This Saturday, a new bagel shop will open at 280 S. Main St., between the Post Office and Taquería El Favorito.
The location of Bonnie Bagels has sparked controversy, especially since it’s opening just a few doors down from Sebastopol’s other bagel shop, Grateful Bagel.
Though the new shop hasn’t even opened yet, reactions to it have been mixed. Some Nextdoor and Reddit users lambasted its location as overtly competitive, while others welcomed the competition for a better bagel.
Michael Sousa, the owner of Bonnie Bagels, said, “We’re not trying to dismiss people’s concerns that competition is real, but we like Grateful Bagel! We’re customers!”
Greg Kalergis, Bonnie Bagels’ executive chef, added with a laugh, “It’s true, he goes there every day,” which makes sense, given that Sousa is sort of obsessed with bagels.
Sousa said the location the Bonnie Bagels team chose had mostly to do with traffic, price, and the size of the space. That, and they’d been wanting to open a bagel shop for a long time.
The story behind the store
Michael Sousa’s love of bagels started as a child. He grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts, just north of Boston, where bagels were a part of his before-school morning ritual with his mom.
The name, Bonnie Bagels, comes from the street where Sousa grew up, Bonnie Lane.
This image of Sousa as a child, which hangs at the entrance of the shop, was made by Cristopher Simmons. “It’s deeply nostalgic for him, evoking childhood memories of riding in the back (no seatbelts!) on the way to get their morning bagels,” said Simmons.
The 1984 Ford Country Squire station wagon in which Sousa and his mom would drive to school now serves as the Bonnie Bagels company car.
After college, Sousa moved to the West Coast. Eventually he landed in Sebastopol, where he’s lived for 20 years.
Although Sousa has enjoyed a successful career as a psychotherapist, working primarily with couples and men’s groups, he needed a new project. He decided to return to his bagel roots.
“I love my career, but the work itself is a little lonely…part of the reason for doing this was to build more relationships,” he said.
Inspired by Aqus Café in Petaluma, Sousa dreams of a small business that is “built around community organizing.”
More than this, Sousa has made a career in studying and supporting people in their interpersonal relationships. He wants to bring the therapeutic aspect of social fulfillment to the space. He imagines cooking and business lessons for high school students, and “for the people who work here to grow in their careers, lives, and relationships.”
The visual concept behind Bonnie Bagels is to merge East Coast nostalgia and the magic of childhood with a modern California feel. The shop itself is designed with bright colors and clean shapes. The large sign out front (which the team had to fight for) is a nod to the large signs of an earlier age of Sonoma County’s economic and cultural history. It was approved by the city’s Design Review Board in July, which granted it an exception to the size limits of the city’s current sign ordinance on the basis of it being hand-painted, stylish and a part of a locally owned (versus chain) business. (The Design Review Board is currently considering changes to the city’s existing sign ordinance.)
The practical concept behind Bonnie Bagels is to build community, and of course, to make really good bagels.
About those bagels
While Michael Sousa is a bagel enthusiast, hobbyist food critic, and an avid chef in his own home, he doesn’t quite have the chops to make a high-quality East Coast bagel.
A few years ago, Sousa was at a Friendsgiving. A strange man brought a turkey and dinner rolls, and Sousa thought to himself, “That guy knows how to bake.”
A little while later, when Sousa was thinking about starting a bagel shop, he remembered those dinner rolls and reached out to their maker, Greg Kalgeris.
Kalgeris had a relatively unconventional start to his baking career that, fittingly, was enabled by the kindness of a community member.
His first job was as a delivery driver for a bakery. Sometimes, when he was done with his deliveries, the chef would ask him to come into the kitchen to do an odd job or two: slicing pears, making a simple syrup.
“She Mr. Miyagi’d me, like I was her Karate Kid, training me as a pastry chef,” he said with a laugh.
When his boss needed a new laminated-pastry chef (think, croissant and puff pastry), she decided to give Kalgeris a shot. (Laminated dough consists of many thin layers of dough separated by butter or other solid fat, produced by repeated folding and rolling.) That’s how Kalgeris learned the art of French pastry.
After that, he felt confident enough to try anything. He worked in pizza in a Neapolitan kitchen for a bit, until he was approached by Sousa, who asked if he had ever made a bagel.
Kalgeris had never made a bagel, but he was game to try.
Sousa and Kalgeris sought guidance from Bageltopia in Berkeley. They provided training for Kalgeris and guided Sousa on design for the shop.
“The traditional East Coast bagel is hand-rolled, cold fermented, then boiled before it is baked,” Kalgeris explained.
First, the sourdough starter needs to be fed and then fermented in the fridge. “Cold fermentation allows the bagel to build a lot of flavor without a lot of gas, so you get a really dense and chewy bagel,” Kalgeris said.
The bagels are then hand-rolled into their shape, boiled, and baked. Commercially produced bagels are typically made in steam ovens, which simulates the labor of boiling the bagel ahead of time. They are also typically rolled by machines.
Kalgeris emphasized the artisanal quality of traditional East Coast bagels. It’s a slow process: the bagel you might get from Bonnie Bagel on a Wednesday starts its journey on Sunday afternoon.
But Kalgeris enjoys this process.
His goal is simple: “I hope to make the best bagel I can make, and for people to enjoy it.”
The son of a general contractor, Kalgeris grew up learning by watching and working with his hands.
He actually sewed the shade cloth and bench cushion covers on the Bonnie Bagels patio and the store’s interior.
Claire Addleman, the Bonnie Bagels café manager, joked that they call Kalgeris “Greg of all trades,” because he’s willing to roll up his sleeves and figure out how to solve a problem with his own two hands.
Addleman, who grew up in Santa Rosa and has worked in coffee for most of her career, also brings espresso expertise. She has been working with an Italian family in Oakland who runs Mr. Espresso to create a traditional espresso menu for the shop.
And of course, there will be bagels. In addition to all the East Coast classics (plain, sesame, everything, salt, cinnamon-raisin and more), Bonnie Bagels will serve gluten-free and vegan options, as well as a selection of closed-face and open-face bagel sandwiches.
Bonnie Bagels will host a soft opening on Saturday, August 15, from 7 am to 2 pm with bagels, coffee, wine, beer, and mimosas.
Can’t wait. Grateful Bagel has been a good substitute for a proper bagel, but they’re still only part bagel, part donut. This bagel snob is willing to give Bonnie a chance, but it better not be Healdsburg style overpricing.
To be equitable here you might feature a piece on Grateful Bagel’s operation and history, including their generous hiring of local youth over the years.
- Joyce Johnson