That's the bagel bakery at Le Faubourg on St. Catherine Street. You can see a huge mound of bagel dough to the left of the standing man; those long things that look like boards are actually huge peels, like pizza peels, which are used to insert and remove bagels from the brick oven. It's quite an operation - and the bagels, while not exactly New York style caliber, are pretty darn good.
(Addendum: for a great shot of the same shop, taken a dozen years ago, see this link to Blork's Monday Morning Photo Blog. Thanks, Ed! See the comment thread below for more info - and opinions!)
We picked up two this morning after an appointment downtown, and ate them with coffee from a corner cafe, under the towering edifices of the old Bank of Toronto building and this very new, nearly-finished tower at Concordia University.
I've had so much work to do lately I really haven't been able to write posts or do much blog reading. The days are speeding by, and I don't want to think of the approaching fall. The other morning I got up and noticed that the squirrel has been digging in my planter beds again - not a good sign. For now, though, the days here are glorious and summery - great days to be out on a bike or eating out doors - and we find ouselves savoring those moments.
Enjoy the summery days. Great picture of the bagels - I haven't seen anything quite like that before.
Posted by: Jenny | August 04, 2005 at 02:09 AM
You prefer New York bagels? Bah.
(That said, the place in the Faubourg doesn't have the best bagels: Fairmount is better.)
Posted by: wolfangel | August 04, 2005 at 10:46 AM
The old NY vs Montreal bagels question. Personally, I prefer the Montreal ones, as I find the NY ones just too dense.
The bagel shop at the Faubourg makes a decent bagel, although I still think the classics -- St. Viateur Bagel and Fairmount Bagel -- are marginally better.
Interestingly, the shop at the Faubourg has been there for quite a while, yet people rarely mention it when they talk about Montreal bagels because St. Viateur and Fairmount share Total Bagel Hegemony in this town.
The Faubourg shop has changed very litte. My June 13/05 Monday Morning Photo Blog entry was a shot of that shop that I took maybe 12 or 13 years ago:
http://blork.typepad.com/mondaymorning/2005/06/bagel_shop_mont.html
...about the only difference is that the shot I took is now impossible because they have since installed some screens overhead, in the framework you see in my photo.
Posted by: blork | August 04, 2005 at 12:37 PM
Ed, thanks for the link to your great photo!! I've never had St. Viateur bagels fresh, only the packaged ones at the supermarket - the plastic does a number on any bagel. I probably should have simply said that Montreal bagels are different than NY ones, which they are. For one thing, you get a lot more taste of the topping in Montreal, because there's less dough and more crust in the bagel itself. And I like that a lot. Also, I'm not pitching Faubourg bagels over any other - I just get a kick out of watching the operation.
Posted by: beth | August 04, 2005 at 12:51 PM
Ah, one can always start an argument by bringing up the subject of the best bagels! Probably goes along with its NY Jewish roots. ;-)
I'm also getting too much work right now, along with other pressures, and posted yesterday about the summer flying by. Enjoy your summer moments thoroughly when you have them, Beth!
Posted by: leslee | August 04, 2005 at 01:04 PM
I love watching them make bagels. But you really should go to get a hot fresh bagel at one of the classic places; I used to go to the one at the Faubourg regularly, and they just don't quite measure up. That said, I've always felt that the other bagel places -- also REAL bagel -- make ones that taste good longer.
NY bagels are far superior for most sandwiches, but don't taste as good.
Posted by: wolfangel | August 04, 2005 at 05:06 PM
In Faubourg they use a normal electric oven, like in New York. In most cities wood ovens to bake bagels are prohibited, but apparently not in Montreal. That's why, in my opinion, the Fairmount and St. Viateur bagels are so nice: It's the wood.
I can add that actually the Beaubien bagels are even better, but that shop is a bit farther away from the centre of town. But I happen to live two blocks from it, so that's no problem for me. It's a really crappy place, almost falling apart. But the bagels they bake are divine.
I blogged about it, but in Dutch. You can still see the pictures though.
http://loglog.peghole.com/2003/20031108.html
Posted by: mare | August 05, 2005 at 04:59 AM