As Philly tries (and tries and tries) to rise above its status as something of a bagel desert, a crucial piece of the solution should be Knead Bagels, an upcoming shop from chef Adam Willner (Matyson) and wife Cheri Fairall.
When word of the project first began circulating, the projected opening date was sometime right around now. At this point, Willner says it's looking like "sometime in October" at the earliest — as you can see from their Instagram, the shop just finally took delivery of its oven, leaving the team with "only 999 other things to get done."
But there's already plenty of reason to get excited. Michael Klein got a very early taste of Willner's menu tests, and not only did he give them high marks, but the selection was far more interesting than most bagel shops. Anything more than a good everything bagel may not technically be necessary, but togarashi-spiced bagels with scallion-lime cream cheese and Moroccan-spiced apricot bagels with lemon goat cheese couldn't hurt. (They're working on making their own cream cheese, too.)
Once open, the shop promises breakfast and lunch — the hours are currently listed as 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday — and plans to serve Elixr coffee. While work on the shop continues, they're already into the hiring process.
· Knead Bagels [Official]
· Two Bagel Shops Opening in Center City [Philly.com]
· All Bagel Coverage [-EPHI-]
