Little Boat Bagels is targeting a late-November opening at 3213 W. McGraw St. in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood, owner Aaron Emas told What Now Seattle. The official timeline depends on permitting.
The shop is the newest concept from the team behind Backyard Bagel, which operates locations in Fremont and Laurelhurst.
“Our intention was to open another Backyard, but the more time we spent in the new shop, the more it felt like a square-peg-round-hole situation,” Emas said. “When you go to a Backyard, I want the experience to feel the same every time, and this just wasn’t it.”
Little Boat will use Backyard’s existing operating systems and resources, but the menu, branding, and experience will be different. The team is also creating a new bagel specifically for the Magnolia shop.
“For this project, we’re developing a new sourdough recipe that will be unlike any other bagel in the city,” Emas said. “Think open crumb, glassy crust, and lots of blisters.”
The team will bake the bagels on cedar boards in a deck oven. An open kitchen will let customers watch each batch be boiled, baked, and transferred into baskets.
“We’re not trying to be the bagel of your NYC childhood or compete with someone’s nostalgia,” Emas said. “We’re still working within the rules of bagels, but we aim to be different.”
Little Boat will also serve open-faced bagel sandwiches influenced by smørrebrød, the traditional open-faced sandwiches Emas ate during his time in Copenhagen. The shop will use the format to experiment with ingredients and presentation.
“This concept is going to be a creative outlet for me and our talented team of chefs and bakers,” Emas said.
The shop’s name has connections to both Seattle and Copenhagen. Emas regularly fishes for salmon from a small boat on Puget Sound. Little Boat also pays tribute to the Gerda III, a Danish vessel that helped carry about 300 Jewish people out of Nazi-occupied Denmark.
Follow Little Boat Bagels on Instagram for construction and opening updates.
