Artisan baker bringing real East Coast-style bagels to Utah
Cheryl Mignone of Cheryls Bagels has a vendor booth every Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Monarch Market, where she packages bagels to-go inside a brown sack with her handwritten signature, and usually sells out.
Cheryl Mignone of Cheryls Bagels has a vendor booth every Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Monarch Market, where she packages bagels to-go inside a brown sack with her handwritten signature, and usually sells out.
Cheryl Mignone of Cheryls Bagels has a vendor booth every Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Monarch Market, where she packages bagels to-go inside a brown sack with her handwritten signature, and usually sells out.
Why would a New Jersey transplant spend months learning how to make bagels that taste exactly like the ones she grew up on? Go to where Cheryls Bagels is selling and you will find out.
“It’s all about the chew,” said Cheryl Mignone, founder/owner and chief maker of Cheryls Bagels. “Otherwise, it’s just a roll.”
Mignone, who “followed her heart to Utah,” according to her website, and loves everything about this desert state had only one small gripe — an authentic East Coast- or New York-style bagel was nowhere to be found. So, she nailed down a simple five-ingredient recipe and now the community can’t get enough of the not-bread bagels.
Mignone’s bagels are at once crusty and chewy, a marvel to those who’ve never chawed on a bagel from the Big Apple. Rave Google reviews mention her “educational” sales approach, say she’s “making Utah better one bagel at a time” and ask, “Where have these been all my life?”
Utahans are deprived no longer; Mignone is working hard in her artisanal home-based shop to keep up with the high bagel demand and now selling from three locations: Kaysville, Sandy and at the Monarch Market Ogden. But it’s best to order online for pickup at one of these locations, as they’re likely to sell out.
The distinct flavor and texture of these handmade beauties can’t be rushed into being; the hand-rolled dough takes days to prepare. Mignone says fermentation, boiling and time is the only way to achieve the distinctive tougher bite of the traditional bagel.
An indoor market is the ideal spot to sell for Mignone, who said baked products like breads and bagels should be protected from the outdoor elements. She plans to be at the Monarch Market in Ogden every Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Cheryls Bagels sell by the half-dozen ($11) or dozen ($18) in salt, poppy, sesame, everything, onion, garlic, and plain flavors. Eat toasted with butter, as an egg breakfast sandwich or topped with one of her schmears — strawberry, scallion, cheddar jalapeño or green olive pimiento. They’re baked and wrapped with love in a brown sack and stylized with a hand-drawn signature.
Go plain for that first bite to experience that “deep rich flavor that surpasses basic ‘bread’, ” Mignone said.
To order and find pick-up locations visit cherylsbagels.com.