Tacoma chef with East Coast roots opening bagel shop

“People who love bagels,” said Brittany Erwin, “are determined.”

For those of us wringing our hands every weekend (or every Monday morning after a long weekend), when securing a proper bagel breakfast proves itself to be an elusive task, the former Cooks Tavern chef is determined to solve our quandary with B’s Bagels & Butters, where barley malt boiled bagels will rule supreme.

Her forthcoming shop, expected in early 2022, will replace the shuttered Better Eats cafe adjacent to better. gym at 3308 Uddenberg Lane in Gig Harbor, located just south of Hop Pharm, a new taproom from the owners of Harbor Health and Apothecary.

“For me, it’s not a bakery; it’s not a deli; it’s not a restaurant; it’s not a coffee shop. But it’s a little piece of all those things,” said Erwin. “Doing everything really well is what’s important for me.”

Though originally from New England, where she worked at a bagel shop in Rhode Island in college, Erwin does not want to pigeonhole B’s Bagels as a singular style. She started with a Culinary Institute of America recipe, honed over several years in her home kitchen, sharing bagels with friends and neighbors and really “anybody who’s been willing to try bagels.”

After five years at Cooks, Erwin left last September, due in part to pandemic burnout. “What’s almost kept me in it, and kept me from breaking, was creativity and having that communication with the guests,” she said, adding that her post-Cooks plan always entailed opening her own place.

“I knew it would be my own thing,” she said in early November, “but really making sense of what made sense, what I wanted to do and I would enjoy — and made sense in this restaurant climate.”

She launched an Instagram account for B’s Bagels & Butters in April, introducing herself as a 16-year veteran of the restaurant industry with a “giant Thomas shaped hole in my soul.” There she has slung perfectly framed photos of her left hand holding bagel after bagel, sharing details of her research and development.

“People love or hate spinach bagels. I’m in the love category,” she wrote in May, neon-green bagel in tow.

She thought the concept would land in Tacoma, where she lives and has worked for several years, but it so happened that the owners of better. gym were friends, and they had since closed their health-focused cafe. Erwin’s husband is also a Gig Harbor police officer, and she has worked in the area with Warrior PATHH, an immersive program that supports veterans and first responders in forging new skills for a sustainable future.

B’s Bagels will feature “all the classics,” she said, including seeded, salt, egg and everything, the latter with her own twist that she calls the “uh-oh everything bagel.” Rather than only coating the upper exterior with the irresistible medley of black and white sesame seeds, dried and minced garlic and onion, flaky salt and poppy seeds, Erwin incorporates the seasoning into the batter. “This way you have that crunch and the flavor throughout the bagel,” she explained.

There will be lox made from locally sourced salmon; seafood salad, a regular sight at northern East Coast delis; bacon or sausage, egg and cheese; six everyday schmears plus seasonal takes, including ones made with goat cheese; et cetera. Bluebeard Coffee has already signed on as the exclusive roastery partner.

For those of us on the other side of the Narrows, Erwin plans to offer online ordering and regular pickups at a designated location in Tacoma, likely at a coffee shop that buys B’s Bagels.

“My goal has been from the beginning to wholesale to small coffee stands,” she said. “Every single coffee stand you go to uses Seattle Bagel Co. We definitely want to support local.”

B’S BAGELS & BUTTERS

▪ 3308 Uddenberg Ln, Gig Harbor, no phone yet, instagram.com/bsbagelsnbutters

▪ Details: bagels with homemade schmears and butters, plus sandwiches from a small storefront next to better. gym; target opening early 2022, follow Instagram for updates and support via Kickstarter

This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 5:00 AM.