What started off as an argument between two friends quickly turned into curiosity and carbs.
The tiff wasn’t about where to go out that night or how much money they lost sports betting. It was about bagels.
Is it really true that it’s the water in New York City that makes a New York style bagel?
Derek Vannah needed to find out.
He had always loved cooking, so how hard could it be to make a good bagel?
As it turns out…not easy.
However, although he’s still tweaking his recipe, it’s safe to say Vannah — or as his friends call him, Doughboy Derek — has got it down considering he’s been able to turn this passion project into a side hustle.
WaldoBagel is a one-man bagel band, “slinging” artisanal bagels in limited small batches on the weekends.
The name comes from his hometown of Waldoboro, Maine, and the persistence he also accredits to his roots.
“I started making NYC bagels two years ago, and since Mainers don’t do anything halfway, it became an obsession,” Vannah said in an Instagram post.
He went from making them at his home in Southie to renting space at Foundation Kitchen in Charlestown, a commercial kitchen where a lot of small businesses work out of.
It took some adjusting to the equipment there which affected his routine (and confidence) slightly. In fact his first batch of bagels in the new kitchen came out so horrible that he thought about hanging up the oven mitts for good.
Lucky for all of us, Mainers don’t quit.
Each weekend he makes around 100 bagels ranging in flavor from rosemary sea salt to the occasional blueberry. And yes, he makes his own everything bagel seasoning! You can try and snag a bag by clicking the link in his Instagram bio when he posts his limited weekly drops.
Sure, there have been times where the bagel dough was finished, only for him to look over and see the yeast sitting on the counter. (Yeast is the quintessential ingredient.) To Vannah, the process and the recipe are nowhere near perfect.
“I’m chasing perfection in something that’s ultimately subjective, which means it’s a never ending process,” he said.
Long term, he dreams of opening up a brick and mortar store, where maybe he could sell his ultimate bagel sandwich, bagel chips and the other ideas he has up his sleeves.
For now, Vannah is just happy he has something that brings him joy during these winter months – even if that something involves him being in the kitchen at 5:30 in the morning on a Sunday. He hopes that it brings others joy too.
“If I can make Sunday mornings better for a few people in some small way, that’s enough for me,” Vannah said.
With boutique bagels and pop-ups popping up all over the city, be sure to add WaldoBagel to your list to try.
Megan Klein is a freelance writer and Boston University graduate who currently works for the Boston Celtics. She loves making small world connections when meeting new people, trying new restaurants and capturing the life of Boston locals through her writing.
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