The city’s east end is about to get the flavour of a classic Montreal dish in a spot that is well known to residents.
The Salty Blonde Bagel Bar is opening in about two months at 298 Blake St., and will take over the former Nino’s Italian Restaurant, which served the east end for close to 50 years.
Salty Blonde Bagel Bar co-owner Randy Feltis, who also owns The Farmhouse, says he has been dreaming about opening a bagel place for a long time and saw the perfect opportunity in the empty Blake Street building.
“We truly don’t have a proper boiled bagel anywhere, like you would see in Montreal and New York. We’ve been trying like 100 different recipes it feels like, fine-tuning some,” Feltis told BarrieToday. “The idea is it would be cool to open a space that could be COVID-friendly in case we get wave number 10, with retail sales like a bakery with cream cheeses and schmears, but we also can’t let go of our restaurant background.”
Feltis says he had spoken to the family that ran Nino’s.
“Nino wanted to retire, his son was running it I believe, and they felt it was time to go, especially with COVID ongoing," Feltis says.
The Salty Blonde Bagel Bar will also have a “cool bar vibe with a cocktail program and coffee program and a place where you can hang out," he added.
“A lot of bagel places you go to aren’t necessarily inviting. The lights are too bright and it’s as if they are just there to serve you the product and move you along,” Feltis says. “We want the opposite of that with the deliciousness of classic bagels mixed with new menu items. It needed to be a place to meet up and hangout, especially where it is.”
Feltis says he loves Barrie's east end and what it offers as one of the oldest parts of the city and has very little in the way of what he and his partner are offering.
“There are obviously some places to sit and eat, but what we’re offering I don’t see. The whole east end that we’ve heard from is very excited and has been very inviting,” he says. “There will be a little patio to add to the action.”
Feltis, who is known locally as a bit of a foodie, and fiancee (and co-owner of the new bagel bar) Katherine Grace Moore have even launched a Tik Tok account, @katherinewants, to showcase the duo's love for food.
“We started around two years ago and it is basically a cooking channel that shares recipes and such. We’re up to about 700,000 followers, which is crazy,” Feltis says. “It's a lot of filming and providing content, but it's enjoyable and now we just love doing it.”
While bagels will be front and centre on the Salty Blonde menu, there will also be many dishes ranging from a cream cheese and craft doughnut to beef tartar and bagel crisps.
“We want to provide something to the east end that is special. We will be open seven days a week, breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Feltis says. “This is going to fit in so well with this end of town, but also, I feel, be a go-to spot for so many people.”
