A bite of the big bagel

Students seeking shelter from the biting winds and rain this season may find refuge within the cozy, bread-scented atmosphere of New York Bagel and Bistro. With an eclectic variety of hand-rolled bagels in a plethora of flavors, an all-encompassing musical appreciation and distinctive depictions of the Big Apple adorning its mocha-colored walls, New York Bagel and Bistro offers something tantalizing to each of the senses - a reality which is confirmed by the myriad of individuals who enter the establishment in search of the perfect bagel. In the midst of all the sensory commotion that surrounds the shop on a daily basis, store operator Valerie Abrahamson manages to grapple several customers while attempting to answer the phone, seemingly unfazed by the multitude of tasks at hand. "I'm a single mom so I know how to balance a lot," Abrahamson stated. Alongside her job as store operator and mother, Abrahamson also attends Chemeketa Community College. In fact, almost all of the workers currently employed at New York Bagel are students. "We don't intentionally [employ students]," Abrahamson said. "But I know that part time work is hard to find so we do tend to hire more of a student population." Nevertheless, Abrahamson explained that it is not an easy task to get hired at the shop. "The jobs here are really hard to get, and when we hire people they tend to be here for a long time," she stated. "Working with other students is nice because if you are tired and stressed they know what you are going through," Brianne Vredenburg said. "Being able to work with them gives you someone you can talk to who understands and has maybe had the same experience or a same class." A senior at Western, Vredenburg has been working at the bagel shop for approximately a year. "New York Bagel [was] my first job working with food, so I had a little trouble getting used to the job at first," Vredenburg said. "But now [I] enjoy the job. Catching up with regulars, seeing friends and meeting new people makes the job fun."

With a substantial number of patrons parading through the multi-windowed entrance of the bagel shop each day, Vredenburg and her fellow employees have come to remember many of the orders typically requested by return customers. "It's been fun getting to know people just by working [here]," Vredenburg stated. "It's fun to watch them get excited or surprised when you remember their order. We usually get a response like, 'Wow, I guess I come here a lot'." "We know the orders for the basketball students who come in," junior Samantha Goodwin said. "Sometimes we don't even know their names, we just know what they order. So we'll know someone as 'sausage, egg and cheese boy'." Laughing, junior Erika Miller agreed, stating, "It's so funny, because there are people who you see [arrive] in their car and you just start making their order before they even come in." "I call him Houdini," Miller went on to say, nodding in the direction of head baker Dave Klinepier. "He'll have someone's order going before the person walks through the door." "Dave and I are the only two bakers," Goodwin said. "And I'm still learning how to roll [bagels]." Yet while Goodwin may still be attempting to "master the circular bagel," one need only watch Klinepier to observe top-notch bagel rolling skills at work. Having been employed at the Bagel shop for roughly a year and a half now, Klinepier rolls out just the right amount of dough before spinning it into a perfect circle in mere seconds.

Baking bagels typically requires Goodwin and Klinepier to be at work around the same time that many college students are just heading to bed. "If I bake on a Monday or Tuesday, I have to be here around two in the morning," Goodwin stated. Pulling sheet after sheet of bagels from the retarder (a fridge-like storage device primarily used for fermented goods), Goodwin must first boil the bagels before placing them in the oven. "Your fingers get used to the bagels straight out of the oven, so you get used to handling them really hot," Goodwin said. "You are looking at a bagel that comes out of the oven being around 500 degrees, but you are in constant contact with hot stuff, so you get used to it." Goodwin explained that the bagel shop typically makes around 36 dozen bagels per day, although they have been known to make as many as 90 dozen bagels on occasion. Alongside their customary destination in the shop's individually-labeled baskets, many of these bagels are packaged and sent to various locations within Monmouth and to establishments throughout the Willamette region, including Western, Brooks and Terry's Espresso booths, and a number of cafes and co-ops throughout the Salem and Corvallis region. "Pretty much anywhere you get a bagel within 10 miles, it's going to be ours," Abrahamson stated. Miller stated that the rush hours at the bagel shop are typically between 10 a.m. and noon. "You can tell when everyone gets out of their eight o'clock classes," Miller stated. "And you can pretty much tell how long it takes everyone to walk from their classes to here." Miller and Goodwin both expressed that the summer months are hard on the bagel shop, although the month of December is even worse. "Christmas time is the hardest month to get through," Abrahamson concurred. "It takes about two months for us to bounce back."

While life at the bagel shop stays relatively sane, all of the employees have had their moments. "The job can be a little stressful, but I think most jobs can be at times," Vredenburg said. "You just have to take a breath, put a smile on your face and keep going." "I tend to set the toaster on fire quite often," Miller stated, displaying how the high-sitting device is just beyond her natural reach. "The other day, a bagel was stuck in the toaster and I tried to get it, but I ended up having to call Dave for help." "You end up with a lot of burns as a baker," Goodwin added, examining her forearms. Still, no matter what mishaps might occur, Goodwin stated that there is always one fail-safe solution: "All of us girls have this quote: when in doubt, blame Dave," Goodwin stated, sending a grin in Klinepier's direction. "The people I work with are great," Vredenburg stated. "Joking around and talking with each other makes the day go by a little faster. Also, Tiffany and I can be a little crazy when working together and we end up just making customers or our coworkers laugh." "We have a really strong staff here," Abrahamson said. "We joke a lot. Today, for instance, I asked for the broom, and one of our employees was like, 'Why, where you going?' "We all go out together, and they come over to my house for summer barbeques," Abrahamson added. "To me, everyone who works here is my family. They know they can come to me and I'll take care of them as best I can. I would say we all look out for each other."