​Rainbow Bagels Are Your New Spring Treat
​A Colourful Twist on the Usual Plain Bagels
The rainbow bagel, already famous in New York, has finally arrived in London, bringing a colourful guilty snack to our list of favourite ones.
They have just started being sold in the Beigel Shop, down on Brick Lane, a couple of months ago, but it has been hard to keep up with the demand. Whether they have become so popular because of their sweet taste, or simply because they are Instagram friendly, no one can deny that the colours are indeed what makes this bagel so special.
The first shop is known as the ‘Yellow One’. Two doors down there’s another bagel shop, known as the ‘White One’, which is open 24/7 but only produces the rainbow bagels during the morning. When you enter, you can see the amount of pastries offered and numerous options in terms of fillings, all at generous prices, but what really gets your attention are the unicorn inspired bagels displayed.
Speaking with Haley, the store manager, it’s interesting to understand the consequences of the fascination and interest for these little rainbows: “We always sell out. On Sunday, from the morning, any morning, there’s a queue going outside the door and around 4pm we are sold out and people keep on coming in asking if we still have any.” Brick Lane Market goes on every weekend and, as she says, the location of the shop really helps for the bagels to be so popular. They try to get to people through social networks like Facebook and Twitter, by having really active pages and replying to customers’ messages frequently, but Haley says that Instagram is the most helpful tool: “People come in most of the times after seeing them on someone’s Instagram page and, when they see it for the first time and know that they are sold somewhere in London, they just get even more curious to try them out and to check if the colour matches the taste.”
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Selling an astonishing number 15,000 rainbow bagels a day, it’s easy to say that the Beigel Shop is successfully finding their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. In an ironic turn of events, Selfridges, the high street department store, following the Beigel Shop’s success, started to sell their own Rainbow Bagels. However, the unique tiny difference is the appealing difference of prices. While the little bakery sells them for 50p, Selfridges decided to charge £4.50 for a single bagel. So, if you want to save your pot of gold, you probably already know which rainbow to follow!
Naveen, one of the bakers in charge of these bagels, explained that the trick is to add some food colouring to the dough and mix it with love. “The rainbow ones are just a bit sweeter than the plain ones but that’s the only difference, I would say. It has been a lovely experience to see so many people coming just for a specific thing during these last two months and to see how popular they became in such a short period of time.”
Having the opportunity of actually trying one, we can officially agree with Naveen on how they’re just a little sweeter than the plain ones. The bagel is also a little bit sticky and can really make your smile colourful, so be careful with this last part, depending on who you’re sharing it with. We decided to taste one without a filling, to really taste the rainbow, but you have salty beef and cream cheese within the possible options.
