Bagel News

Dallas' Starship Bagel makes the cut for 2025 New York Bagelfest

Starship Bagel

A Dallas bagel shop will compete in a national contest to try and win (again): The contest, called New York BagelFest, is an annual bagel competition that takes place in New York in the fall, and this year's competitors will include Starship Bagel, the award-winning Dallas chain.

Starship will be one of 23 bagel purveyors from around the globe participating in the event, which bring together thousands of bagel lovers, bakers, and brands from around the globe in a celebration of all things bagel, with bagels, bagel sandwiches, speakers, games, photo ops, and demonstrations. The event climaxes with contests for Best Bagel, Best Schmear, and People's Choice.

The 2025 event takes place on Sunday November 16 at Citi Field, AKA the home of the New York Mets.

This marks the third year Starship is competing, following 2023 and 2024 — both of which saw them win awards including Best Bagel in 2023 and Best Schmear in 2024.

Starship founder Oren Salomon says they're taking 2025 in stride.

"We look forward to expanding our medal count, hopefully bringing home another gold or two," he says. "Obviously we have our eyes on the top prize. Utopia will be tough to upset. They are a heavy favorite as the most famous and celebrated bagel shop in the world. I was super happy for Jesse and the entire Utopia team when they won last year. We may compete on November 16, but we are friends 365 days a year including at Bagelfest."

Starship Bagel has enoyed a meteoric rise since Salomon opened the first location in Lewisville in 2021. A second location opened in downtown Dallas in 2023, and a third opened in North Dallas in 2024.

They've since racked up national awards such as a James Beard nomination in 2025 and an appearance on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives in June 2025.

The 2025 BagelFest competitors include:

Starship Bagel
Utopia Bagels
St. Viateur Bagel
Ess-a-Bagel Bagel
Bagel Market
Fantzye Bagels
Holey City Bagels
Wheated
Flour Moon Bagels
Craft Bagel Co.
B's Bagels N Butters
Emerald City Bagels
Tilly Bagel Shop
Curley's Bagels
Si Si Bagels
Bagizza
Baltik's Bagels
Potchke
Dutchman's Wood-Fired Bagels
Backyard Bagel Co.
Town Bagel

"I feel confident that we will be competitive in almost every category," Salomon says. "But the more important thing to me is to present our best. If we do our best, I’m happy to live with any result from the judges."

More participants and judges are still to be announced.

Starship Bagel team competing at New York Bagelfest. Facebook

awards bagels

Omakase News

Downtown Dallas restaurant Sauvage expands with new dining twist

Sauvage

A downtown Dallas restaurant famous for its multi-course tasting experience is letting its hair down: Sauvage, the high-end mom-and-pop restaurant near the Statler Dallas hotel, has a new dining option that gives a smaller, more casual taste.

The restaurant opened in September with a set menu featuring 16 to 18 courses — wild game, seafood, vegetables, and dessert — all cooked via grill and smoker.

While 16 courses might sound like a lot, the courses are mostly small bites. However, owners Casey and Amy LaRue received feedback from diners wanting a smaller option.

"We were getting a ton of messages from guests who want to stop by just to try one dish, a bite, or a specific pairing without committing to the full tasting — so we built something for exactly that," Casey says.

They've introduced a new three-course "Cocktails & Bites hour" featuring three dishes, each paired with its own cocktail, served from 5–6 pm on weekdays.

Last week’s menu consisted of:

dry-aged red snapper crudo with La Chinola Way, a cocktail featuring passionfruit, mezcal, lime, and ginger
foie gras & truffle on house-baked croissant with Pendennis Club, a gin sour with apricot liqueur bitters
jerk-spiced shrimp with Clarified Paper Plane, a bourbon cocktail with Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice

The new offering continues their pattern of pairing courses with cocktails rather than wine — an approach they've embraced since opening. "Limiting pairings to wine can get boring — it so often ends up being one expensive red after another," Casey says.

You can make a reservation on Tock, or just walk in and grab a seat.

Caviar
They've also added a new version of their classic menu: no caviar.

"Some love having caviar integrated into the menu, but others prefer to skip it, whether for taste or dietary reasons, but still want the full value of the experience," Casey says. "With such a small counter, this put us in a strange position: do we give everyone caviar whether they want it or not, or do we remove it entirely and lose a core part of our menu?"

Thus, a new menu without caviar, priced at $195, with an optional caviar course available for those who want it for $245.

downtown

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