Some couples just go together like bagels and cream cheese.
“We’re the owners —” said Rachel Beltzman of R&A Bread Bakers in Chicago.
“— and spouses,” finished Adam Beltzman.
They took a break to chat at the bakery they opened Nov. 11 in the Ravenswood neighborhood after they had sold out of just about everything, again.
“I’m more of a baker and Adam is more of a chef,” Rachel said. “He’s like the meat-and-fish guy, but he’s learned how to bake, too.”
“I’m also like the chief bagel boiler,” Adam said.
Their modern throwback to a traditional Jewish-inspired deli uses only sourdough starter (no instant yeast) in the bagels ($12 for six), breads and all baked goods, including their deep dish bagel pies ($15 for six).
“I grew up loving, and still love, a pizza bagel,” Rachel said.
But they take it a step deeper and make bagel dough cups.
“We fill them with fresh mozzarella and really good pizza sauce,” she said. “Or for the picky ones, no sauce, just white. And we offer pepperoni.”
They bake them again until the mini pies become crunchy and chewy.
“It’s reminiscent of deep dish pizza,” said Adam.
“But you’re not committing to eating an entire pizza,” added Rachel. “It’s like a snack.”
Another childhood favorite inspired their daisy dogs ($4.50), which look like Chinese hot dog flower buns.
“Growing up, at our holiday parties, the most sought after item was the pigs in a blanket,” Rachel said. “It was just hot dogs wrapped in crescent dough. We’d all fight over them.”
They slice a Vienna Beef hot dog into six pieces, roll those in bagel dough and sprinkle on poppy seeds.
“We serve them with Chicago Sauce,” Adam said.
That condiment includes all seven toppings of a Chicago style hot dog blended into a sauce, bottled by Big Fork Brands in Lincoln Square.
What’s so surprising, given the demand at their bakery, is neither Beltzman baked until recently.
“We started in COVID, because we were bored,” Rachel said. “A friend of ours, who’s a baker, gifted us a starter. I had never even made a piece of bread before in my life. We made a sourdough bread out of it and it came out and we were all shocked. And then we started making bagels.”
She’s also a photographer who couldn’t work due to the pandemic, so drew on nine years of experience working for Lettuce Entertain You at Maggiano’s. People started following their sourdough recipe journey on Instagram.
“And then they’re like, ‘Can I pick up bagels?'” Rachel said. “And I was like, ‘I don’t know. If you want bagels, I’ll make you bagels.’ And so they’d pick them up on our front porch.”
“And then people wanted to buy the bagels,” Adam said. “And then I said to Rachel, ‘If we’re selling bagels, then we have to have cream cheese.’ So we came up with some cream cheese recipes.”
“Then it was like, now we have to have lox,” he added. “And I always liked to tinker with smoking briskets too.”
They started doing bagel drops throughout the suburbs before deciding to make their new hobby a business.
“We told our kids, ‘When you grow up, do what you want to do,” Rachel said. “And COVID definitely solidified that for us. So just do something that makes you happy. And try to make some other people happy, too.”
You can order ahead (recommended since they usually sell out) online for takeout only.
R&A Bread Bakers, 1938 W. Lawrence Ave., 773-942-6405, randabreadbakers.com
More notable new restaurants, listed in alphabetical order:
3 Little Pigs
Chinese barbecue pork is the star here, with a salt and pepper chicken sandwich ($10.95) served with a side of shrimp chips. Chef and owner Henry Cai opened the new location of his virtual restaurant 3 Little Pigs in Humboldt Park on Nov. 28. Get the BBQ pork belly skewers ($10) and crab rangoon ($8) with house-made sweet-and-sour sauce for takeout only from the shared kitchen space.
3220 W. Grand Ave., 312-666-9322, 3littlepigschicago.com
Bazaar Meat and Bar Mar
Chef and humanitarian José Andrés was in town last week for a preview of not one, but two new restaurants. Bazaar Meat and Bar Mar opened to the public Wednesday on the river inside the Bank of America Tower in the Loop. The former is Andrés’ second steakhouse, locally operated in partnership with the Gibsons Restaurant Group, serving Vaca Vieja rib-eye steaks from 8- to 10-year-old Holstein cows ($65 per pound). The latter debuts his new seafood concept, offering an everything bagel “airbread” ($12) in the shape of a fish, filled with cream cheese espuma and topped with smoked salmon.
120 N. Wacker Drive, 312-820-6601, thebazaar.com
Carlucci Chicago
A veteran Italian restaurant comes downtown from the suburbs. Chef and owner Joe Carlucci brought his eponymous restaurant to the growing neighborhood across the street from Millennium Park on Nov. 29. You’ll find his signature Bombonato ($23) with house-made pasta and prosciutto tossed tableside in an aged Parmesan cheese wheel, plus rabbit sausage pizza ($20).
400 E. Randolph St., 312-598-1000, carluccichicago.com
Moonflower Bar
A cocktail bar transforms a Northwest Side tavern with plants, art and soulful vibes. Industry veterans Marvin Boeving, Christina Chae and Zach Rivera own Moonflower Bar, where they began pouring in Portage Park on Dec. 1 in the former Hops & Barley space. Drinks feature their Kiss & Tell ($10.50) with blanco tequila, mezcal, watermelon, lime and Milkis, the milky Korean soda. A concise food menu offers a grilled cheese sandwich ($15) with a tomato soup dipper, alongside some houseplants available for purchase, too.
4359 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-647-1942, moonflowerbar.com
In other restaurant news:
Elske, the critically acclaimed and self-described slightly Scandinavian-inspired restaurant, celebrated what they called their “grand re-re-re-opening” Dec. 8 in the West Loop, but closed again just 11 days later due to a potential COVID-19 exposure, like many restaurants in the Chicago area. They posted on Instagram “We look forward to welcoming you all back in soon when we reopen on the 29th after a short break and a lot of negative test results, or maybe never again …” 1350 W. Randolph St., 312-733-1314, elskerestaurant.com
Pippin’s Tavern, the weathered Irish-inspired pub, has been reborn as a full-fledged restaurant around the corner on the Near North Side, and reopened officially Nov. 17. 39 E. Chicago Ave., 312-982-2752, pippinstavern.com
The Alinea Group has canceled restaurant and bar plans at the St. Regis Chicago tower. Eater Chicago first reported the news.
Know of a Chicago-area restaurant that’s new and notable? Email food critic Louisa Chu at lchu@chicagotribune.com.
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