PARK SLOPE — A fifth-generation Brooklyn baker will open a new bagel shop in Park Slope on Monday, bringing a decades-old sourdough starter and a family baking tradition to Fifth Avenue.
Caputo Bagels, at 81 Fifth Ave., will open Oct. 5 with hand-rolled sourdough bagels, open-faced sandwiches, pastries and coffee.
The shop will offer about 25 seats for customers who want to eat in, along with grab-and-go service.
The project brings together James Caputo, whose family ran the longtime Caputo's Bake Shop in Brooklyn, and restaurateur Rafael "Rafi" Hasid, founder of 6R Hospitality Group and owner of Miriam and 1803 NYC.
"This isn't going to be a traditional New York bagel," Caputo said. "I wanted to make my own bagel based on my own flavor profile."
The bagels begin with a sourdough starter Caputo remembers his father using when he was a child. He estimates the starter has been around for at least 45 years.
Each batch takes about two days to make.
The dough undergoes an overnight cold fermentation before Caputo and his team roll and shape each bagel by hand.
They boil and bake the bagels at 400 degrees.
The finished bagel has a deeply browned crust and a crisp exterior, followed by a chewy interior with a looser crumb than a traditional New York bagel.
The sourdough adds a mild tang without dominating the cream cheese, fish or other toppings.
"With bread, it has to be the right texture and the right crumb, but it should never overpower what you're eating with it," Caputo said. "The balance is everything."
The opening menu includes plain, sesame and everything bagels for $2.50 each. Half-dozens cost $14 and dozens cost $26.
Caputo also brings a piece of his family's baking history to the new shop with the Lard Provolone Bagel.
The bagel draws from Caputo's famous lard bread, incorporating salami, lard, meat, provolone, salt, pepper and sourdough into the dough.
Chunks of salami and provolone bake into the bagel, adding a crisp, savory texture.
The specialty bagel costs $4 individually, $22 for a half-dozen and $40 for a dozen.
"The taste of this bagel brought me right back to the lard bread," Caputo said.
The Lard Provolone Bagel follows the same basic sourdough process as the other bagels but bakes at a higher temperature, around 425 degrees, depending on the baking process.
The shop will offer cream cheese flavors including scallion, za'atar, olive, harissa and tofu. Plain cream cheese costs $5.50 with a bagel, while flavored versions cost $6.50.
Customers can also order smoked salmon, whitefish and tuna salad by the container.
Open-faced sandwiches include a breakfast sandwich with bacon or sausage, two eggs and cheddar for $8.95.
Other options include harissa cream cheese with pickled eggplant, smoked salmon with scallion cream cheese, capers and dill, whitefish with pickled cucumber, dill and mustard, and tuna salad with beefsteak tomato.
A cream cheese and tomato sandwich with fresh basil, balsamic reduction, olive oil, black pepper and salt costs $9.95.
Butter or cream cheese with seasonal homemade jam costs $7.95.
The pastry case will feature croissants, chocolate croissants, almond croissants, cinnamon raisin rolls, banana bread and orange cake.
Coffee, espresso drinks, tea and fresh-squeezed orange juice will round out the menu.
The partnership began more than 20 years ago, when Hasid owned Hill Diner on Court Street and bought bread wholesale from Caputo's.
Caputo made weekly deliveries to the restaurant. Hasid regularly offered feedback on the bread, including its style and how toppings such as sesame seeds were distributed.
"I've spent my whole life baking— it's part of who I am," Caputo said. "Working with Rafi gives me the chance to focus on what I love most: working with dough, developing the product and being hands-on with the baking."
Caputo's family baking history in Brooklyn dates to 1904, when his Sicilian immigrant ancestor Giovanni Caputo opened the family bakery in South Brooklyn.
Over five generations, Caputo's Bake Shop became known for handmade breads, Sicilian-style loaves, Italian pastries and its lard bread.
"Caputo's will always be part of me. That's where I learned to be a baker," Caputo said. "But I didn't want to rebuild the past. Rafi and I wanted to create something of our own."
Caputo Bagels will open Monday at 81 Fifth Ave. in Park Slope.
Hours will be 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
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