To Build a Bakery is an ongoing series from Craft to Crumb featuring stories of growth for bakeries of all scales. From establishing a first brick-and-mortar location to multiple shops and beyond, the series connects with bakers from across the country about how they’re scaling up their businesses. If you would like your bakery’s story to be considered for the series, please email Annie Hollon at annie@avantfoodmedia.com.
KINGSTON, NY — There’s no detail about Fantzye Bagels that was not planned without meticulous thought and detail. From the name — derived from the Yiddish word for “fancy” — to the specific process behind the naturally leavened bagels, every step in the creation of the bakery was done with intention.
That attention to quality even earned the bakery the Best Beyond the Boroughs accolade at this year’s New York BagelFest, a trade and consumer show for the bagel industry.
But before the bakery could open its doors and earn acclaim in the industry, it began as a pop-up concept at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic on Martha’s Vineyard.
On-the-go business
Elana Carlson, owner of Fantzye Bagels, is no stranger to the food and beverage industry or its specific role on Martha’s Vineyard; she went into business with 10 years of restaurant and hospitality experience under her belt, which included previous roles on the island at the Beach Plum Inn and Behind the Bookstore.
At the time, she was living in Los Angeles and would work seasonally on Martha’s Vineyard. She initially intended to stay just through the summer of 2020, but the pandemic made her shift gears.
The impact of the shutdown offered a unique opportunity to get bagels to customers around the island. Elana began the business on a pre-order model for “bagel kits,” complete with pickles and schmears crafted in-house along with other regional elements such as smoked bluefish.
“We would bag everything up and go to different locations around the island for people to come outside and pick up their orders,” she recalled. “It lent itself well to the pandemic.”
The COVID era also offered Elana different retail opportunities, such as a partnership developed with State Road, a contemporary tavern housed in West Tisbury, MA.
“This restaurant had traditionally held Sunday brunch but stopped because of the pandemic,” she said. “They still wanted something for their regulars to be able to go to, so they offered coffee and pastries on Sunday mornings. We then transitioned our bagel kit pickup to that time.”
Pop-ups and bagel kit deliveries helped the business get off the ground on the island. But to expand further, the Fantzye team put the concept on wheels.
In their second year of business, Elana purchased a food trailer on Martha’s Vineyard and renovated it.
“It was a challenge because we renovated the whole thing in a project,” she said. “We were able to make a pretty serious revenue off of serving sandwiches at the market, and it helped get our product out more, so it was worthwhile.”
The truck offered customers the quality that Elana wanted for her offerings, including loose bagels and bagel sandwiches topped with local ingredients, as well as an open the door for other opportunities such as evening events.
“We could have done service on some level with a table and toaster, but I am not one to do something half-speed,” she said. “The trailer allowed for a nicely presented, consolidated and easy way to move and do bagel service.”
The bright yellow truck, brandished with Fantzye’s signature blue bagel print, raised the brand’s image around the island and became a fixture at the West Tisbury Farmers market. It also offered a way to expand its reach.
“As long as you have a central commissary or brick-and-mortar space to operate from, there are a lot of possibilities,” Elana said. “There’s a lot of different markets up here, so it’s a nice way to be able to tap into those.”
A classic revived
It took some trial and error to land on the formulation that comprises Fantzye’s bagel offerings. Elana began testing the recipe at home, which revealed the need to switch from commercial yeast to a sourdough base and a longer ferment period.
Fantzye’s first official batch was mixed in a commissary kitchen and later shaped and baked at a friend’s restaurant, which housed a convection oven. When fall ascended on Martha’s Vineyard, a slot opened to rent some kitchen space with a rotating deck oven and a large walk-in fridge.
“I bought a big commercial bagel mixer we had installed in the commissary space so we would be able to mix a batch easily and not have to worry about the equipment failing,” she shared.
Elana and her team referenced videos of old-school bagel makers and crafted some custom burlap-wrapped bagel boards to perfect the process. Fantzye eventually developed its flagship product to have some key distinguishing traits: a distinct crunch from being baked in a rack oven and a lighter, chewy composition.
A new home
Martha’s Vineyard was not the easiest place to operate a food trailer, and when the commissary kitchen Fantzye Bagels was operating out of shuttered, the door swung open for the next phase of the business.
After moving off the island in fall 2022 and being unable to find commercial kitchens that could accommodate the bagel business’ needs, it became apparent to Elana and the team that they would need to find a space of their own.
“I figured, why not have it be a retail location instead of a wholesale situation?” she recalled.
Six months in on building out a different space that eventually didn’t pan out, Elana decided to take a break from location hunting. A fateful conversation during a pop-up at a distillery in the latter half of 2023 cleared a path for Fantzye’s current location.
One of the people running the distillery tipped Elana off to a space in Kingston, NY, that was available. Located in a corner flatiron building with great landlords and an ideal location with the community, the pieces fell into place.
“I came and looked at it, and I fell in love and had that ‘a-ha’ moment with the space,” she said.
She signed the lease about a year ago and construction commenced in June, with Elana as the primary contractor.
“I hired a builder to do things like carpentry and tile, and now we’ve transitioned to doing the finishing work ourselves,” she said.
Funding the future
Creating a business is a financial challenge all its own, and Fantzye Bagels took a variety of paths to get it across the finish line.
Elana shared that the bakery received a low-interest loan from a local bank with the interest being subsidized by a nonprofit organization. In addition to some equity investors, Elana also put in some capital from previous operating years into the shop.
The majority of funding came through Honeycomb Credit, a platform where local businesses can host investment offerings. At the close of the campaign, the bakery received an investment of $75,000 from 89 investors at a 13.5% interest rate. This helped with construction costs such as installing a commercial hood system and upgrading essential utilities.
NuMarket, a crowdfunding resource specifically for the food and beverage industry, also provided a way for the bakery to raise more money. Each individual that offers funding receives 20% more than they contributed as credits to use at the business. From this, Fantzye was able to raise $16,227 from 132 contributors.
Now open in the Hudson Valley
After its Nov. 29 grand opening, the bakery is settling into its routine — operating Tuesday through Sunday — and expanding its team, with a commitment to creating an empowering space for employees.
Fantzye Bagels’ on-the-go origins and proof of concept gave Elana the confidence to establish roots with a storefront. A similar approach could be helpful for budding bakery entrepreneurs.
“Test your concept in some way that doesn’t involve serious financial commitment, if possible, before taking the step toward building out a space,” she advised. “I feel a lot more comfortable about the investment knowing our product has been developed over many years and tested in a variety of markets through pop-ups.”
