Bloom Bistro, a bagel shop and hangout with a small selection of groceries inside, opened on Friday at 6601 Carleton Ave South and continues a tradition of locally made goods and grocery essentials in the historic Carleton Avenue Grocery Building. Home to Carleton Grocery for more than 100 years, and later Deep Sea Sugar & Salt cake shop, the building is an important community hub and Bloom Bistro intends to carry that tradition forward.
A previous iteration of Bloom Bistro was beloved for breakfast and brunch in White Center, but it closed during the pandemic, and the owners pivoted to operating pop-ups around the city including bagel breakfasts at Good Voyage in South Park. Bloom owner and visionary Marisa Figueroa told the Gazette that she and her wife spent part of the pandemic perfecting a bagel recipe. They baked on Saturday mornings and distributed extras to friends and neighbors, who soon formed a long waiting list.
When asked what the special ingredient is in her very chewy, slightly sour bagels, Figueroa said simply, "Love." The Bloom crew starts baking at 4 am each day, and because the dough needs 12 hours to rest, once the day's bagels are sold out, they're gone. Besides the bagels, almost everything else at Bloom is also made by hand, including a variety of schmears (dairy and vegan) and turkey sausage for breakfast sandwiches. Figueroa's signature bagel is a rosemary and sea salt beauty that's fantastic with caramelized onion cream cheese, which costs $5.
Customers will also find an assortment of ice cream, coffee, milk, and other essentials in a small pantry and cold cases that will expand over time. Dogs are welcome (treats at the counter!) and the vibe on opening day was cheerful excitement from neighbors who have been waiting since January for Bloom to open. "What an exciting morning," one exclaimed with genuine glee to a young child in her care.
Bloom Bistro's spring hours: Wed-Fri 7-7; Sat 8-5; Sun 8-3. Please also note that Bloom Bistro is not accepting cash payments at this time (cards only).
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