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| - Tucked away in this little corner strip mall in a clean, but spartan shop lies a baker and a wood-burning oven making magic with his incredible and delicious bagels. When you bite into one of these bagels (I chose a poppy seed one with cream cheese), it just screams masterful old-world craftsmanship. The slightly charred and crisp crust (you can definitely taste the wood-burning oven) yields to give way to a slightly chewy, a but fluffy, dense yet still airy interior (it's kind of hard to describe, but it's just otherworldly). I'm not really a big bagel person, but eating this bagel was a near-religious experience. On my next visit to Calgary, I would drive across the city to get these bagels. This place is something special.
*Tip: when having one of these bagels buttered or with a schmear of cream cheese, instead of eating the bagel halved and open-face (typical), reassemble the halves together and eat the bagel close-faced. This way you are able to taste the crust more, where the flavor is in good bread. I think most people grow up with mediocre supermarket bagels, and one instinctively wants to maximize the flavor of the spread, since the crust there has no flavor. But when dealing with incredible bagels like these, old habits don't necessarily apply.
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