Soon after moving to D.C. in 2011, Oliver Cox wondered where to find a satisfying bagel breakfast sandwich in his Logan Circle neighborhood. Options, he recalls, were lacking. So Cox took on learning the ins and outs of home bagel baking.
“I became a student of bread,” he says.
Nine years later, he and his wife, Allee Cox, have ditched their media careers to open the doors to Pearl’s Bagels, a bright storefront in Mt. Vernon Square. It’s the latest in a small but thriving community of bagel shops in the city, including local businesses like Bullfrog Bagels and Call Your Mother deli.
Located across the street from the Washington Convention Center, the shop is named after the couple’s Brindle French Bulldog. It’s the culmination of years of research, education, and eating that started in his home kitchen.
“We had probably every bagel in D.C.,” says Oliver, who grew up in New Jersey. “We bought every bread book ever.”
Oliver and Allee, herself from Massachusetts, are the entire operation. They traveled for five months learning all they could about bagels. Their journey included stops at the King Arthur Flour baking school in Vermont, as well as some bread scouting in Paris.
“We pulled elements from all of the things that we liked after doing extensive research in New York, Montreal, and even Boston and New Orleans,” Oliver says.
Pearl’s hand-rolled bagels get their flavor from a sourdough starter (it has a name: “Joe”) and are boiled in water with a touch of honey before being baked in a single-deck oven. As far as style, Pearl’s is looking to be a good bagel without adhering to a specific regional code.
“We’re trying to break the mold of being put in a box of Montreal or New York,” Oliver says.
Debut varieties will be straightforward: plain, everything, sesame and cinnamon raisin. And for those who are wondering, toasting will be permitted.
Pearl’s took orders for 600 bagels a day over opening weekend, with the first allotment selling out in two hours. Service will resume with same-day ordering will launch this Thursday, July 16. Once they’re fully staffed and up-to-speed, Cox estimates they’re set up to crank out 250 bagels an hour—about 2,000 over an entire day.
“We want to be making them fresh throughout the morning,” Oliver says. “If you came in at 9:30, hopefully you are having a bagel that came out less than an hour ago.”
The near-term menu will be modest and to-go only. Customers can order online for same-day pickup. Options include individual bagels ($2 each) and on weekends, build-your-own bacon, egg and cheese ($37) and lox sandwich kits ($40). Along with a variety of cream cheese spreads, Pearl’s offers a hot jalapeño cheese spread ($7), a riff of pimento cheese inspired by Allee’s grandmother. Small World Coffee provides cold brew, and Pearl’s also sells its everything bagel spice mix. Sandwiches and other goods will be introduced later on.
Pearl’s is set up to offer several indoor tables when the time is right. For now, the Coxes say they look forward to serving up breakfast to a neighborhood that, until now, had no bagel shops.
“We’re just hoping to be able to help bring good bagels to this part of town,” Oliver says.
Pearl’s Bagels is located at 1017 7th St. NW. Open Thursdays-Saturdays from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. or until sold out.
