“The St. Louis Bagel Renaissance” was a term coined by the St. Louis Jewish Light back in January when we announced Bagel Week on January 15th. Now, just 8 months later, the Renaissance continues with news that St. Louis’ newest bagel shop is hosting a soft opening this weekend.

Baked & Boiled Bagels is the brainchild of Alex Pifer, a Clearwater, Florida native, who fell in love with bagels in high school.

“I even had the senior superlative as ‘the most likely to show up with bagels,” said Pifer.

The operation began as a pop-up operation that took orders through Instagram before becoming a popular destination on Saturdays at the Tower Grove Farmer’s Market. Now Pifer and her team are opening a new store at 1801 S. Ninth Street, in the Soulard neighborhood, in the space that previously housed The Sweet Divine Bakery & Coffee Bar. This weekend bagels will be served both Saturday and Sunday as part of a slow ramp-up as the crew works through its systems.

Baked & Boiled Bagels

Unlike most bagels made in St. Louis, Pifer and her team’s bagels are hand-rolled.

“Making bagels this way takes a lot of trial and error. That’s what took me so long to nail the bagel. It all depends on the surface tension you create, how smooth the bagel is, and how hydrated the flour is. It takes a lot of muscle memory as well,” said Pifer.

The main difference between hand-rolled bagels compared to machine-made ones is that no two bagels will be the same.

“When they come out of the machine, the bagels are perfect. Each of our hand-rolled bagels will have their own individual character to them,” said Pifer. “I’ve always been more hands-on in the kitchen, and I just love the way they turn out.”

Baked & Boiled makes traditional New York-style water bagels. The process begins with the creation of what is called a sponge, made with yeast, flour and water. The sponge is allowed to hydrate and ferment for several hours before it is mixed together with salt, malt and other ingredients to make the dough. It’s then portioned, rolled and allowed to proof at room temperature. Next, the bagels are boiled and baked.

“Look for a good chew with our bagels,” said Pifer. “And look for a little bit of malt and salt as well. A good chew and some malty flavor are important to me. On the exterior of our bagels, you’ll get a good tough, crunch crust.

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On the menu

Customers will find a simple menu featuring traditional bagels such as everything, plain, sesame seed, cinnamon raisin, cheese, and poppy seed. But keep an eye out for Pifer’s experimental bagels as well.

“They will be seasonal based on what I can get my hands on at the time. We do the jalapeño cheddar during the summer when jalapeños are available,” said Pifer. When they’re not available, we still want a spicy cheesy bagel so we partnered Hemme Bro’s cheese on a “ghost pepper cheddar.”

For fall Pifer has created a white chocolate pumpkin bagel. She says you’ll think it’s a donut, but it’s not.

While you can buy an individual bagel, you’ll find money-saving options for multiple bagels.

“We’re selling our bagels in four-packs, half-dozen, or baker’s dozen,” said Pifer. “We also will be serving plain whipped cream cheese, but I hope someday to make our own in-house cream cheeses.

When to get bagels

Baked & Boiled will be open and serving bagels starting at 7 a.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. on Sunday. They will remain open till they sell out. The plan is to add an additional day to the schedule each week until Pifer says they’re ready for regular hours.

Baked & Boiled Bagels
1801 South 9th.
St. Louis, MO 63104
Follow them on Instagram for bagel updates.