Move over Japanese cheesecake and croissants, there's another riff on a beloved classic hitting Vancouver: Bagels.
Hot on the heels of flipping their downtown ramen shop Gyoza Bar into a curry take-out concept, Vancouver-based Aburi Restaurants Canada - also behind beloved high-end sushi spots Minami and Miku - is gearing up to show the city what Japanese bagels are all about.
Called Wa-Bagel, the new concept from the veteran restaurant group is opening later this spring at its outpost downtown at 666 Burrard St (the Park Place office tower).
Vancouverites will be the first in Canada to taste Wa-Bagel's showpiece product, the Japanese-style bagel, which is known for being small, chewy and airy. Wa-Bagel will offer up bagels in sweet and savoury iterations, with a number of flavours and fillings. Aburi brought Yukiko Iikura on board as Wa-Bagel's head baker; she founded her own popular bagel shop in Japan, Kepo Bagels.
Wa-Bagel is designed as a counter-service shop, focusing on take-out and delivery. For those eager to bite into their bagels on the spot, the building's concourse offers public seating.
“Japanese-style bagels are my favourite type of bagel because they are more light and smaller in size, often with a filling, similar to another Japanese snack-favourite, the onigiri,” explains Seigo Nakamura, founder and CEO of Aburi Restaurants Canada in a media release. “They are becoming more and more popular in Japan, and there is really nothing like it in Canada yet. I thought it would be a great idea to introduce something new to the Canadian market."
Wa-Bagel's bagels are made with Canadian flour and a koji-based yeast, and will be available in over a dozen flavours, including sandwich-style offerings. Options include red bean paste and cream cheese, sweet potato and black sesame, Aburi Market’s fresh-cut lox and scallion cream cheese sandwich, and eggplant and bacon with miso and cheese. Coffee and tea drinks will also be on the menu.
Expect Wa-Bagel with its "Tokyo meets New York" bagel creations to open up its doors later this spring.
