64 | MARCH 30 • 2023

E

ntrepreneur Ben
Newman is refreshed
and excited about last
month’s reopening of his
popular Detroit Institute of
Bagels (DiB), whose marketing
tagline is “Nosh, Nibble & Fress
(Yiddish for “eat”) on Some
Fun.
”
Trying to recall the
inspiration for his business’
name, he said, “I think it was
a play on ‘Detroit Institute of
Arts,
’ and/or an homage to
‘Detroit Institute of Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation’
(the Newman family’s longtime
medical practice) in Southfield.
”
By any name, DiB was a
bright spot for years, starting in
2013, in the Detroit Corktown
neighborhood where Newman
still lives. An unfortunate series
of infrastructure problems and
the COVID pandemic led to
the shop closing in July 2020.
Today, after restorative

time as a new dad, Newman
is happy to be back at work
again with his crew. He said his
bagel shop gives local people
the opportunity again to cross
paths with acquaintances. The
new location is in the former
Ochre Bakery and Astro
Coffee outpost on Grand River
Avenue near Warren Street. It’s
next door to BARDA Detroit,
billed as a modern Argentinian
restaurant.
“From bakers to counter
staff to prep cooks, everyone
seems to be ready to help serve
Detroit great bagels, bread
and Jewish comfort food,
” said
Newman, who designated Feb.
16 as DiB’s official first day after
a week-long “soft opening.
”
His mention of comfort
food is an allusion to Core
City Noshery, a newly built
2,200-square-foot space toward
the back of DiB’s large, rented
building. Indoor dining is

available for up to 40 guests
seated in booths or at four-top
tables.
Working with Chef Brendon
Edwards on the menu,
Newman said, “We’re taking the
hits of Jewish deli and Jewish
comfort food. Our reworked
deli salads (egg, tuna and
whitefish) are all noteworthy. I
am personally most excited
about the house-smoked
pastrami and potato latke fries.
”
Customers place their
orders at the bagels counter,
pick up any desired coffee and
beverages, and “then the food
is run out to them,
” the owner
said. Outdoor dining will be
offered when appropriate,
including for Core City Park,
adjacent to the restaurant.
Newman, raised in
Bloomfield Hills, said he “grew
up going to classic delis — like,
Star, Stage, Deli Unique, Steve’s
and Ember’s, as well as all of the
various bagel shops in Metro
Detroit.
“I love that bagels are
historically a Jewish food with
strong ties to urban settings,
”
he said. “I thought that, if done
right, there was an opportunity

to use bagels as a vehicle for
investment in our community.
”
He didn’t apprentice
anywhere to learn to make
bagels, knowing just from
his own taste that the boiled-
and-baked style of bagels was
best. The process of boiling
bagels and then baking them
“is certainly a labor of love and
results in a greater contrast
between the crust and chewy
interior of our bagels.
”
Newman and his IT specialist
brother, Dan Newman, initially
made the bagels in their Detroit
kitchen. They went over so well
in Detroit’s Eastern Market that
Ben knew he was on the right
track to produce such bagels at
DiB.
Utilizing separate ovens for
bagels and bread, he said, “our
bagels are baked on a rotating
deck oven, and the bread is
baked in a classic Bongard deck
oven with steam injection.
”
Working with DiB’s head
baker, Jeremiah Kouhia,
the original bagel recipe
was reworked recently to
incorporate levain (starter)
for improved flavor and
consistency. Newman added,
“The rye bread that Jeremiah
is making is out-of-this-world
good!”
Until recently, DiB preferred
that customers place online
orders for quick pick-up. That’s

NOSH
DINING AROUND THE D

Detroit Institute of Bagels reopens
in the city.

Back in
Business

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

DETROIT INSTITUTE
OF BAGELS
4884 Grand River Ave.
Detroit, MI 48208
(313) 512-8292
detroitinstituteofbagels.com

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER