Bon Appétit names Raleigh bagel shop one of the best in the country

Drew Jackson

The fire-kissed bagels of a popular Raleigh bagel shop have been named some of the best in the country.

Well, the best in the country beyond the Big Apple.

The food magazine Bon Appétit published a list this week highlighting the 25 best bagel shops in America — that aren’t in New York.

(Many of us already knew that great bagels exist beyond New York, so kudos to Bon Appétit for trying to move beyond this tired and condescending belief.)

The list features shops all over the country that are pushing the bagel sphere in new and exciting directions.

One of those shops is Raleigh’s Benchwarmers Bagels.

“Benchwarmers affirms that the athleticism required to push yourself to greatness can be realized off the field and channeled into something as unassuming as your morning bagel,” writes Raleigh’s Brigid Washington in Bon Appétit, playing on the restaurant’s second string name.

Baker Ava Broadwell adds freshly baked bagels from the wood-fired oven into the bagel bins on Tuesday morning, Oct.15, 2019, at Benchwarmers Bagels in Transfer Co. Food Hall.
Baker Ava Broadwell adds freshly baked bagels from the wood-fired oven into the bagel bins on Tuesday morning, Oct.15, 2019, at Benchwarmers Bagels in Transfer Co. Food Hall.

Located in the Transfer Co. Food Hall in downtown Raleigh, Benchwarmers opened in 2018, making hand-rolled, sourdough bagels that are boiled in honey-seasoned water and baked in a wood-burning oven.

The result is a firm, crusty exterior that’s pillowy and richly flavorful inside like a great loaf of bread, all with a pleasant chew. Benchwarmers bakes the classics, with obligatory everything, poppyseed, sesame and so forth varieties, plus some Southern creations, like a weekly grits bagel.

But perhaps where Benchwarmers shines the brightest is its roster of bagel sandwiches, with Bon Appetit highlighting the duck rillette with sour cherry cream cheese. Other favorites include a cheesy egg scramble that’s heavy on the Duke’s Mayo and a smoked fish schmear with kettle cooked potato chips and trout roe.

The sandwiches, a wildly eclectic selection ranging from fried bologna to duck rillette, each available on your choice of bagel are the star attraction at Benchwarmers Bagels in downtown Raleigh’s Transfer Co. Food Hall.
The sandwiches, a wildly eclectic selection ranging from fried bologna to duck rillette, each available on your choice of bagel are the star attraction at Benchwarmers Bagels in downtown Raleigh’s Transfer Co. Food Hall.

Benchwarmers opened as a collaboration between Josh Bellamy and Sam Kirkpatrick of Boulted Bread and Andrew Cash of Jubala Coffee, with John Knox as chef and bagel sandwich wizard.

This isn’t the first Bon Appétit love Benchwarmers has enjoyed. In 2019 the still fresh bagel shop was named one of the magazine’s 50 best new restaurants in the country.

A fresh cardamom bun out of the wood-fired oven at Benchwarmers Bagels in Transfer Co. Food Hall.
A fresh cardamom bun out of the wood-fired oven at Benchwarmers Bagels in Transfer Co. Food Hall.
The #4 sandwich is made up of lox, a deviled egg spread and shaved onion on a bagel of your choice at Benchwarmers Bagels in Transfer Co. Food Hall.
The #4 sandwich is made up of lox, a deviled egg spread and shaved onion on a bagel of your choice at Benchwarmers Bagels in Transfer Co. Food Hall.

Reviews: Benchwarmers Bagels and Big Dom’s Bagel Shop elevate Triangle’s bagel game

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