New Bagel Loft Offers Fresh Twist: The French Toast Bagel

A local bagel store is taking a new twist on the traditional bagel. 

When Elliott Marko took over Bagel Loft, at 359 Bloomfield Ave., about seven months ago just after Hurricane Sandy hit, he began offering a specialty bagel that few if any other bagel shops in the area have: the French toast bagel. 

A big, puffy bagel filled with the taste of cinnamon and sugar, Marko said got the idea from working at other bagel shops but added his own take to it. 

“You can put butter on it, you can put cream cheese, but the best part is, you don’t have to put anything on it,” said Marko. “You can eat it just the way it is.”

Marko, who steps into the bagel shop around 5:15 every morning to make fresh bagels, said the shop also offers deli sandwiches, specialty cream cheeses — veggie, olive and lox — and, of course, the classic Taylor Ham, egg and cheese.

A Jersey boy who now lives in East Hanover, the 24-year-old business owner began working at bagels shops when he started at Montclair State University, “and that’s how my love affair with bagels began,” Marko said with a laugh.

Over the years, Marko said he worked at and picked up ideas from Hot Bagels Abroad in Montclair, Bloomfield Best Bagels in Bloomfield and a shop in Pompton Lakes.

“I take the things that I like from this place and that place,” said Marko. “I took what I saw from other places and cultivated it into my own.” 

This “love affair” is what pushed Marko into taking over Bagel Loft and pushed him away from his college major of broadcasting. 

“I like the social aspect of it,” said Marko, who said he is beginning to generate a following of early morning regulars since he took over the bagel shop from the previous owner. 

Taking a coffee break from working at Smith & Company next door, Mike Dion walked into the Bagel Loft and said he stops by there "everyday, and "sometimes twice a day." 

"There's a little bit of a sweetness" to the bagels, said Dion.

Bagel Recipe: The Proof is in the Poof

Have you ever wanted to make your own bagels? If so, try making a batch using a recipe suggested by Marko. 

• 1 oz. of flour
• 1.5 tsp. of yeast
• 3-4 cups of warm water
• a “handful and a half” of brown sugar
• 3 tsp. salt

Adding a little of the water at a time, mix the above ingredients together until they are combined into a sticky ball. Cover in a bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for about 10-15 minutes. 

Next, rip off a piece of dough, roll and form into the shape of a bagel.

You want the dough to be “poofy,” said Marko. To see if the bagels are poofy enough, drop them one at a time into a bowl of water after you formed them. If the bagels float, they are ready; if they sink, the bagels need more time for the yeast to rise. 

Once the bagels are poofy, drop them into a pot of boiling water for about 15 seconds, remove and then cook in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.