T

he Aug. 28 grand opening of 
Tov Bagel’
s new downtown 
Detroit location proceeded as 
planned, despite disagreeable weather. 
The newest bagel shop on the block is 
selling its innovative flavors and large 
schmear selection out of the ASHE 
Supply Co. café at 1555 Broadway 
St., via an outdoor, socially distanced 
walk-up counter.
Tov Bagel is the 
brainchild of Joe Penn, 
23, from Boston; 
Devon Malloy, 23, 
from Lancaster, Pa.; 
and Dan Lenz, 24, 
from Evanston, Ill. 
They all moved to 
Detroit’
s Woodbridge 
neighborhood in July 
2019 as members 
of the entrepreneur 
fellowship program 
Venture For America, and, as bagel 
fanatics, made weekly pilgrimages to 
the nearby Detroit Institute of Bagels. 
For the last year, the housemates 
also entertained each other by making 
experimental bagels on a breadmaker 
that once belonged to Malloy’
s grand-
mother. When COVID-19 kicked in, 
“we now had the opportunity to bake 
all the time because we were always 
home,
” Malloy said. 
“I’
ve eaten a bagel every morning 
for my entire life,
” said Penn, who was 
active in NFTY growing up. Though 
Penn is the group’
s only Jew, bagel cul-
ture has bonded the trio to Jewish life; 
they even celebrate Shabbat together. 
With most of Metro Detroit’
s bagel 
mainstays located in the suburbs, 
Tov saw an opening for their product 

in the city itself, and partnered with 
Dayne Bartscht, owner of Eastern 
Market Brewing Company, to bake 
and sell their bagels out of his ASHE 
locations. This June, Tov Bagel opened 
its first outpost at the Ferndale Project 
(formerly Axle Brewing Co.) on 567 
Livernois St. in Ferndale. Tov bakes its 
bagels in Ferndale but 
sells them from both 
locations.
The name, Penn said, 
doesn’
t just mean “
Good 
Bagel”; it’
s an hom-
age to “Tov” as Israeli 
slang. “[It’
s] more of an 
acknowledgment: ‘
Tov, I 
see you,
’
” he said. 
And what must be 
acknowledged are the 
fanciful flavors, which 
look to bridge the gap between old-
world bagel tradition and the millen-
nial/gen-Z appetite for cutting-edge 
baked goods. There are new spins on 
old favorites (sea salt with rosemary; 
black-and-white sesame) and orig-
inal flavors (za’
atar; cracked pepper 
asiago). Half of their schmears are 
vegan. Tov is betting that bagels are 
the next big thing among trendy 
foodies.
“I’
ve always felt that bagel shops 
have the ability to be a lot more cre-
ative than they are,
” Penn said. “Bagels 
are an awesome base that you can put 
so many cool things on.
”
The Tov team would like to open 
their own shop within the next year, 
barring a certain pandemic. They also 
hope to add challah to their lineup. 

continued on page 44

into a culinary career. “Every Friday night we would go 
to her house for Shabbat and cook and bake. Always 
cookies for dessert,
” Sam said. “
Growing up listening to 
her stories, hearing her rules in the kitchen and the tips 
and tricks, was a great learning experience.
” 
He also credits his being “
a child of the Food 
Network boom” for inspiring him to make cooking his 
life’
s calling. 
Upon graduating from the University of Michigan 
in 2012, Sam enrolled at the nationally renowned 
Escoffier Culinary School in Boulder, Colorado. After 
initial experiences in 
kitchens in Denver, Sam 
returned to Detroit where 
he was a sous-chef for two 
years at Gold Cash Gold 
in Corktown. Then in 
2016 came the call of the 
north.
“I was tired of the 
city and really like to be 
surrounded by the quiet 
of nature,
” Sam said. “It’
s 
more of my personality, 
and Traverse City fit the 
bill.
”
Over the next three years, Sam worked for Fustini’
s 
Oils & Vinegars, where he also taught at their onsite 
cooking school. “But I knew eventually I wanted to do 
my own thing,
” he said. 
That’
s when he had a brainstorm. Or, if you will, a 
bagelstorm. “Up here, there are absolutely no bagels at 
all,
” Sam said. At least not the kind that met his high 
standards in the Jewish tradition of a really great bagel. 
Perhaps this is a side effect of the tourist city hav-
ing little in the way of a Jewish community at all — 
although it is home to Congregation Beth Shalom 
(formerly Beth El), housed in the oldest continually 
operating synagogue in Michigan. But the “Up North” 
locale’
s appeal with Metro Detroit Jews this year seems 
to have grown, as Michigan’
s COVID-19 travel guide-
lines encourage intrastate tourism only.

I wanted to 
create my own 
bagel, not 
replicate a 
certain style.

— SAM BRICKMAN

cr

 SEPTEMBER 3 • 2020 | 43

Tov Bagel

Tov Bagel is open Tues.-
Sat., 8 a.m.-2 p.m., at 
1555 Broadway St. in 
Detroit and Tues.-Sun., 
9 a.m.-2 p.m., at 567 
Livernois in Ferndale. 
Detroit location is walk-up 
service only. Ferndale loca-
tion is curbside pick-up 
and dine-in on their patio.

ANDREW LAPIN EDITOR 

A little rain couldn’
t dampen the spirits 
of three young bagelers in Detroit.

Joe Penn and Devon Malloy are bringing 
bagels back to Detroit.

JERRY ZOLYNSKY

