Toronto couple turn job losses into city's newest bagel delivery service
Toronto's newest bagel delivery service comes from a couple who lost their jobs recently.
Babe-o's Bagels was born in March 2021 after Laura Skene had been experimenting with her product for a year, sucked into the sourdough craze of March 2020.
She soon tried her hand at making bagels, with both sourdough mother and commercial yeast.
Friends and contacts started praising photos Skene posted of her bagels on Instagram so she started trying to sell some of them.
It worked.
She started up an official Instagram page for Babe-o's last month, and this month brought on her husband Brandon, who'd been laid off from his job at the Metro Convention Centre, to handle deliveries.
Bagels come in varieties like jalapeno cheddar, poppy, sesame and onion, and she also makes pepperoni pizza "babe-o bombs."
Prices start at $8 for six and $15 for 12. All bagels are made to order, and as she's at capacity to sell out each week she's considering adding more production days to her schedule.
"Though I have always worked in front-of-house positions I have developed a strong passion for cooking and baking in the last few years," Skene tells blogTO.
Prior to her budding bagel career, Skene worked in hospitality for over 20 years, managing event venues in Toronto, Calgary and Saskatoon.
She's worked in restaurants, hotels, nightclubs and catering and managed events at The ROM, Steam Whistle Round House, Globe and Mail Centre, Cabana, Rebel and Cube.
Her first gig at Hudson Kitchen was a 12 Years a Slave TIFF event with Brad Pitt in attendance.
Skene's job had ended, and she had intended to take a short break and relax for a little bit.
"COVID turned that break into a much longer one than I had intended," says Skene.
Brandon hopes to be back at work in 2022, but until then he's delivering the Babe-o's and has also taken a gig as an Uber Eats delivery driver.
"So we try and fit my delivery times on off peak hours for him, 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 3 to 4 p.m. Saturdays, and then he can still work the busy brunch and dinner services."
You can place orders Monday and Tuesday via Instagram DM for Saturday pickup in around College and Dufferin, or delivery in the area from Queen to Dupont and Lansdowne to Spadina.
Laura Skene
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