Dallas' top-ranked bagel shop is headed to bagel-town to compete in an international bagel contest: Starship Bagel, rated the best bagel in Dallas, is participating in the 2023 edition of New York BagelFest, taking place in New York October 21-22.

BagelFest is a celebration dedicated to all things bagel, with bagels, bagel sandwiches, speakers, games, photo ops, and demonstrations — all climaxed by "The Best Bagel" contest with more than two dozen contestants from around the world.

UPDATE 10-22-2023: Starship Bagel swept the festival, winning top awards for Best Bagel and Rising Star. The shop came in second place for Best Newcomer, and third for Best Shop Outside the Boroughs and for Best Showmanship.

Starship competed against more than 30 acclaimed bagel shops from across the country.

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Starship Bagel owner Oren Salomon says that BagelFest founder Sam Silverman reached out to him after Starship made a prominent list of the "Best Bagels in the U.S." by Bon Appetit magazine; Starship was the only bagel shop from Dallas and all of Texas to make the list.

"Apparently, there was also word-of-mouth from DFW tourists who've gone on his New York city bagel tours," Salomon says. "He was referring business to me in conversations 1500 miles away. Someone mentioned this at the counter and I sent him a thank you note and we started chatting a bit."

Salomon started his bagel operation at home before opening his first location in Lewisville in 2021. In 2023, he took the bagel world by storm when he opened a second location in downtown Dallas.

"For me to have a chance to bake bagels in New York City and serve them to New Yorkers, as myself, as Starship Bagel from Dallas, Texas, is such an opportunity," Salomon says. "It's also a massive honor to appear in the same building or competition as many of my idols in the bagel world, including Utopia and St Viateur, some of the best bagel shops in the world."

BagelFest founder Sam Silverman says they look for competitors with quality, integrity, and creativity.

"Each competitor is selected not just for their delicious bagels, but also for their unwavering dedication to the craft and their unique stories," he says. "Starship stood out to us, especially after their recognition as a top bagel shop in the country by Bon Appetit. Extensive conversations with Oren affirm that Starship truly deserves their accolade. We're eager to have them prove us right at BagelFest."

Salomon says he's looking forward to the challenge of baking as a guest in someone else’s bakery, in a new environment with different temperatures and humidity than he's used to.

"I’m confident I’ll bring my best and represent well for Texas," he says. "I was born in Brooklyn and this represents something of a homecoming for me even though I grew up and spent almost all of my adult life in Dallas. It’s my birthday weekend during the competition, so I feel like it’s an expression of coming full circle, a central theme in the bagel world where the bagel is itself a circle."