ottawa foodies

I was sad to find the shop closed this morning and had to settle for Kettleman's. Is this a cost-saving measure after major renos? Or the new normal? I can't remember another Christmas when the store wasn't open, but maybe my memory is failing me.

Perhaps being more respectful of employees?

Also, Kettlemans is dope!

Is this post about sadness caused by the reality that a bagel shop is closed on Christmas Day, or an open question to all forum users as to whether or not they believe, unanimously, or otherwise, if this closure is the "new normal" for the store you are sad about? Or the "new normal" for a very disrespectful few bagelshop management practices that don't cater to your specific Christmas-Day bagel-related needs and feelings?

I am curious.

There are laws related to stat holidays and what employees are entitled to if they work them.

...and maybe I'm wrong but it seems there is enough demand for restaurant staff in ottown currently that 'forcing ' an employee to work a stat holiday is more likely to cause them to switch jobs than to 'suffer'.

So what is the disrespect?

My entire post was sarcastic and facetious toward the OP.

I'll take a stab @ it....

They looked @ their previous sales on Christmas day & thought maybe with the stat pay it just wasn't worth it...

Maybe they simply couldn't find enough staff...I would think it would be volunteer....

The reno's were time consuming & expensive, maybe they just wanted a day off...

I like all of Terry's options :-)

It was Christmas Day for crying out loud. People want the day off so they can celebrate the holiday or even just relax and enjoy a day off for once. If one bagel shop being closed on Christmas Day makes you "sad" you really need to re-evaluate your priorities.

I'm lost... is the thread about a place staying open on xmas day being good or bad?

Bah humbug

Let's acknowledge that Christmas is by definition a Christian holiday, as it was selected by the Roman Catholic church to be the day for Christians to celebrate the birth of their messiah. December 25 aligned well with existing winter solstice festivals and had little to do with the true birthdate of Jesus, who was—rather fascinatingly—both Jewish and ethnically middle-Eastern.

Those of us who follow no organized religion are generally happy to enjoy some holidays, warm times with family and friends, cookies, egg nog, gold stars, and twinkling lights.

However, for those who do follow one of the many non-Christian religions, it seems understandable that the imposition of Christmas as a statutory holiday could be taken as an affront to their own beliefs. The state is effectively saying, "We consider Christian holidays to be more valid than those of other religions." From this perspective, any business willing to offer products and services on Christmas Day becomes disproportionately more important as a sort of "cushion" from the will of the Christian majority.

All this to explain why the Ottawa Bagel Shop being open on Xmas could be a big deal to many. :-)

See also: www.ctvnews.ca

> Jesus, who was—rather fascinatingly—both Jewish and ethnically middle-Eastern.

Assuming he ever existed in the first place, which is not a valid assumption

While we're on that subject I have serious doubts about this Santa Claus dude....

Christmas is largely a secular holiday today with many of the religious aspects removed from public life. For kids it's about Santa Clause and presents, not Jesus. For adults, it's an opportunity to spend quality time with family, watch classic Christmas movies, and consume copious amounts of delicious food and drink. It's not exclusive to Christians, and many of my non-religious friends celebrate Christmas enthusiastically. The holiday has a universal appeal. If the owner of a business wants to be closed on that day because they want to celebrate with family and/or they want their workers to celebrate with their families, respect that. Foodservice industry workers work very very hard, and they deserve the odd extra day off.

P.S. Sorry to disappoint everybody but the Ottawa Bagelshop will be closed on January 1st, yet another one of those pesky statutory holidays imposed on us by the Canadian government.

No problem as other places are open!

zymurgist, thanks... I stand corrected! I was under the mistaken impression that historians agreed on the existence of an evangelist (and talented street magician?) named Jesus around 2000 years ago. Apparently not so. www.atheists.org

That's a tangent to this specific discussion though. The perspective I meant to convey is that Christmas, while more or less secular for those of us who follow no religion, is firmly rooted in Christianity. And if you're even a tiny bit bitter about Canada being a Christian-majority country, then a beloved vendor transitioning from being open for Xmas to being closed for Xmas could understandably be a big deal.

And if I can fan the bagel oven flames a little more, let me just say:
Kettleman's > Ottawa Bagelshop
St-Viateur > Fairmount
😈

Also, keep in mind, bagels especially are associated with religion that does not celebrate Christmas, and in fact have a significant religious holiday around that time that calls for traditional foods.

Warby:
Wait, are you telling me there are people out there who AREN'T
St-Viateur > Fairmont?

OMG How can this even still be a question?

(I also don't understand heathens that prefer NY bagels, or who believe that Toronto can produce real bagels outside of their Montreal-style bakeries, but I digress)

I'm also baffled at how many people on this thread were piling on the OP for being sad that a store/restaurant they thought would be open on CD (whether because it had been in previous years or because other bagel shops are 24x7) wasn't.

Holy hell, those of you that dumped on the OP for a single wistful post on the subject seriously need to get a life.

@beable - We're not piling but echoing the great wisdom of Charles Darwin who said "bagel procurement doesn't favour those who go to A bagel shop — it favours those who go to the OPEN bagel shop".

Wow, this thread is... intense.

Reactions:

- I should have been more explicit about my assumptions. But thankfully warby and others came to my rescue. Expecting OBS to be open on Christmas was indeed based on my understanding that it is owned by a Jewish family, hence not tied to the Christian celebration of Christmas. Plus the very salient fact that it's been open in past years.

- My family, along with many Chinese and Jewish families and others (religious and non) do our own thing on the 25th, which includes bagels in the morning. Bagels are in the mix because many bagel shops, in our experience, are Jewish owned. See above.

- I learned something. Turns out, OBS is actually Italian owned - or at least started off this way, if my read of the surname Piazza is correct. So celebrating Christmas could be a factor. But there are also Italian Jews. Who knows. It doesn't really matter.

- Ottawa Bagel Shop all the way. Exhibit A: I had out-of-town guests this summer and did a blind bagel tasting. It was unanimous, albeit not very scientific. But Kettleman's was perfectly fine under all the salmon and capers and cream cheese too :)

- Thank you beable: my thoughts exactly....

- A belated merry Christmas to you all. Or happy Hanukkah. Or whatever you happen to celebrate!

The founder of OBS is from Sicily, and his daughter runs it now. Yes, Italians do love bagels. And Christmas. St. Viateur in Montreal is owned by an Italian as well.

Kettlemen's > OBS.

...AND open 365.

COME AT ME!!!!!

Road trip to Montreal & St Viateur > Ottawa bagels!

(But since that's not always practical, yes I also prefer Kettleman's to OBS)

I gave Fairmount bagels a second chance after receiving a tip that their "everything" bagel would change my mind and turn me away from St-Viateur. I optimistically ordered two of them but ended up throwing them in the dustbin after finding them so stale tasting and sweet that they couldn't fit into my Montreal caloric budget.

This is a good time to reiterate that (thankfully) people have diverse tastes and preferences. If they didn't, then only one bagel shop would survive and both quality and value would suffer. Conflicting preferences prevent monopolies!

In other words, the people who prefer the things you dislike are helping to increase quality and value. This applies outside of just bagels and food: technology brands, car manufacturers, political parties, religions, news sources, etc?

So please keep on choosing OBS and Fairmount bagels if those are your preference. The last thing we want is everyone agreeing on what to buy! 🥯

warby ... HEAR HEAR !!

VENT \on

I come from a small town with only one pizza shop ... a monopoly.

The locals may like it, but maybe they got used to the under-cooked, super cheap ingredient, greasy monstrosity that's topped with cheese 'product'. Who knows?

Maybe I should go back home and open a real pizza shop. The again, they may not like good fresh ingredients and real cheese on a nicely cooked crust.

VENT \off

In my experience, most people who grow up with just the cheap, thick, takeaway box za are very resistant to the kind of thing we get from The Grand, Anthony's, Fiazza, etc.

The only way you win that battle is if your 'za matched the current shop in size and price and still used better ingredients and real cheese and a superior crust. Good luck with that math...