Babe-O's Bagels is the newest addition to Toronto's onslaught of homegrown food businesses and with weekly drops that are guaranteed to sell out, these chubby New York-style bagels are worth getting your hands on.
Bagels are formative in many lives -- and that's the case for Laura Skene, who started up Babe-O's in 2020 as her passion project. She spent her childhood visiting Haymishe, Kiva's and What A Bagel -- craving freshly baked and warm bagels that have held a place in her heart ever since. Although these bagel spots were important to Skene, she never thought about starting up a bagel-business of her own, but recently, things changed for the better.
Babe-O's got its start when Skene's sister suggested the idea of her opening up a bakery. "I laughed at her for this, but we had both gotten into the sourdough craze and were sending near-daily snaps of our starters and random creations," says Laura.
After creating some bagels of her own, she realized that she loved making them even more than she loved eating them. After testing and learning in her parent's kitchen, delivering to neighbours and receiving feedback from friends and family, she decided it was time to think about turning it into something beyond a passion project.
Skene is no stranger to the hospitality industry; she holds over 20 years of experience in the industry managing event centres like the The ROM and Steam Whistle.
So, an Instagram account was created for Babe-O's Bagels (based on her husband's nickname) and shortly after that; it picked up steam. The sought-after, small-batch, bagel orders open up every Monday, which are taken over Instagram direct messaging. Every order is then baked and delivered by her husband Brandon each Saturday to provide fresh, fluffy, warm bagels as Laura remembers from her childhood.
Orders can be made of bagels of six up to 24, with a variety of plain, salt, sesame, poppyseed, everything, cinnamon raisin, jalapeño and cheddar or onion. So no matter the bagel craving, this home kitchen has got you covered.
Their following is growing quickly, so check out their Instagram and make sure to place an order on Monday for some of the best homemade bagels being made in the city.
