According to an article from Everout, Sincerely Bagel aims to debut in the Kerns area at 525 NE 24th Avenue.
“We are currently in the process of constructing our space,” Jin Kim of Sincerely, Bagel told What Now Portland. A Bridgetown Bites article lists the projected opening date as sometime in February 2025, and that the new concept will offer Korean bagels.
“Additionally, the ORSOS docs indicate the purpose of Sincerely, Bagel is “bagel production, coffee, cafe.” And shortly after the business was registered with the state, so was sincerelybagel.com (website is essentially blank).”
“When people talk about bagels here in the U.S., usually they mean New York-style bagels, which are traditionally boiled (though there are some places that steam them … I’m looking at you, Noah’s Bagels) then baked, and have a chewy consistency. There are also Montreal-style bagels, which tend to be sweeter and denser than NY-style. These are the two styles I’m personally familiar with, but I have since learned that there are others.”
“Apparently, Korean-style bagels are not as chewy as the NY-style. Over on the ZenKimchi blog, they explain: “The Korean style bagel is characterized by not being as chewy as the North American versions. This I find surprising, as the Korean palate leans towards chewy textures (tteokbokki, chewy bacon, chewy Jeju black pork, savory jellies–I could make a big list and another post about this). They’re also moister.”
“As I imagined, the cream cheese options offered to go with Korean-style bagels would include Korean ingredients. ZenKimchi lists out buchu (Chinese chives), raw garlic, and sweet red beans as elements in flavored schmears. But just like with NY-style bagels I’m familiar with, they load on the cream cheese.”