Present-day San Diego is far removed from 17th-century Eastern Europe. The one commonality between these disparate worlds is a culinary staple with a curious hole in the middle, otherwise known as the bagel. Though its precise origins remain debated, this regional staple, long associated with Jewish immigrant communities, crossed the ocean with those carrying their traditions toward a new life, ultimately becoming an enduring icon woven into the cultural fabric of New York City.
Michael Rabinowitz was born in Brooklyn, New York, an epicenter of bagel-making. From that storied, multicultural borough, he brought an uncompromising sense of craft to the measured rhythms of San Diego. With a doctoral degree from Stanford, he built a 32-year career in the pharmaceutical industry as an organic chemist. As retirement approached, he began to consider his next chapter. It was time for reinvention.
The turning point came unexpectedly. In San Diego’s East Village, Rabinowitz discovered a small artisanal croissant bakery opened by a photographer who had traded the darkroom for the patisserie. Observing the rhythms of the shop, he began to imagine his own next chapter. Drawing on the meticulous nature of a chemist and a deep love of food, he set out to create an artisanal bagel shaped by the streets and soul of New York. With a rare ability to taste, retain and recreate flavor from memory, he recognized in the bagel the contours of his next pursuit…