Jeremy Marmur has dubbed his CBD business Schmucks Bagels, a cheeky name he hopes will make people smile. But behind the name is a serious intent: to put restaurant-style food inside a bagel.
That might mean smoked chicken, chicken crackle (dehydrated chicken skin), harissa sauce and snowpea tendrils layered in a bagel "so you're going on a journey with the flavours and textures", or hickory-smoked beef brisket, barbecue sauce, chimichurri, lettuce and tomato on a seed-studded bagel.
Breakfast might be a Vegemite bagel, not as a schmear but infused through the dough, or sausage and egg with Kewpie mayonnaise.
The bagels are steamed as they bake, rather than boiled first, creating a lighter texture "so we can pack in more toppings without it becoming too heavy", says Marmur, who enlisted chef Simon Winfield and Ben Avramides and Tommy McIntosh of food and events group Tommy Collins to help launch the brand.
Already they're planning to open a second outlet, in Melbourne's Docklands, in early 2016.
The first, off Little Bourke Street, has a sleek fitout with duck-egg blue Italian tiles and a timber counter that evokes the logo.
Open Mon-Fri 6.30am-4pm.
Shop 9, Guests Lane (off Little Bourke Street), Melbourne, 03 9607 8558 www.schmucksbagels.com.au
