Today is Fieldtrip day once again. I have worked all week in the North Satellite at SEA-TAC. Specifically in the Great American Bagel Store. The bagels are delivered fresh and warm each morning. The many variety of bagels are turned into breakfast or lunch sandwiches, with numerous topping and sides. The store sales range in the high $8-$9,000 dollar per day. That's a huge amount for bagels.
The tour of fieldtrip is to the Bagel Bakery. It is a rather small operation compared to what I had imagined. The owner greets us at the door and begins the tour with vim and vigor. In a small room thousands of platic containers were being labeled by the owners wife. In the next room the bakers were on lunch break.
We entered the mixing area of the bakeray and saw two large mixers. The ingredients used were high quality and no preservatives are used in the bagels. All the flavors and fillings are natural. Bowls of jalapenos and cheddar are used for the jalapeno cheddar bagel. one of my favorites.
They use an automatic bagel shaper to keep up with the high volume. The bagel dough is dense and needs to relax and proof for 24 hours. So the bagles are trayed up and placed in a retarder overnight. The oven and proofer are large and can hold 3 rolling racks at a time. With two ovens the bakery can easily increase its overall bagel production if needed. Once the bagels are cooked they are cooled by fans and then packaged in single or double bags that allow for a 3 day shelf life with same day freshness. At the airport we get the bagels right out of the oven, still slightly warm and on the trays. They will all be gone within the day.
Several new products were in the making here as well. Cheddar bacon bagels, Hotdog and bacon bagle, Sausage bagel and french toast bagels. They were awesome. We left with samples of many products both old and new. For lunch we went to an authentic Thai restaurant. A great ending to a great day.
So the field trip is over and I have some birthday money left over. I decide to go to the movies and catch the 128 to the MAll to see the X-Men First Class Show. The movie was awesome and then I went ot catch the bus to come home. In Seattle they stop the bus to the mall at 9pm on a Friday night. Gimme a break. SO I walked around the mall and in front of the main bar a lonely cab sat waiting to take me home. So much for a cheap movie. Oh well lesson learned.
The mall here, Southcenter that is, has a food court unlike any other mall I've visited. Almost 90% of the business are local. Sushi, Thai, Indian, Salads, Italian, Chinese, American and more. Each with a nice look and good food, but very few chains.
What a great way to serve the local economy.
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