People who believe in buying local but have a metropolitan taste in their bagels will soon have a place to go to satisfy both these needs. A new bagel shop is opening in Cazenovia this weekend that will offer authentic New York City bagels in a business in which everything else offered comes from Cazenovia and the immediate Cazenovia area.
Cazenovia Bagel Co., owned by Kelly and Kevin McGreevy, of Cazenovia, will offer bagels and bialys with various cream cheese flavors, breakfast and lunch sandwiches and locally roasted coffee.
“Our bagels come from New York City because you can’t make them like they do down there, so why reinvent the wheel?” Kelly said. “We’ve heard it’s the New York City water that make these bagels so delicious, and there’s a need for good bagels up here.”
“This is a blend of an authentic New York City style bagel shop that fits within the Cazenovia community and uses locally sourced products that goes with that — it’s the best of both worlds,” said Kevin.
The local aspect means all produce generally will be sourced from local businesses and farms when available. Specifically, pork, chicken, cheese and eggs come from Troyer’s Country Market on Nelson Road in Canastota and the shop will serve Recess Coffee from Syracuse. They will also serve house-brined lox — lox is salmon that is brined but not cooked or smoked and is a traditional topping of bagels with cream cheese — made by a Jewish chef at Original Grain restaurant in Syracuse.
Everything offered at the shop will be local, organic and healthy, with gluten free options, and all housemade, Kelly said.
Being from New York City, the bagels, of course, are not house made. They are “par baked,” Kelly said, which means they are baked about 90 percent of the way, immediately frozen then shipped up to Cazenovia. The McGreevys take them out of the freezer, bake them in a convection oven for five minutes and then they are ready to serve.
The new business, located in the former Twisted Scissors Salon space at 79 Nelson St. in the Town and Country Plaza, has been completely remodeled. It will have seating for up to 20 people, with four tables and a breakfast bar by the window. While the McGreevys want their customers to sit and enjoy their bagels and coffee, they also see their shop as having a 1940s NYC café feel for people in a hurry, they said.
“I’ve always wanted to open a bakery or own my own business,” Kelly said. “I love to feed people and love to entertain.”
The McGreevy’s are first-time entrepreneurs — Kevin is a businessman and Kelly was a stay-at-home mom. Once the youngest of the couple’s four children started school this year, Kelly was looking for what to do next.
“We are so grateful to the Cazenovia community; we’ve had great support and help in this process. The local business community is like family, where everyone wants everyone to succeed,” Kelly said. “People have been so excited [about the bagel shop], which makes us excited.”
The grand opening of the Cazenovia Bagel Co. will be on Saturday, Feb. 4., when the shop will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. After that, the shop will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week.
For more information, call 815-4209 or visit cazenoviabagelco.com.
