THE LINE OUTSIDE Kaufman’s Coffee and Bagels, in Albuquerque, stretches around the corner as customers await New York–style versions with a New Mexico twist—a crackly crust, a chewy interior, and flavors such as green chile cheddar, red chile, and blue corn. Once inside the small shop, they eagerly peer through the view window into the tiny kitchen to watch the magic happen, as bagels are shaped, boiled, then baked to perfection in a process that takes three days. After ordering, the crowd grabs tables and relishes toasted bagels slathered with a creamy schmear.
“I sell between 450 to 500 bagels a day in this little 900-square-foot shop,” says David Kaufman, who learned the traditional art in New York City, where Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe first brought their bagel recipe to Lower Manhattan in the early 20th century. After a long career as a pastry chef, he opened Kaufman’s two years ago on Central Avenue, near Old Town. His timing was good. “Bagels and bagel shops are becoming more popular in New Mexico,” Kaufman says. “I can see it in my sales. People are moving here from the East Coast and missing a good bagel from New York.”
Bite Me Bakery’s poolish dough.
What makes a good bagel is a question mired in personal preference, culinary science, and cultural pride. Regional “bagel war” arguments, which take place online and in person, would have you believe superior spheres are only made in the Big Apple—whether due to altitude, water content, or tradition. But the continuing success of Kaufman’s and several other New Mexico bagel shops suggests otherwise. I asked a handful of local ringers—including fresh spots on historic Route 66, an exciting new eatery in Eldorado, and a Rio Rancho favorite—how they managed to crack the Land of Enchantment bagel code and make them their own.
According to some aficionados, the secret to excellent bagels starts with the water they’re boiled in. New Yorkers believe their city water’s low mineral content is ideal for creating a crispier crust and more tender insides. “There’s a little truth to it, like wine making,” Kaufman says. In this regard, New Mexico’s hard water, which contains high-alkaline calcium and magnesium, puts us at a disadvantage. This slows the fermentation process and tightens the gluten in the dough, resulting in a tougher bagel. However, water isn’t everything, according to Kaufman: “It’s mostly the method and the ingredients that make a good bagel.”
Bite Me Bakery & Café, opened by Kandie Kingery near Santa Fe, aims to perfect the New Mexico bagel with old-world techniques and local flavors.
Frenchy Alicea, who opened Alicea’s New York Bagels & Subs in a Rio Rancho strip mall 13 years ago, dismisses the water theory outright. “The New York City water thing is a myth,” he says one recent morning between breakfast and lunch shifts. His old-school shop sports square tables, Formica tiles, and wire bins full of fresh-baked bagels. “Because you have a lot of hard water in New Mexico, the alkalinity needs to be adjusted with lye or baking soda,” he adds. “You really have to know how to calculate that.”
Alicea learned to make bagels from a Brooklyn baker as a teenager in Norwalk, Connecticut. From one bite of his green chile bagel—with a crispy crust, slight chew, and spicy-sweet flecks of roasted chile—it’s clear he’s got the science down.
In process at Kaufman’s Coffee and Bagels.
AT SUNDAY BAGELS, WHICH STARTED AS a popular pop-up and now has a nearly completed 1,500-square-foot brick-and-mortar down the street from Kaufman’s, co-owners Nick Fitzgerald and Bobby Nolan have found another solution to New Mexico’s hard water. “An expensive water filter helps,” Fitzgerald says with a wry smile.
But water isn’t their only hurdle. The duo usually tests recipes multiple times due to changing conditions. “You can’t predict the weather,” he says. “The dough might come up a little wet if it’s humid, causing it to stick to the counter. You’re always battling the elements.”
The battle for a better bagel led Kandie Kingery to open Bite Me Bakery & Café, in Eldorado, near Santa Fe, in June. “I set out to take on the challenge that everyone says there are no good bagels in New Mexico,” she says. “I thought, It’s a bagel. How hard can it be to make? Turns out, it’s very hard.”
Guests at Bite Me Bakery & Café.
In search of an Old-World, artisanal recipe, Kingery dove deep into research and discovered the Bagel Bakers Local 338, a trade union established in New York City in the early 1900s. She developed her own recipe in the style of traditional New York bagels, which requires a two-day process of fermenting, boiling, and baking. Then she connected with a 92-year-old woman who was a member of the New York union to help adjust her bagel recipe for New Mexico.
The result is bagels (including all-vegan and gluten-free options) made with poolish dough, a preferment like a sponge dough, that originated in Poland. She boils them in baking soda instead of the traditional lye to offset the water’s alkalinity, thereby creating an ideal crackly crust and a slightly chewy yet soft interior. For her bagel toppings, Kingery found inspiration closer to home with rosemary and garlic, and Christmas, combining red and green chile.
The Sunday Bagels owners have also looked beyond the East Coast for technique and flavors. “Our bagels are a cross between Montreal and California bagels,” says Fitzgerald. Montreal bagels are boiled with honey, and Sunday Bagels uses agave for that sweet touch. They eschew the traditional hand-rolling method.
David Kaufman learned bagel artistry in New York.
“For the New York–style bagel, they use a snake method,” says Fitzgerald, describing a hand-rolled dough formed into a snake, or string, that fits around the hand and is rolled back and forth until the ends are joined and sealed. “We don’t do that because we feel like it pushes out too much air.” Instead, Fitzgerald balls the dough after it’s proofed. “We hand-punch them,” he says. “It gives a more consistent looking bagel. We want to make the best-looking bagel.”
Sunday Bagels are indeed gorgeous—rustic but artfully crafted—but it’s the phenomenal flavors that set them apart. Seasonal flavors include lemon blueberry, black sesame harissa, and red chile honey; and specialty spreads range from maple date to dill and lemon, and a medley of veggie ingredients are sourced from Albuquerque’s Downtown Growers’ Market. “The reaction has been overwhelming,” says Nolan, who notes that the green chile cheddar is the most popular.
Blending innovation and adaptability with regional ingredients, these artisan bakers are fueling New Mexico’s bagel boom. “The beautiful thing about bagel making here is seeing locals try them out,” Alicea says. “They’ll start with the green chile flavor, and that will open the door to the world of bagels.”
Read more: From cheesecake to cheesesteaks, New Mexico’s iconic ingredient is showing up in unexpected ways.
’ROUND TOWN
Kaufman’s Coffee and Bagels
Grab a bagel and a cup of fresh brew and watch life go by in this busy Albuquerque spot. The bagels are dynamite on their own or made into BLT and Reuben sandwiches or the Kaufman Special, piled high with cream cheese, lox, tomato, red onion, and capers.
Alicea’s New York Bagels & Subs
This throwback Rio Rancho eatery is best known for its subs and sandwiches, according to its owner, who’s expanding into Los Alamos with the recent purchase of the popular Ruby K’s. Owner Ruby Alexander retired after a solidly successful 17-year run.
Sunday Bagels
Sunday Bagels created a sensation selling out of a commissary during the pandemic in 2021. Soon, the co-owners were hosting weekly pop-ups at Gravity Bound Brewing in Albuquerque, where fans lined up before the doors even opened. Crowds descend on their weekend booth at the Downtown Growers’ Market. The new Central Avenue home is light and airy, with wood and windows making an inviting space for savoring artisan bagels.
Bite Me Bakery & Café
Tucked into a popular neighborhood shopping center south of Santa Fe, this sweet bakery offers breads, focaccia, bagels, and other mouthwatering small-batch artisan goods. The intimate space has tables for lingering over a cup of coffee and the scent of good things baking.
- ¼ cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 8 grams instant yeast, quick rise
- 1 cup Greek yogurt, room temperature
- 2 eggs
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose gluten-free flour, plus ¼ to ½ cup for flouring surface
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more for egg wash
- Olive oil, for greasing large dough bowl
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar or molasses (for boiling water)
- 1 egg white, for egg wash
Makes 8 bagels
1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, mix warm water with 1 tablespoon sugar. Sprinkle yeast on water and wait for it to foam, about 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Whisk room-temperature Greek yogurt and eggs in a separate bowl.
4. Combine 2 ¼ cups gluten-free flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well.
5. Add the yeast mixture and yogurt-egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix with a spatula for 2–3 minutes. The dough will be very wet at first, then it will come together. It will still be slightly sticky once combined, which is normal for gluten-free bagels.
6. Grease a glass bowl with some olive oil, add the dough, then cover and let rise in a warm spot. It is ready once it doubles in size.
7. On a floured surface, turn out the dough. The dough should be sticky but pliable. Then knead your dough until it can be handled without sticking to your hands.
8. Divide the dough into 8 pieces. With slightly floured hands, roll the divided dough into balls. Place them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then use your finger to make a hole (¾ inch wide) in the middle of each.
9. While you prep the water bath, let your shaped bagels rest for 5 minutes to
puff them back up.
10. Preheat oven to 400°. While oven heats, bring a pot of water to a boil and add brown sugar or molasses.
11. Carefully add two bagels at a time to your boiling water. Boil each side for 30 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to remove each bagel. Place on the second parchment-lined baking sheet.
12. Whisk egg white with some additional salt, then brush onto the top of each bagel.
13. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden or an internal temperature reaches 196° using an instant-read thermometer.
- 2 New Mexico red chile pods
- 8 teaspoons roasted, peeled, and chopped New Mexico green chile
Makes about 8 teaspoons
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Cut red chile pods into pieces using kitchen scissors or de-stem them (no need to remove seeds) and place them in a coffee grinder or food processor and chop into smaller pieces.
3. Briefly pulse red chile and green chile together in a food processor, until just combined.
4. Spoon 1 teaspoon topping onto a freshly boiled bagel and pop into oven. Bake for about 20 minutes.
- Several tablespoons cornmeal, for dusting baking sheet
- 15 ounces preferment (see right)
- 1 pound bread flour
- 1 ounce sugar
- ½ tablespoon salt
- ½ ounce vegetable oil
- 1 ounce malt syrup
BAGEL PREFERMENT, OR POOLISH:
- 1 ½ cups water, at room temperature
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon instant yeast
Makes 6 bagels
1. Dust a baking sheet with cornmeal.
2. Mix the prepared preferment with all ingredients in an electric mixing
bowl using a dough hook on medium speed for 15 minutes.
3. Cut dough into 5-ounce pieces.
4. Roll into balls, cover with a tea towel, and let set at room temperature for
10 minutes.
5. Using the snake method to hand-form each bagel, roll each 5-ounce piece of dough into a 14-inch string. Connect the ends making sure there is a tight seal.
6. Place on cornmeal-dusted baking pan uncovered, and set in the refrigerator overnight.
7. The following day, preheat oven to 450° if using a conventional oven; preheat oven to 375° if using a convection oven.
8. Place bagels into a pot of boiling water for approximately 30 seconds.
9. Remove bagels with slotted spoon and place on a burlap-lined board, top side down. If you don’t have a burlap-lined board, place bagels on a greased cookie sheet.
10. Bake for 2 minutes. Then flip the board onto pizza stones to finish baking, approximately 10 minutes more.
BAGEL PREFERMENT, OR POOLISH:
Mix all ingredients well, cover, and let set for at least 2 hours.
- 14 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup shredded and pickled carrot
- 2 tablespoons roasted shallot, diced
- 3 tablespoons garlic confit (garlic heads slow-cooked in olive oil)
- ¼ cup diced charred eggplant
- ¼ cup thinly sliced raw Tropea (or red) onions
- 5 tablespoons shredded radish
- ½ cup green chile, roasted, peeled, and chopped
- Salt, to taste
Makes about 2 cups
1. Add all ingredients to a stand mixer and mix with paddle until incorporated.
2. Spread on warm or toasted bagels. Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
