Some of Starship Bagel’s fare. (Screenshot)
(JTA) — A bagel shop in Texas has been named a finalist for the 2025 James Beard Foundation Awards, reportedly making it the first purveyor of the classic Jewish food to be shortlisted for the coveted culinary prize.
Starship Bagel, which has locations in Dallas and the nearby suburb of Lewisville, is one of five finalists in the category titled “Outstanding Bakery.” Sam Silverman, a popular bagel influencer, said Starship is the first bagel maker to be a finalist.
Bagel enthusiasts might be surprised to discover that a shop in Texas, rather than New York, could be poised to bring unprecedented acclaim to the toric delicacy. But in a sense, that was the point: Starship was founded in 2021 by Jewish owner Oren Salomon in order to bring New York-style bagels to the Lone Star state, according to Bon Appetit.
“A bagel is not sandwich bread,” Salomon told Bon Appetit. “It’s the main attraction.”
In an Instagram post thanking his team, family and community for their support, Salomon called the nomination a “dream come true.”
“We’re humbled, inspired, and more committed than ever to bringing you the best bagels possible,” wrote Salomon, whose shop did not respond to calls for comment. “Here’s to chasing dreams and spreading love, one bagel at a time.”
The shop employs techniques intended to set its fare apart from the everyday roll-with-a-hole. Starship bakes its bagels on a bagel board, an old-school method that employs a wooden board wrapped with soaked burlap, according to Bon Appetit. The bagels are also made using malt syrup, a more difficult method that Salomon nonetheless deemed essential.
The result has brought Starship Bagel awards and acclaim across the country.
The business earned the accolade of “Best Bagel” at the 2023 New York Bagelfest. In 2024, the shop took home the festival’s prize for “Schmear of the Year” and was a runner-up for best bagel. The festival’s website does not indicate which schmear, specifically, won the award.
Although Starship is the first restaurant of its kind to make the finals in its category, other Jewish chefs have won a James Beard Foundation Award in the past.
In 2019, Zahav, an Israeli restaurant in Philadelphia that was founded by celebrity chefs Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook, won the James Beard Foundation award for outstanding restaurant. One year earlier, Jewish chef Michael Twitty won the James Beard prize for book of the year for “The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African-American Culinary History in the Old South.”
The winners of this year’s James Beard Foundation awards will be revealed on June 16.
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