Glenda Dougherty opened the Bagel Mill in Petaluma in July. Setting out to make something uniquely her own, the 29-year-old baker already has distinguished her bagels by milling her own whole-wheat flour and using a sourdough starter. The store, located at 212 Western Ave., has plentiful seating and carries a variety of shmears, lox, pastrami and a smoked trout salad — though I got lucky and was able to score a whitefish salad as a special on a recent Friday — along with some nontraditional offerings such as pizza, pesto and Asiago bagels. This is California, after all. (Shout-out to the two J. readers who tipped us off!)
J.: What was your knowledge about bagels growing up in Sebastopol?
Glenda Dougherty: I grew up on cakey, bad bagels, and I thought that was a bagel. I was never a huge fan of them. I do keep the pesto and pizza bagels on my menu now as a tribute to the bagels I grew up with.
But then you went to NYU and tasted a real New York bagel for the first time.
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