Could this bakery be making Vienna’s most badass bagel?

Vienna and bagels actually have quite a long history, however, it’s not easy to find a good one around town. Some even claim this century old yeast boiled and baked bun was invented in Vienna, while the history books say it first appeared amongst the Jewish communities of Poland. Either way, where the hell did it disappear to then in this city?

Legend has it that due to some Emperor preferring the Semmel over a bagel, it lost popularity in the city. But now it’s back with a vengeance, and is increasingly being lovingly handmade by gourmet chefs and bakers around the city.

And who would know better how to recreate this ring-shaped pastry than the big time Austrian baker, Josef Weghaupt. And he isn’t messing around. Before opening the Joseph Bagelmanafaktur he went on a quest to discover what makes a badass bagel. And you can watch the bakers at the Bagelmanafaktur go through the whole process (bagel manufactory) in their open kitchen at Albertinaplatz.

The bagels come in three different variations – plain sour-dough wheat, Waldstaudenroggen (rye), and Malzkorn (malt grain) – sprinkled, or not sprinkled, with black and white sesame seeds. And they can all come stuffed, saucy or schmeared with lashings of tasty fillings, from salt beef to smoked salmon.

There’s a method of madness at the Bagelmanafaktur – choose your bagel, and then choose your filling – salmon, ham, cream cheese, hummus or roast beef, plus whatever green stuff you want in it. If you prefer your bagel crunchy on the outside, warm on the inside, you can have your bagel freshly toasted.

Of course, the usual Joseph boutique-boosted prices apply to their bagels too, with the classic NYC Lox bagel going for 10.40€, while a simple cream cheese schmeared toasted bagel is 4.90€. But, like in New York, where bagels are much-loved, when the bar is set high in quality, you’ve got to expect to pay for your mouth to reach it… the high bar, we mean (sorry, we’re trying).

You can get it to go, or stand at one of the small high tables and wrap your mouth around your bagel creation (somehow – you may have to dislocate your jaw) while watching the bakers do their ‘tang.

For anybody that’s experienced the New York bagel culture, this will be a long-awaited, welcome addition to Vienna’s bakery scene.