Kosher bagel shop opens

Gab Taube punched in for work Wednesday at just about 2 a. m., because, to borrow a phrase, it was time to make the bagels.

And not just any bagels, but the first batches for the 7 a. m. grand opening of Pigeon Bagels, a certified kosher bakery on Hobart Street in Squirrel Hill. It’s the brick- and- mortar culmination of more than two years of pop- ups and pursuing perfection of a passion that started on a bit of a lark.

Bagels had always been a family affair for the 27- year- old Mt. Lebanon native and Point Breeze resident, whose last name means “pigeon” in German. She recalled weekend bagels at her grandparents’ house in Squirrel Hill.

“It’s always been my go- to comfort food,” Ms. Taube said. “Our family would come to Squirrel Hill and sit around talking and eating bagels from Bageland and the Bagel Factory for hours and hours. Any big family event, there’s a table full of bagels.”

After graduating from Mt. Lebanon High School in 2010, she attended Temple University, with an interest in social work, environmental justice and urban agriculture.

“It’s stuff that I find important but necessarily couldn’t find a career in,” she said.

She came back to Pittsburgh and started working at A’Pizza Badamo in Mt. Lebanon, where she developed an interest in baking.

“There are whole blogs about bread techniques. I checked books out of the library and started looking online. I wanted to do it all the time.”

She started by making three bagels at a time, at home.

“It’s an interesting process, with all the steps involved, and it is really challenging to do in a home kitchen. The scale for home baking is very challenging.”

Three bagels at a time turned

into up to a thousand a day that she’d make in the wee hours at Badamo’s for her pop- up events at farmers markets and local coffee shops. And despite Pittsburgh being home to one of this country’s most historic Jewish neighborhoods, she had few takers.

“You would think there would be some more.”

Ms. Taube has a cadre of eight bagel makers, which includes her two sisters. Redhawk Coffee in Oakland will provide java for the shop, where bagels start at $ 2.50 and come in plain, sesame, poppy and garlic and sea salt. Toppings include nova lox, whitefish and six kinds of cream cheese sand spreads.

Pigeon Bagels: 5613 Hobart St., Squirrel Hill; 412224- 2073; https://pigeonpgh.com.