It’s a spooky season here at Bageltopia and we are pleased to say our fair bagel shop has been decorated to the nines by our own amazing Bones. Bones loves Halloween and is always excited to make a mark on our ambiance with spiders, dismembered limbs and cobwebs. It may be spooky but what’s not scary are our delicious bagel specials for this month.

Dan, our fearless chef and leader ain’t scared of no ghosts, as they say, but he does fear food that is not delicious, house made and nutritious. Dan has been perfecting his sauerkraut recipe for months, fermenting and refermenting his cabbage batches until just the perfect tangy and vinegary flavor combinations take hold. With a bit of caraway seed, salt and pepper Dan gets you close to that October fest feel with his German style sauerkraut. You can skip the leiderhosen.

Bagel of the month: Sauerkraut

In addition, Dan decided to go full tilt on his sauerkraut experiment and answer that fundamental question… What would happen if we roll that very very tasty sauerkraut inside a bagel? The results are nothing short of astounding. With a crispy bite, the sauerkraut is hand, rolled into each bagel along with our aforementioned caraway seeds.

Even I, your humble narrator, was BLOWN AWAY by the flavor. Notes of rye from the caraway and with the crispy taste of sauerkraut embroidered within the bagel. Long tasty strands of Sauerkraut permeate the bagel and provide a delicious flavor that crisps up when you toast it. Add a little bit of butter and sea salt and its divine. Or you can go full tilt on this one and try the Sandwich of the Month, Meticulously handcrafted, these bagels occur once a season. But I think we have totally caught on to something here.

October Cream Cheese: Apple Streudel

OK, maybe we were lying about the Leiderhosen after all. Have you ever considered climbing to the top of the Berkeley hills and yodeling down the cliffs riding on the back of a alpine goat? No neither have we but we still think this Apple Streudel Cream Cheese is like a treat you would find at a lodge somewhere up by the Mätterhorn or deep in Bavaria.

Did you know that Berkeley, CA has always had a peculiar interest in 19th century Austrian Politics? In fact, some of the most renowned scholars of the Habsburg Monarchy, and subsequent Austrian Monarchy live here locally in the Bay Area. We have significant influential thinkers here like Heinz Politzer, Peter Selz (founder of the Berkeley Art Museum), and historians such as Carl Schorske and John Connelly. These guys are streudel heavyweights! We hope they come by and try our delicious Apple desert inspired

This delicious cream cheese features

October Bagel Sandwich: Veggie Bratwurst w/ Sauerkraut and Mustard

Dan loves to make sausages in house here at Bageltopia. You might know this if you have ever tried our handmade chicken sausage that Mr. Graf has perfected over many years of being in the bagel business. He is a bit of a tubular guy if you can imagine. He’s got lots of experience filling up links, but not on the golf course. Anway, Dan has been cooking up a new style bagel sandwich, one where instead of cutting it the wide way he cuts it down the middle and then provides a little “bun” for the sausage akin to a hot dog bun… A slight nod to Berkeley favorite Top Dog? We would like to think so. 

The Veggie Bratwurst is vegan, and delicious. The Brat is with curried vegetables like cauliflower, spinach and broccoli, roasted to perfection with a tasty flavor profile, akin to a bratwurst you might find on the streets of Berlin. To add to the authenticity, we throw on a savory and tangy pile of Bageltopia’s house made Sauerkraut, flush with flavors of caraway, vinegar and salty magic. To round it all off, we dollop on a swirl of honey mustard to the sandwich. The results? A completely Vegan Bratwurst experience that will make you yell “Danke Schön”!