Reel in King Salmon Sandwiches at Midnite Bagel’s New Weekly Series

Nick Beitcher opened Midnite Bagel’s Inner Sunset permanent outpost in the spring to much fanfare, busting out bagels and loaves of pumpernickel left and right. Now, Susan Kim’s pop-up Doshi is giving him the inspiration for a new series every Friday featuring local seafood sandwiches. The miniseries is called Fish of the Friday and will run every week from 8 a.m. until the fresh fish is sold out. Anchovy and king salmon bagels, and potentially even Doshi’s nori cream cheese, are all on deck for hungry fans. “We just want to mix it up a little bit,” Beitcher says. “King salmon season is almost over and we want to get that on the menu.”

Chef Susan Kim first popped up at Midnite Bagel on July 1 to crank out pickled local anchovies (of which there have been a ton this year), tonnato sauce, seaweed cream cheese, shiso, and pickles. It was such a success that Beitcher kept thinking about what an ongoing offering in that spirit could look like.

Kevin Law, who helps out in the kitchen and was the chef de cuisine at State Bird Provisions, is going to run the sandwiches at the first pop-up, but Beitcher is looking for other cooks to commandeer the event each Friday. He’d love to keep doing it ad infinitum, but says it depends on how the business is doing — it’s all trial runs for now. “Gjusta in Los Angeles is sort of the aspiration,” Beitcher says. “Their cured fish program is amazing. Our local fish bounty is amazing, it’s just a matter of setting the program up.”

Kim was born in Seoul and grew up in California, so she says her dishes are a direct confluence of those international cuisines. Doshi is actually short for the Korean word “doshirak,” which refers to a packaged meal or boxed lunch. Kim told Thrillist that since August 2020 she roves the country (with lots of pop-ups in Brooklyn) to bring her blend of upscale and working-class food to eager diners. “It’s been a slow ferment,” she told the online publication.