Bagelry In King Of Prussia Supports Eagles Autism Foundation

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA —As the Philadelphia Eagles team prepares for the 57th Super Bowl, 'Team Spread Love' is mobilizing to raise funds for the benefit of the Eagles Autism Foundation.

Wearing rainbow-colored T-shirts with “Spread Love” hearts embossed on them, employees at the new Spread Bagelry in Town Center, King of Prussia, were raising funds for the autism foundation and preparing to root for the Eagles.

“I am an Eagles’ fan,” said Tara Pellegrino, a corporate trainer, displaying a “Spread Love” tattoo, on her arm at the restaurant’s newest location. The company has another restaurant nearby in Wayne, Radnor Township.

“We are a family," she continued. "We encourage our employees to wear Eagles’ gear, and we have the Spread Love T-shirts for sale to benefit the Eagles Autism Foundation.”

Team Spread Love consists of employees at the Spread Bagelry restaurants who are raising funds to support the foundation, a nonprofit organization created by Jeffrey Lurie, the Eagles chairman, and CEO.

Pellegrino said the staffers take pride in their work and their mission to raise funds for autism.
The fundraising event includes a 5K, a bike ride, a sensory walk, and a virtual activity at Lincoln Financial Field on May 20.

The artwork on the T-shirt was designed by Ambrella, a Philadelphia and Los Angeles-based street artist. The shirts are available for sale in the stores and online here.

With autism in his own family, Lurie knows resources can make a difference.

Spread Bagelry History

Spread Bagelry opened its 10th location in January at the Town Center in King of Prussia.

In 2010, Spread Bagelry opened its first wood-fired Bagelry in Rittenhouse Square. The restaurant expanded to 16th Street, 24th and Walnut streets, 36th and Chestnut streets, and Fifth and South streets, Philadelphia; Wayne and Glen Mills in Delaware County; Bryn Mawr, Montgomery County, and Cherry Hill, N J.

Plans are in the works to open in Upper Dublin and Ambler, Montgomery County, and Mount Pleasant, S.C., a suburb of Charleston.

The restaurant features Montreal-style bagels that are hand-rolled, boiled in honey water, and baked in a wood-fired brick oven.

The flavors include rosemary/olive oil, blueberry/lemon, sesame, cinnamon/raisin, and plain. The menu includes bagel sandwiches with pastrami from New York City and all kinds of cream cheeses.

Baking a bagel

Before the lunch rush, baker Russell Schaum said the process involves setting the wood-burning stove to the perfect temperature and getting into a flow of putting the bagels in and out of the oven.

“Eating a lot of bread is a Philly thing, and now it’s just spreading,” he said of the new bagel store in the suburbs.

Schaum said he looks forward to the Super Bowl Sunday when the Eagles play the Kansas City Chiefs.

“It’s sad Andy Reid left us and got a lot of success, and now he is coming back here, and we have to shut him down,” said Schaum, who bakes between 600 and 1,000 bagels a day.

Gabriel Mazariegos, a manager, said he is not a football fan, but loves cooking and supporting the autism cause.

“I am 100 percent supporting autism awareness,” he said. “There are a lot of different ways that people process information.”

Just before the lunch crowd arrived, three Phoenixville area friends stopped in for bagels.

The women, Alison Curry, Carla Kline, and Beatriz Sanchez, enjoyed bagel sandwiches and getting caught up.

The friends said they went to another new bagel store, Sweet Brew, in Phoenixville, often.

They said they recently heard about the new Spread Bagelry opening up and wanted to try it.

“I loved it,” Curry said. “I had a plain bagel with turkey bacon.”