| Zeppy's Baigel Bakery |
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937 North Main St.
Randolph, MA 02368
(781) 963-7022
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 Tradition. Since 1925, Zeppy's Baigel Bakery has been a tradition for Boston bagel lovers.
Jeff Chizmas - Owner, Zeppy's Baigel Bakery: "Zeppy's is a traditional Jewish bakery. We make the original authentic bagels, they're crusty on the outside, and they're chewy on the inside."
Most of Zeppy's customers know this Randolph landmark as their neighborhood bakery. A place to buy cookies, cakes, and of course bagels. And for decades, these New York style bagels were made is by hand in this cramped kitchen. But as demand grew, so did Zeppy's. Today, attached to the original building is a 33,000 square foot production facility that cranks out about 100-thousand bagels a day. Amazingly, many of Zeppy's longtime customers don't even realize it's here.
Jeff Chizmas - Owner, Zeppy's Baigel Bakery: "They still see it as their regular neighborhood bakery. In fact one of the things we are thinking about doing is putting windows in the factory so that when customers come they can actually see what we do because you really can't see the big building in the back."
And that’s a shame, because the birth of a bagel is a site to see.
Steve Weinstein - GM, Zeppy's Baigel Bakery: "This is our mixing area, where we mix our bagel doughs each and every day… Each bagel dough is created with a formula that's from the original Zeppy's bagels formula… This is the exciting part of the process, this is where the bagel dough is loaded into the machines… You'll see that the bagel starts as a small piece of dough approximately three-and-a-half inches long. Comes through the tube -- the former -- and is formed into a bagel."
Once the bagels take shape, they're allowed to rise in a proof box for 45 minutes. After spending the night in a giant refrigerator, they're placed in the oven to be boiled and baked.
Steve Weinstein - GM, Zeppy's Baigel Bakery: "This is a critical part of what we do at Zeppy's. And that is by flipping the bagels coming out here, we actually get a perfectly rounded bagel."
The cooking lasts about 23 minutes, before these golden brown beauties slide out of the oven. And just like snowflakes, no two are exactly alike.
Steve Weinstein - GM, Zeppy's Baigel Bakery: "What we're striving for here, believe it or not, is not perfection. We want the old fashioned, handmade look... As you can see, they're all approximately the same size, but they do have their own individual characteristics."
The bagels are then cooled, sliced, and packaged, and they’re oh so hard to resist.
Steve Weinstein - GM, Zeppy's Baigel Bakery: "And there's nothing, nothing, like a fresh bagel."
Zeppy's sells the majority of their bagels wholesale, but the retail store remains a popular spot for locals looking for the same great bagel they've had for decades.
Jeff Chizmas - Owner, Zeppy's Baigel Bakery: "People are very passionate about bagels, much more so than I thought that they would be. If we make just a little tweak to the formula, we hear about it."
Rico Stracco - Pastry Chef, Zeppy's Baigel Bakery: "Believe it or not, a lot of people don't like change here. They don't want new, they want what they've had for a lot of years. They're very stuck in their ways, if they want a half moon, they want to make sure it's the same half moon that they got 30 years ago. But not hard from being 30 years old (laugh)."
Tradition never tasted so good at Zeppy's Baigel Bakery, Phantom Gourmet... Hidden Jewel.
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Review Date:
4/24/2005 |
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