I founded Rosemary Rocksalt bagelry in 2012 with three partners. We now have six vibrant locations across Greater Vancouver, with plans to expand soon. Our bagelry, Montreal-style - crafts every single bagel by hand. New York-style bagels are dipped in water with lye or baking soda. Montreal-style involves boiling dough in honey water, yielding a sweeter, denser bagel with a larger hole. Rosemary Rocksalt smothers each bagel in the best locally-sourced ingredients and bakes them in an open hearth oven, on both sides, until they emerge a crisp, golden brown. The scent of Rosemary Rocksalt’s baked “for the day all day” freshly baked bagels is drool-inducing and show-stopping.
It’s so rewarding to hear our guests rave about our bagels. We’ve been told a few times they’re better than Montreal’s, but no one from Montreal would admit that. I like to think we’re cultivating a Vancouver-style bagel of our own.
Customers love the “Whistler” for breakfast, as they dig into a fresh piping bagel loaded up with Montreal smoked meat, an egg, cheddar cheese, green pepper, tomato, lettuce, red onion and house made cream cheese. The “Steveston” is popular for lunch, that is topped with wild BC sockeye salmon, house made cream cheese, red onion and capers. Yum!
The goal for Rosemary Rocksalt was not only to make great tasting bagels, but also to create a supportive and welcoming work culture for my team and an inclusive, inviting space for young and old, solos and large families.
Our team members are paid above market wages and are included in the active discussion of Rosemary Rocksalt’s success. They’re also asked how they’re doing and what their aspirations are. We’re like family. In each store, a charter of eighteen maxims embraces this vision. With respect to the bagels, these range from “We believe in making the greatest bagels on the planet” to “We believe that the world is changing fast, but our bagels never will”.
The Whistller