HONOLULU — While the world shut down to stop the spread of COVID-19, Talia Bongolan-Schwartz was in Oahu, where she had moved to attend graduate school, missing her home: New York.
In her freezer, she kept a stash of bagels, her comfort food, which she had hand carried on the plane from New York to Hawaii. One day, she realized they were all gone. Talia’s wife, Kelly Bongolan-Schwartz, convinced her that together they could fill the void by making bagels. It took a few tries, but eventually, the pair made a bagel that tasted like home.
“We just got to a point where I tasted it and there was just nostalgia,” Talia said while talking with Spectrum News.
This was the beginning of Tali's Bagels & Schmear. In Nov. 2021, the couple started selling their bagels via Instagram before expanding to the Kakaako and Kailua farmers' markets. This month, they opened a brick-and-mortar store in Ward Village.
In order to create a perfect New York-style bagel, Talia said they make them the traditional way. They use four ingredients: water, flour, salt and malt. The bagels are boiled and then baked.
“A lot of other places locally, they’ll steam the bagels … But when you're doing that, you don't get the same chewy crust that we're looking for. And that's what makes a New York-style bagel different is the chew,” said Talia.
About two years after Talia moved to Hawaii, she met Kelly. The pair got married last year in August. Talia is a Jewish New Yorker, and Kelly, who grew up on Oahu, is Filipino.
“Kelly is culturally Jewish,” Talia said. She described how her wife embraced Jewish food, now celebrates every Jewish holiday, and started the conversion process. “She has really taken it on as her own and something that she cares a lot about, too.”
The bagel flavors served at Tali’s Bagels & Schmear are classics: plain, poppy seed, black and white sesame, and everything. However, the schmears are where they add a Hawaii twist. (“Schmear” is a Yiddish word that refers to a spread that goes on a bagel.)
“The schmears is where we do all different kinds of fusion,” said Talia. “Much of what we offer is a blend of cultures.”
While their schmear menu rotates, it may feature furikake lox schmear, lomi lox schmear, haupia schmear, ube schmear, smoked local eggplant schmear, and zesty za’atar schmear.
They make their schmears from scratch, with cream cheese from whole milk and vegan options from tofu. Plus, many of their ingredients are purchased from local businesses and farms in Hawaii.
Along with feeding their customers, Talia and Kelly are sharing with them the Jewish history of bagels.
In the Middle Ages, an antisemitic law banned Jews in Poland from baking bread and selling it. Eventually, that law changed, but Jews were then limited to making and selling boiled bread.
“It was Ashkenazi Jews who were fleeing Poland, who brought bagels to New York. … They would sell them in pushcarts on the street,” said Talia.
Talia said one of the most rewarding parts of starting Tali’s Bagels & Schmear is feeding fellow Jewish New Yorkers who have moved to Hawaii. She said many have said the bagel’s flavors and textures transport them to their former lives in New York, allowing them to relive memories.
Along with sharing New York-style bagels with those who grew up eating them, Talia said it is a joy to introduce them to people in Hawaii who may not be familiar with them. However, she said for some there is a learning curve.
“A lot of people are really surprised that we don’t have blueberry bagels,” said Talia. “They’re used to the most commercialized version and the supermarket version (of bagels).”
Talia said her and Kelly’s dream is to one day transform their bagel shop into a “proper New York-style deli with a local twist.” Currently, the couple uses a commercial kitchen in Downtown Honolulu, where they make the bagels before bringing them over to the shop. In their dream deli, the kitchen would be at the back, with fresh bagels and smoked local fish being made all day.
Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.