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Tartine head baker Nick Beitcher is also the guy behind Midnite Bagel, a weekly (or so) pop-up that serves up wild, fermented bagels to pre-order and walk-in crowds. This week, the pop-up is trying something different: They’re serving a limited menu of bagels topped with a variety of options far beyond the standard schmear.
Beitcher just launched his side hustle this past May, slinging his bagels, babkas, and breads from Tartine’s various locations. By October the venture had expanded to a weekly affair, though things got a bit dicey last month, when Beitcher had to refund Thanksgiving week pre-orders after Tartine’s Guerrero Street location was briefly shuttered by the Department of Public Health.
While past pop-ups focused on serving up baked goods for later consumption, Thursday night’s will highlight more immediate treats, with a one-night-only menu of topped bagels including a Croque Monsieur (with ham, sundried tomato, and gruyere) and a smoked salmon bagel (with Zingerman’s cream cheese and pickled onion). For folks who have yet to tire of avocado toast, there’s also an avocado bagel with jalapeno, cilantro, pepitas, aleppo pepper (and optional soft-boiled egg), and the arguable star of the show, a pizza bagel with fior di latte (a mozzarella-like soft cheese), tomato, basil, and — as an add-on — natural uncured pepperoni.
While pre-orders for this week’s pop-up are already sold out, patrons are assured that walk-in customers will still be able to score some goods, if they arrive early. When they’re sold out, though, they’re sold out, at least until Beitcher and the rest of his crew settle on a permanent storefront.
What: Midnite Bagel’s topped bagel pop-up
When: Thursday, December 19 from 6-9 p.m.
Where: Tartine Inner Sunset (1226 9th Avenue, between Lincoln Way and Irving Street)
