NYC Bagels Coming to Denver Through Rosenberg Bagels & Delicatessen

Josh Pollack has been looking for the perfect New York-style bagel in Colorado for eleven years. Unsuccessful in this search, he made up his mind to make his own through Rosenberg's Bagels and Delicatessen, a bagel-baking business that will retail to locals and wholesale to eateries interested in carrying these special doughy treats.

To create an authentic New York bagel, Pollack adjusted the water he uses in his bagels to the mineral content found in New York Catskill Mountains. New York water is said to be the key ingredient differentiating its bagels, making them superior to those found in other parts of the country. In this water, Pollack's bagels are poached after the dough ferments overnight in wooden containers. The recipes for the Rosenberg's Bagels are over 50 years old and the ovens Pollack plans to bake in are traditional ones.

While Pollack is "crazy about making these bagels," by his own admission, he does not have a background in food; his experience is in business and this will be his first food establishment. Last year, he entered and won a business plan competition at the University of Colorado. Through the judges from the competition, he met Jim Deters, who was on the lookout for a good bagel to serve at Gather, an eatery he co-owns.

Starting today, Pollack will be working out of the kitchen at Gather where he will be launching his product with traditional flavors: sesame seed, poppy and everything, possibly going into bialys, a flat breakfast roll that has a depressed center, and other bagel flavors moving forward. Bagel lovers can get these beginning on Monday morning when Gather is set to open.

This spring, Pollack, who finished the last round of funding for his venture, hopes to open the first location of Rosenberg Bagels & Delicatessen. "I want to grow big," he says. "I would like to have five stores in ten years. I think the demand will be there," he added.

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