Chicago couple turned pandemic hobby into thriving bagel business

It began as an experiment to pass the time during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it wound up blossoming into some of the best bagels in town.

When their new hobby outgrew their kitchen, Rachel and Adam Beltzman had to act fast. Things were heating up.

An elaborate Chicago bagel-making business was something Adam and Rachel never imagined they'd be running. 

"Never in a million years. I always tell people I was a lawyer, and then I was in the clothing business, and then in real estate, and now I make bagels," Adam said.

But the couple doesn't just make bagels. They have two North Side storefronts they've named R&A Sourdough, and a River West commissary. 

It all happened in just the last six years, kind of by accident.

"We just started in our house," Rachel said.

They started off during the pandemic making sourdough bread after Rachel's spin instructor gave her some sourdough starter.

Rachel, a photographer, made one loaf, then another, and took and posted pictures of them, and something startling happened. Her photography clients wanted to buy their baked goods.

"Then my kids were like, 'Can you make some bagels?'" she said.

So they did.

"People were coming to our porch to pick up bagels. We'd drive to the suburbs and set up shop in someone's garage," Adam said.

Like any successful dough, their newfound business expanded from there, consuming the couple's time and kitchen. 

"We broke our sink. We broke our drains," Rachel said.

They knew something had to give. That's when Adam found a former Subway sandwich space in Ravenswood and decided to set up shop.

"We had a walk-up window. We could literally throw bagels at people, because it was COVID," Rachel said.

The Beltzmans haven't looked back. They now make most of their sourdough bagels in their River West commissary.

It's a process. The starter, flour, water, and maple syrup gets mixed in a giant tub for 10 minutes. The dough is cut into smaller batches and fed into a machine that makes them into balls. 

Those dough balls are fed into another machine to form them into bagels.

Then, after proofing for several hours and sitting in the cooler overnight, they're boiled, seasoned, and baked.

"It just became something that we make everything from scratch, because we don't want to do it any other way," Adam said.

It's not just the bagels they make from scratch, it's everything, including cream cheese, egg salad, tuna salad, lox, and sweet treats.

"We don't like to waste anything," Rachel said.

That's how Rachel invented the bagel knot – from shaped bagels that just didn't look good enough. 

"It's kind of got a double meaning, because you shape it in a knot, but it's also not a bagel," she said.

The edible double entendre is then filled with almost anything. 

Their bagels have gotten some accolades, and all three sons have worked for them.  

"It's a proud moment, and it has taught my kids a lot about hard work," Rachel said.

It's also taught Rachel and Adam a lot, too.

"If you follow your passion and follow the path in front of you, you might end up somewhere you really love," Adam said.

Rachel said, in their culture, feeding people is their love language. One of their sons is now a chef.

They also said they might soon need to expand again.