If Dan Tallarico’s story doesn’t inspire you to follow your dreams, it might at least inspire you to follow your spoofs.
This Saturday, Bagel Friday, a sporadic bagel pop-up with a cult-like following in Pittsburgh, will be setting up shop at the Lawrenceville Farmers Market. Bagel Friday is known for its quirky social media presence, irregularly-scheduled deliveries, and serving up some of the best bagels in the ‘burgh.
To trace the start of this bagel business, you’ve first got to take a look at owner Dan Tallarico’s history with dough. In a nonlinear fashion, Tallarico got started making bagels because he enjoyed making pizza.
“I’ve worked in pizzerias, and I’ve always made different dough,” says Tallarico. “So I got on this bagel kick, and I started experimenting with a ton of recipes until I finally figured out how to make a bagel similar to that classic New York bagel, that is crunchy and soft at the same time.”
In 2014, when Tallarico was experimenting with different bagel recipes, he was also going through a large Bruce Springsteen phase (“I was a little late to that party,” he jokes.).
“So I would be listening to Bruce Springsteen while making the bagels, and it became this joke between my fiancé and I that Bruce and I had a bagel shop called Bruce’s Bagels,” he laughs.
The bagel shop jokes evolved over time, and eventually Bruce’s Bagels morphed into Bagel Friday, Tallarico’s hypothetical bagel company, which he would reference with friends and family when sharing his bagels.
A turning point for Bagel Friday came when Tallarico shared some his bagels with Joey Hilty, owner of the Vandal in Lawrenceville. Hilty posted about Bagel Friday online, and people starting coming into the restaurant and asking where they could get some of the bagels.
Due to the unexpected public interest, Tallarico quickly pulled together a website with a newsletter page, where he could gauge consumer’s interests, and alert people to upcoming opportunities to purchase his bagels.
Eventually Tallarico set up a Facebook page, where he regularly posts videos as the “Bagel Friday Communications Assistant,” and sharing updates from the kitchen, and messages from Bagel Friday’s “CEO” and “Research and Development Team.”
More people started following along – and demanding to know where they could get some of these delicious bagels. When Tallarico set up shop at Lawrenceville Farmers Market in July of last year, he sold out immediately.
Want to try the bagels for yourself? Bagel Friday will hosting a popup at the Lawrenceville Farmers Market at Arsenal Park on Saturday, offering a few different types of bagels. Tallarico says that he hopes to be at the market at least once a month this summer. The business is working on acquiring kitchen space so they can get more bagels to the Bagel Friday fans who are asking for them.
“I really do owe a lot to the people in my life, especially my wife Christa Cardone, who have supported me. Christa has been a great taste tester, and help in the baking/business process. If Christa didn’t play along with Bruce’s Bagels, Bagel Friday probably wouldn’t exist,” Tallarico says. “It ‘s great to have that kind of unconditional support with these odd endeavors.
For more bagel updates, follow Bagel Friday on their Facebook page. Tallarico also runs a Pittsburgh pizza blog called Pizza Walk With Me, where he reviews different pizzas in the ‘burgh. The site takes a more in-depth look into the process of making the pizza, what gives them their signature tastes, and the communities that build around the shops.
The Lawrenceville Farmers Market is from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Arsenal Park.
Leave a Reply