Although it has no sign or eye-catching show window, Maruichi Bagel in Tokyo's Shirokane-Takanawa district draws a steady flow of customers. Around noon, a variety of plump bagels--plain, sesame, onion and more--were piled up in the show case. "They're irreplaceable," said a woman in her 30s who had come all the way from Soka in Saitama Prefecture. She left after packing 10 bagels in her backpack. Miho Inagi, the busy owner of the shop, finds time to stand behind the counter in between making bagels. "It's a shame to shut myself up in the kitchen when the customers are here," she says.
It was during a trip to New York she made just before graduating from college that she encountered a bagel. She was so impressed by its almost juicy texture and taste that she quit her job to learn bagel-making at Ess-a-Bagel in New York. She opened her shop in Tokyo's Yoyogi-Uehara district in 2004. It was tiny, barely accommodating three customers at a time. But the bagels were chewy and sweet. Lucky shoppers got them fresh from the oven, still warm with a delicious wheaty aroma. Customers were soon lining up in front of the shop to get their bagels as soon as it opened.
At the counter, each customer was asked, "Which bagel would you like?" and "What about the filling?" If two fillings were ordered, the customer would be asked how the bagel should be cut: to separate the two fillings, or in a way that each half contained both fillings. When a customer couldn't decide, Inagi offered tips on the type of bagels that went well with certain fillings and chatted with the customer as she prepared the sandwich at the counter. She stuck to her personal style no matter how long the line outside became.
A year has passed since the store moved from Yoyogi-Uehara. The new store is bigger, and Inagi sells more bagels. But as in the former shop, the staff cheerfully take orders with a memo pad in hand during busy hours and chat with the customers while preparing the sandwich. The new shop certainly retains the atmosphere of the former 5-tsubo (16.5-square meter) shop.
* * *
Maruichi Bagel is open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (sandwiches are available from 11 a.m.). Closed Mondays and Tuesdays (and on June 20). Ten kinds of bagels are baked, including plain (180 yen) and blueberry (250 yen). Tuna and egg sandwiches start at 680 yen. Near exit 4 of Shirokane-Takanawa subway station.
http://www.maruichibagel.com