Welcome To New York’s Bagel Boot Camp

Image by courtesy of Jesse Blonder

Image by courtesy of Jesse Blonder
Bucharest was once home to 100,000 Jews. Today, there are only 4,000 Jews and no bagels to be found. But that’s about to change.
The saga starts with a pair of twentysomething Romanian entrepreneurs, Alexandru Petrescu and Ioan Rusu, who were seeking a novel menu item to launch their Bucharest food truck.
Online research led them to bagels. In September, the pair got on a plane to New York City, the putative bagel capital of the world (sorry, Montreal). After touring bagel bakeries across the five boroughs, Petrescu and Rusu wanted to learn the ins and outs of bagel-making.
They called on Brooklyn’s Center for Kosher Culinary Arts and Lynn Kutner, a master baker who teaches a course called Jewish Baking Classics.
“They looked us up online, and said they were looking for a place to learn about bagel-making,” Jesse Blonder, the Center’s founder and managing director, told the Forward. “They looked at culinary schools and a few people who do private lessons. Between the fact that we’re kosher and that bagels are associated with Jewish food, they chose us.”
And Bagel Boot Camp was born. Petrescu and Rusu “had some general knowledge about bagels, but their practical skills were at a basic general level,” Blonder said. “But they did their homework. They’d tasted bagels, and they knew what kind of product they wanted. They’re not chefs or professional bakers. They’re entrepreneurs.”
The $750 class began with a four-hour workshop with Kutner and Blonder, and “we stuck around another hour just talking,” Blonder said. “I was very curious myself. I wanted to know what they planned to do, what kind of business they wanted to open, what they felt the market for this was. They said nobody knows what bagels are there.”
With the pair set to launch their food truck in a corporate park in central Bucharest, “they wanted to have a signature item that would distinguish them and be easy to market. The image of bagel, associated with New York, was how they’d brand themselves.”
So what are the basics of a great bagel? “It all starts with what kind of flour you use,” Blonder said. “We use a high-gluten King Arthur brand flour. Lynn prefers it; she says it gives bagels the characteristic chew.” After mixing the flour and water, dough gets “proofed” — leavened — Blonder said to let it rise. The dough is then rolled and shaped, proofed again, then boiled, seeded, and baked.
The pupils learned well, Blonder said. “We baked dozens and dozens of bagels, and they were all great because they did what we showed them,” Blonder joked.
Still, Blonder said, “I’m curious to know how the product comes out, especially because everyone says New York bagels and pizza are so good in New York because of the water. Given the fact that their water’s much different, I’d love to taste it and see. Failing that, I’d love to see pictures. And, of course, I’d love to hear how their business goes.”
Petrescu and Rusu, alas, did not return requests for comment.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 3
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 4
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.