Last year, Bon Appetit declared that we were in the middle of the Great Bagel Boom. This past April, the New Yorker described a “bagel renaissance” happening well beyond the borders of New York City. Writing in the New York Times, Karen Stabiner recently took note of just how long people are willing to wait for a bagel at Los Angeles’s famed Courage Bagels.

Along with identifying how the once-humble bagel has become so hyped, these pieces all have something in common. They reference trendy bagel shops in cities all across the country, including Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix, and Portland — but not, pointedly, Seattle.

Up until recently, that wouldn’t have been seen as an oversight. When most people think of Seattle, they think of salmon, coffee, teriyaki, and hot dogs smothered in cream cheese and sauteed onion. They don’t think of bagels.

But they should.

The Seattle area has had bagels for a long time, but only recently could you say it boasts a bona fide scene. From local chains like Rubinstein Bagels and Blazing Bagels to pop-ups that sell out in hours, you could spend weeks trying to sample every bagel in the region. The modest bagel has moved beyond its Polish-Jewish roots and become a playground for some of the Seattle region’s best bakers to experiment with flavor profiles and presentation.

The options have become so varied that we can even start to create a taxonomy to classify them depending on what you’re looking for. Want a chewy bagel? Head to Madison Valley’s Mt. Bagel or Georgetown’s Bloom Bistro. Crave a bagel with crunch? Track down Hey Bagel’s latest pop-up or find Salmonberry Goods at the Ballard Farmers Market or its new Sunset Hill brick-and-mortar. Need to get a nostalgic New York-style fix? Make for Ravenna’s Bagel Oasis or 6th Borough Bagels in Olympia. Lox lovers need look no further than Loxsmith (Beacon Hill/West Seattle) and Old Salt (Fremont/Ballard). Seeking a bagel sandwich to savor? Head to Rachel’s (Ballard/Lake City), Howdy Bagel (Tacoma), Toasted (U District), Sully Eats (Fremont Sunday Market), or Backyard Bagel (Fremont).

And that’s just the tip of the sesame seed-crusted iceberg. Despite the influx of spots to score a bagel and cream cheese (or much more), there are no signs of this growth slowing down. Along with the recent openings of Backyard Bagel, Toasted, and 6th Borough Bagels, both Salmonberry Goods and Andrew Rubinstein’s Hey Bagel are eyeing brick-and-mortar locations by the end of the year. Meanwhile, many of the city’s “old guard” bagel slingers like Rachel’s and Rubinstein have recently added new locations. And considering that there are still plenty of bagel deserts around town (West Seattle, Columbia City, Queen Anne, and Rainier Valley come to mind), there’s no reason to think we’ve hit peak bagel.

What’s driving this proliferation? As Bon Appetit and the New Yorker noted, the entire nation appears to be swept up in this schmear sensation as each city and region attempts to establish its own version of the bagel. COVID-19 played a major role as well. Several Seattle-area bagel shops began as pandemic hobbies or pivots from restaurants needing to come up with an easy grab-and-go option (that’s how Manolin birthed Old Salt in 2020).

Don’t discount the impact of social media. The Instagram-worthy bagel sandwiches and presentations at Howdy Bagel, Toasted, and Westman’s remain constants in your feeds. And proving to all your followers that you made it through the Mt. Bagel line remains a badge of honor even a year after its return.

Then there’s the money factor. As the pandemic fades and prices rise, the desire to feel like you’re getting your dollar’s worth is paramount. Getting a bagel that causes lines and sellouts is pretty solid proof you’re not just on trend, but making wise dining decisions. It might just look like a bread circle but the bagel means a little bit more right now.

To say that Seattle bagels are “better” than New York’s is a fool’s errand. But there’s no denying that Seattle suddenly finds itself in the conversation among the many bagel boomtowns across the nation. The next time a major food publication puts out its roundup of the best bagels in the country, to leave out Seattle would be proof that it’s not actually paying attention.

Associated Press

Las Vegas Aces (25-13, 10-8 Western Conference) at Seattle Storm (24-14, 12-6 Western Conference)

Seattle; Tuesday, 10 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Seattle Storm will try to earn its 25th victory of the season when the Storm play the Las Vegas Aces.

The Storm are 12-6 against Western Conference opponents. Seattle is sixth in the WNBA with 34.6 rebounds led by Ezi Magbegor averaging 8.0.

The Aces’ record in Western Conference games is 10-8. Las Vegas is eighth in the WNBA with 34.1 rebounds per game led by A’ja Wilson averaging 12.0.

Seattle is shooting 43.4% from the field this season, 0.2 percentage points higher than the 43.2% Las Vegas allows to opponents. Las Vegas averages 7.3 more points per game (86.1) than Seattle gives up (78.8).

The teams meet for the fourth time this season. In the last matchup on July 10 the Aces won 84-79 led by 27 points from Jackie Young, while Jewell Loyd scored 28 points for the Storm.

TOP PERFORMERS: Loyd is averaging 19.7 points and 3.6 assists for the Storm.

Kelsey Plum is averaging 17.7 points and 4.2 assists for the Aces.

LAST 10 GAMES: Storm: 6-4, averaging 82.2 points, 31.9 rebounds, 20.8 assists, 9.2 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 80.3 points per game.

Aces: 8-2, averaging 82.8 points, 33.3 rebounds, 21.0 assists, 7.2 steals and 4.8 blocks per game while shooting 44.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.2 points.

INJURIES: Storm: MacKenzie Holmes: out for season (knee).

Aces: None listed.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

SEATTLE ― The day was lost before it even started.

First, it began in Seattle, where things have been futile for the Rangers for five seasons now. Futility is one thing, but hopelessness is something else. And when George Kirby takes the mound in Seattle against them, it’s as hopeless as it gets.

And Sunday was just another chapter in that saga. In a 7-0 loss to Seattle, the Rangers managed just one hit in seven innings against Kirby. In other words, more of the same. In six career starts against the Rangers in Seattle, Kirby is 5-0 and has allowed one run in 37 innings. The math comes out to a 0.24 ERA.

“We just can’t figure him out,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said.

They’ll get another chance next week when Kirby faces them in Arlington. There he’s much more vulnerable, having allowed four runs in 11 ⅔ innings over two more Seattle wins.

But, hey, at least in Arlington, the Rangers occasionally find a way to beat the Mariners. Seattle has become the latest portal to purgatory for the Rangers, joining Houston. The Rangers finished the season in Seattle 1-6. The lone win came on Thursday when they scored three runs late. They are 8-32 at T-Mobile Park since 2020, which is only slightly worse than their 11-35 mark in Houston. If the Rangers are going to contend for AL West titles again, these figure to be the two places they’d better learn how to win.

“It starts with their pitching,” Bochy said of the Mariners’ dominance in Seattle. “They’ve done a good job on us.”

In all the Rangers managed one baserunner Sunday on Ezequiel Duran’s second-inning single. He was erased by Carson Kelly’s double play. Relievers Trent Thornton and Eduard Bazardo pitched two perfect innings to finish if off. The Rangers sent the minimum number of hitters (27) to the plate. The last time they batted at least nine times and sent the minimum to the plate was Sept. 20, 2019. They’ve been no-hit twice since then and still managed more of a threat than they did against Seattle on Sunday.

In fact, the only thing that broke up the monotony of the beating was a stare-down between Seattle’s Randy Arozarena and Rangers catcher Jonah Heim after Arozarena hit a seventh-inning homer off Gerson Garabito that made it 5-0.

Arozarena gave a joyful batflip and followed with a leisurely stroll around the bases. When he crossed the plate, Heim followed him back towards the Mariners’ dugout for a couple of steps, presumably reminding him of the rules of proper celebratory etiquette. Arozarena was more intent on greeting Aquaman, er, teammate Julio Rodriguez, who was standing on the top step of the dugout holding Seattle’s home run trident. Arozarena proudly jammed the trident to the ground. The next time up, he got plunked in the arm with a 2-2 pitch by Garabito. The Mariners bench was ready to grab their pitchforks and rush the field. Arozarena suggested everybody chill. It seemed like a good idea.

“You know what: I don’t get caught up into that stuff anymore,” Bochy said. “It’s part of the game, it seems like today. And he had a good time with it.

“He got hit, but I don’t think [Garabito] would wait until the fifth or sixth pitch to do it. He was trying to go in there. It happens in baseball. You occasionally get hit. We got hit a time or two in this series, too. Anyway, he went down the line and it was over.”

Oh, it was over long before that.

It was over when George Kirby took the mound.

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