Montreal version so聽popular in 91原创, can be found on dining tables, on grocery shelves, in kids鈥� lunch boxes, and even on an Adam Sandler movie set.聽

Sam Gryfe had moved his bakery from Hamilton to Kensington Market in 1925. The Gryfes then relocated to Bathurst, south of Wilson Avenue, in 1957. They, like the nearby United Bakers Dairy Restaurant, at Bathurst and Lawrence, which also got its start in Kensington Market, were part of a shift in 91原创鈥檚 Jewish communities migrating to the area.

In 1980, Gryfe鈥檚 relocated a few blocks south to its current shop at 3421 Bathurst, and Moishe, Sam鈥檚 grandson, took over the baking from his father Art in the mid-鈥�90s, while his wife Michele managed the bookkeeping.聽

At the back of the store, on a stretch of Bathurst best known for Filipino bakeries and kosher restaurants, Fisher elaborated on building the perfect bagel.

Gryfe鈥檚 bakes up to 18,000 bagels, in numerous varieties, daily at the Bathurst shop and at its Concord facility, a factory dedicated to wholesale and kosher bagels. Since the mid-鈥�90s, the Concord location has supplied bagels to such retailers as Summerhill Market and 笔耻蝉补迟别谤颈鈥檚, and its kosher varieties are sold to Jewish day schools like the 91原创 Heschel School on Sheppard Avenue West.

The bakery is also known for its sweet blueberry buns (more than 400 made daily), cheese buns and specialty pastries, such as triangular hamantaschen, cookies often filled with fruit jam or chocolate spread, which are popular during the Jewish holiday of Purim.

Gryfe鈥檚 has even fed cast and crew on the set of the recent Adam Sandler comedy 鈥淵ou Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah,鈥澛爐hanks to complimentary bagels sent by Granovsky, whose daughter appeared as a background actor in the 91原创-shot Netflix film.

Even though Gryfe鈥檚 quaint store, whose queue often extends out the door on a busy Sunday, offers cream cheese, chopped egg and other spreads, Fisher said that a defining feature of the bagels is that people eat them unadorned. 鈥淚鈥檝e heard so many customers say, 鈥極h I ate three or four on the car ride home, thanks to how light and tasty and small they are.鈥欌��

While in its early days, Gryfe鈥檚 attracted a heavily Jewish clientele, over the years, as Bathurst鈥檚 demographics have changed, its customers have come to reflect the multicultural city. Fisher says the bakery is even considering adding to its menu a Filipino dessert made from ube.

Fisher and his wife Kim, a pastry chef, ran the wholesale bakery Queen B Kitchen, near Queen and Carlaw, before shutting it down to focus on Gryfe鈥檚. 鈥淭o be part of a retail business where we could serve customers directly, that鈥檚 something we both wanted,鈥� Fisher said, 鈥渁nd there鈥檚 something special about being part of the Gryfe鈥檚 legacy.鈥澛�

Granovsky had been shopping at Gryfe鈥檚 for 25 years and was thrilled to have the opportunity to help introduce the store to new customers and maintain its relationship with decades-long fans.

鈥淏uying Gryfe鈥檚,鈥� he said, 鈥渨as a business decision based on passion.鈥�