1. 7/28/2016 With Bowery Bagels, Madigan Brings A Little New York to Portland | Daily Blender
http://www.dailyblender.com/2012/06/with-bowery-bagels-madigan-brings-a-little-new-york-to-portland/ 1/5
Michael Madigan crosses the street like a New Yorker.
As we passed his KitchenCru(http://www.kitchencru.biz) –
a culinary incubator designed for small food startups
to create and build products – on the way to his
Bowery Bagels shop opening next week, I couldn’t
help but think Madigan has a reason to walk fast and
not bother with petty things like crosswalks.
KitchenCru, open for nearly a year and utilized by
thirty-eight regular clients, has kept him plenty busy.
But being obsessive about quality and even more
fanatical about the creating the right New York bagel
(he’s originally from Brooklyn) has added one more thing to his ever-growing list of
additions to the Portland food scene.
Located across the street from his KitchenCru space in Northwest Portland, Bowery
Bagels(http://www.bowerybagels.com), slated for an of cial opening of June 16, will be
modeled after a typical grab-and-go New York bagel spot, but with a unique twist.
Along the walls will be a few shelves and refrigerated space for the products being
lovingly created across the street at his culinary incubator. With a creative, detail-
oriented thinking developed over several years in the software industry, Madigan is
also equally genuine as he is motivated. When I recently sat down with him to talk
about KitchenCru and his latest culinary startup, I found comparing to-do lists. Two
jobs and an occasional gym trip, Kat? I thought to myself. That’s all you’re going to do
today?
Q: What made you decide to start a culinary incubator? What was your idea in
creating it?
WITH BOWERY BAGELS,
MADIGAN BRINGS A
LITTLE NEW YORK TO
PORTLAND
B Y K A T V E T R A N O ( H T T P : / / W W W . D A I L Y B L E N D E R . C O M / A U T H O R / K A T V E T R A N O / ) / J U N E 7 ,
2 0 1 2

2. 7/28/2016 With Bowery Bagels, Madigan Brings A Little New York to Portland | Daily Blender
http://www.dailyblender.com/2012/06/with-bowery-bagels-madigan-brings-a-little-new-york-to-portland/ 2/5
A: Well, it did not spring forth from my head, that’s for sure. It was kind of
evolutionary process. I spent twenty-six years in IT, then took a year off, built a
house, tried to gure out what I wanted to do next. I moved out to Portland in 1987. I
was looking into alternative energy sources, everything from solar to tidal energy
and things like that. That industry wasn’t mature yet, so it wasn’t a good t. Then I
started thinking I wanted to do something with food and wine. Food has always been
an important part of my life, going back to family days, and moving out to Oregon
when we did. We started jumping onto the wave of farmer’s markets, buying a whole
animal, learning to butchering it, beer making, wine making, and cheese making. We
had the access to the ingredients and the know-how here in Portland.
So it had always been a passion of mine, and the year I took off I spent a little time
doing pro bono consulting for some friends of mine. One owned a wine bar, another
who owned a little bistro. I recognized the fact there were a lot of very talented
people in food that didn’t have the business acumen or the capital to launch a
successful business. And so that got me along the track of thinking, well what would
work? What would be a good way to combine what I’m good at with what I love and
come out with an end product? If you think back to 2009-2010, that’s when food
carts were everywhere, in every article. And one day I asked myself, “I wonder where
these people are cooking?” That was kind of the genesis that got us down the path to
KitchenCru.
Q: How has KitchenCru changed in the year it has been open? What have you
learned about your customers/process since the opening?
A: One answer is that I didn’t really know what to expect. It was a different career.
There really was no business plan to follow. In terms of what changed in a year—the
thing that’s happened that I didn’t expect to happen so quickly was the sense of
community that formed among our client base. I thought that was going to really be
something that I would have to work at and encourage. And we did, but it kind of
happened organically. Partly because people were working next to each other who
have the same schedule. The one thing we did encourage that was important was
getting everyone to use one another’s products. So, we have one client who uses
Jacobsen Salt(http://www.jacobsensalt.com) in his product, because they make their salt
here, lots our clients are using Tails and Trotter’s pork products because they make
all their charcuterie here. For instance, when PieKu
Pie(http://www.facebook.com/piekupie) came here, [she] was using shortening, and has
now developed her recipe around the lard from Tails and Trotters. That kind of thing
goes on all the time. That sense of community, it’s a little food ecosystem contained
inside these walls. It’s been gratifying—it’s one of the things that keeps me excited
about it. Watching that happening.

3. 7/28/2016 With Bowery Bagels, Madigan Brings A Little New York to Portland | Daily Blender
http://www.dailyblender.com/2012/06/with-bowery-bagels-madigan-brings-a-little-new-york-to-portland/ 3/5
Q: So what gave you the idea to start a culinary incubator? Did you see someone else
do it that you wanted to model your business after?
A: Actually, I was only aware of one other one down in San Francisco. It’s called La
Cocina(http://www.lacocinasf.org). And it’s a not for pro t with an endowment. And their
mission is to have Latina women develop small food-based businesses. It’s a shared
kitchen, but it’s a different model. I only found one that was truly an incubator when
I researched it (that was not just a commissary) and it was a woman who was about
four months ahead of me. It was in Houston, Texas, called The Kitchen
Incubator(http://www.kitchenincubator.com). She was really helpful on the phone about
what she had planned. Her implementation strategy was a little different—she had
three different kitchens and you would rent out one kitchen for a certain amount of
time. I looked at that as a potential model, but the space was too limiting. I wanted
people to have access to the equipment. We have some fairly large equipment over
here that they didn’t over there. So just for us, the entire shared environment made
more sense than saying “Okay, you have this 500 square foot kitchen for however
many hours you need it.” That was the only one I was aware of then.
Since then, three or four others have popped up around the country and I’ve been
happy to do for them what Lucrece Borrego (of Kitchen Incubator) did for us in
terms of talking to them on the phone or email to say “Well, here’s what we’ve
learned.” And of course to answer your question directly, I’m not near crazy enough
to open a restaurant. Even if I did have that idea, my wife would probably beat it out
of me. I’ve seen others do it, but I’m not jumping into that at forty- ve, especially in
this town, with all these talented folks here. So again it became how do I combine
what I’m good at with what I love: well, I have that love of food and wine, and what
I’ve enjoyed and was good at was when I was a startup, and helping other startups
and launching businesses. That’s what melded it all together.
Q: Alright, let’s talk bagels. Walk me through the process of developing Bowery
Bagels. As a New Yorker, did you feel like it was a niche that needed to be lled in
Portland?
A: I moved out here twenty- ve years ago, and there was not a good bagel to be had.
So, I got my hands on a few old bagel recipes from some of my mother’s old
cookbooks, and over time, came up with a pretty good bagel recipe that we’d make
three or four times a year, just at home on special occasions. Last year when we
opened KitchenCru, one of the things we wanted to do was use the infrastructure to
spin off one of our own ideas. One of the rst things I did once the doors were open
was say, “Alright, I’ve got all this equipment, I’m going to learn to use it I’m going to
scale out my bagel recipe.” And I did exactly that, and I went through what everybody
goes through—learning that the equipment has a big impact on the recipe. For
instance, when you’re using a 40 or 60 quart Hobart mixer, the low speed on that is

4. 7/28/2016 With Bowery Bagels, Madigan Brings A Little New York to Portland | Daily Blender
http://www.dailyblender.com/2012/06/with-bowery-bagels-madigan-brings-a-little-new-york-to-portland/ 4/5
very different from speed number two on a home kitchen mixer. I had to tweak the
recipe—not ingredients, but on time and things like that, and take advantage of what
this equipment could really do. I generated some bagels and went out and actually
booked two wholesale accounts and planned on doing it in May, and then all the
sudden in June, word got out on KitchenCru and we just got really busy signing up
clients and learning how to operate a shared use kitchen. We still had the bagel idea
in the back of our mind. Then, back in December the news about Kettleman’s
happened. And I thought okay, I know Portland. I know what’s going to happen. If
Einstein came in and said “We’re not changing a damn thing but the name,” you know
people in Portland are going to be like, “it’s not a Portland product, therefore I’m not
going to buy it anymore.” And then when they went forward and said they were
going to change the recipes, it became a no brainer. We had our weekly pop-ups we
only advertised on social media, and had a fantastic response. You look at what’s
available, and there’s an opportunity here. And we partnered with
Stumptown(http://www.stumptowncoffee.com) for their coffee. One reason we decided to
go with Stumptown is that they’re as fanatical about their coffee as we are about our
bagels.
Q: Did you talk to any NY bagel chefs before you decided to open?
A: Nope. I am very much like that—I just said, if the idea feels good, we’re gonna try it.
That’s kind of what KitchenCru was, on a little bit of a larger scale. Since we had
KitchenCru, we’ve done a lot of things, we’re self-teaching ourselves.
Q: What’s your de nition of an authentic New York bagel?
A: It has to be boiled. It can’t be soft, a little crackle to the crust, it can’t be tough,
either. It has to have a crackle—I don’t call it a crust, I call it a crackle. The inside
needs to be chewy without being dense. You shouldn’t have to toast it unless it’s a
day old or more. Personally, I only toast a bagel if it’s a day or older. Or, if it’s been
frozen. A good bagel doesn’t need to be toasted. But if people like them, we’ll of
course toast them. It should have a tangy malty sweetness to it without being over
powering. I took in a catering chef to taste the bagels and he opened the box and
said, “Is that whole wheat our?” and I told him, “No, the color is the malt extract,’
and he said, “Well, I’ve never bought a bagel that color,” and I told him, “Well you’ve
never had a bagel from New York then.” They’re not big, either, no hamburger buns
with holes in them. Ours are about 4 ounces. Beyond that, I believe there are certain
things that don’t belong on bagels—we won’t make blueberry or chocolate chip
bagels. As a purist, I did not plan on making a cinnamon raisin bagel, but the demand
in wholesale was too high. So I came up with what I believe is a superior—we’re
calling it a Cinnamon Raisin Spice bagel.
Q: I’ve seen you’ve been playing with some pretty non-traditional avors though, like(javascript:)

5. 7/28/2016 With Bowery Bagels, Madigan Brings A Little New York to Portland | Daily Blender
http://www.dailyblender.com/2012/06/with-bowery-bagels-madigan-brings-a-little-new-york-to-portland/ 5/5
a kimchi schmear?
A: Yes, even though I’m a traditionalist, I think there’s room for a little bit of
innovation that will hold true to both what a bagel should be, but also hold true to
what Portland would want. Here’s what will likely be our menu when we open:
Bagels: Poppyseed, Onion, Whole Grain, Pumpernickel, Cinnamon Raisin Spice, Salt
Bagel, Everything (including crushed fennel)
Rotating Specials: MSG (miso soy ginger topped with sesame seeds and ginger),
Pastrami (pastrami style brine, ground spices, rye our, black pepper & coriander)
Schmears: Plain, Roasted Vegetable (sweet Walla Walla onions, fennel, garlic, grilled
vegetables), Fresh Herb (tarragon scallions, lemon juice, parsley), Smoked Salmon
(lox will eventually be available, but not the rst week), Kimchi (made from kimchi
from Tanuki(http://www.tanukipdx.com))
Rotating Specials: Fig Compote (rotate in and out), Foie Gras, Vegan Schmears
(Cashew based), Karam Catering’s(http://www.karamldc.com) Hummus and Baba
Ganoush
Housemade Nutella spread
Two breakfast sandwiches on bagels with mini omelets will be available, as well as
lunch sandwiches (served on Pearl Bakery Bread).
—
Portland has an appetite, and they’re willing to experiment. The avors may not be
traditional, but they’re in the true spirit of New York. And what’s more New York
than pastrami?
The standalone Bowery Bagels location opens its doors next Saturday, but bagels
will also available at all Stumptown Coffee locations, Floyds on NW 1st, JazzKats,
SuperJet, and the northwest location of Salt & Straw.
~Kat Vetrano
*Photo credit: Brandon Waller(http://www.bwaller. urdahl.com)
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